Morayfield to the Mountains

From Bribie, we headed south-west to Morayfield, which has rather a lot of op shops.  I had been coming out there regularly during the past two years while participating in two vaccine trials, so had done some excellent recce work for Jan.

We started out at Lifeline, where I found a pair of reading glasses and the first ball of wool for my friend Suzette. She knits pullovers for children in Syrian refugee camps, and needs a steady supply of pure, or almost-pure, wool.  Acrylic is not acceptable and that is mostly what you find in op shops.  Or unlabelled yarn, or miscellaneous bundles, all of which are no good to either me or Suzette.

Next stop was the big Vinnies that you access via a labyrinth of back access roads, where I found clothing and a jigsaw.  I had been trying to resist jigsaws on this trip, as I have so many at home, but this was a good one.  It was in this shop that Jo cried "Bingo!" and the first trophy for the trip had been won.

I also spotted a purple lace dress and jacket that I thought would be a perfect mother-of-the-groom outfit for Jan in 2023, but she seem less enthusiastic than me.

The third big Morayfield oppy we visited was the Salvos and there I found two mosquito nets. My friend Ruth wanted me to seek them out so she could use them as pest covers for her soon-to-be-planted orchard at Goombungee.  I had looked in fourteen shops by then without success, and then the fifteenth had two!

Although the Neighbours Aid around the corner beckoned to us, we decided we had run out of Morayfield time, and headed for Woodford.  

On an earlier road trip, we visited the original Woodford Lifeline, which was crammed into a tiny double-garage, with barely room to squeeze down the aisles, and bloody hot in summer.  Then it moved to a little old shop in the main street which was cute but not entirely practical.  The third incarnation is an old church and its hall on the eastern side of town, and here they have finally got it right. I found another mozzie net there.

While the girls were still trying on stuff, I trekked down to the other end of the shops to get a head start at the Anglican, only to find that it had closed at 3pm.  I was back in Woodford a few weeks later and thought I would have another try.  I arrived at 1.25pm, only to discover that, because of illness, there were closing at 1.30. Sigh.

That was it for the day. We had conquered eight op shops and were ready to relax.  Jan drove us up many steep slopes and through many green fields until we arrived at Tranquil Park, Maleny, just as it started to rain (lightly). Jan and her husband John had stayed there some years before and were entranced by the view, so this was to be a special treat.  

The first disappointment was discovering that their Irish restaurant, where we had planned to have dinner, was not open that night.  No problems: we'll improvise.  We headed for the door of room 17, which looked like an ordinary motel room door, but inside it was a hidden staircase, and we had to lug all our baggage down to the next floor.  One of the reasons we stopped staying at country pubs was we decided we were too old for long staircases.

The next surprise was discovering that no maintenance had been done at Tranquil Park since Jan and John had stayed there.  As a result, we had a swallows nest in the alcove next to our room, and there was rather a lot of rotting timber about the place.  As far as dinner went, there was a fridge and a jug and that was it; not even a toaster.  But we op shop road trippers are ever adaptable, so we dined on wine and cheese and biscuits, while gazing out at the view, which, despite the weather, was still breathtaking.

I was lucky enough to have the room next to the view, so I saw the night version as well.