Spice Girls

We needed coffee, and Aratula was the obvious spot.  Avoiding the always-busy bakery, we tried the bright green place next door, which seemed to be empty except for us.  So were most of the food shelves.  There were chairs stacked up in one of the windows, and a sort-of half-hearted Disney vibe.  The owner spent the entire time complaining loudly to another woman about how locals would not support her business because she was competition for the bakery, but we could see many things that should be improved to attract customers.  Better coffee would be a start.

Boonah was next, home of one of our all-time favourite shops, the Salvation Family Store, where on our last visit I bought Tardis earrings for $2.  We had high hopes because the pressure was on the fill our bingo cards.  Jo and I both needed a foot spa and a camera, both of which were proving elusive. She headed off in one direction looking for the electrical section.  I took another path, which turned out to be the wrong one.

By the time I got there, I expected disappointment, but it turned out the section was L-shaped and Jo hadn't looked around the corner, where a foot spa was lurking. Mine, all mine!  Only the camera to go.  I eventually found the likeliest section of the shop, also previously visited by the girls, but there was no obvious camera.  Then I spotted something vaguely familiar, just visible inside a leather case.  That's a flash cube, I thought, and sure enough, when I pulled it up, there was a camera attached. BINGO!

I also found a pair of grey trousers made in Bangladesh, which I would need on the morrow, some more wool for Suzette and a folding container for the caravan.  Love that shop!  

Vinnies was next, and it is bigger than it looks. The hooks in the change rooms are marked 'yes', 'no', and 'maybe', which is cute.  Jo found a skirt made in Lithuania, but, sadly, it didn't fit.

Lunch and the loo were next, further down Boonah's busy main street, then we went looking for the shop in the church around the corner.  There were people inside, but there was no signage, so we assumed that it is no longer an op shop. Pity.  Many years ago, Michael and I were going camping in Condamine Gorge and forgot all our bedding.  The old church came good with everything we needed.

Onwards to Beaudesert, and straight to the Red Cross shop.  Despite the fact that the bingo game was won, Jan was still hoping to fill her card, and she was missing a Scrabble game.  In that shop, we found the best 'Travel Scrabble' game ever.  It was actually a truck, which opened up as the board, with all the other bits inside. At $20, I was sorely tempted, but as we already own two Scrabble sets, I restrained myself.

We were running out of opportunities to have our photo taken, but the young bloke in the shop was cooperative, even though I hadn't bought his Scrabble set.  Today's theme was Spice Colours, so here we are. Jan is curry and cinnamon; I am paprika and black pepper (hot stuff), and Jo is allspice!

The Animal Welfare shop was sadly closed, as was the Anglican church oppy, but there was a Vinnies over the road that we had never seen before.  I found a mini hip flask, that will be just perfect for emergency supplies of port. Then I needed the toilet urgently, and was directed to cross the road (where there is a big shopping centre) and "go behind the bush".  Once she realised what she had said, the volunteer and I and the rest of the staff lost it a bit. 

Our home for the night was to be an AirBNB in Canungra, and when we arrived, we discovered that the town was in mass distress, because there had been a fire in Foodworks two days before and groceries were not obtainable.  Luckily, we had everything we needed, except the energy to go out for dinner.  Jo bought some takeaways and we made do.  We didn't need anything fancy, because our digs were fancy enough. We even had chandeliers.