Bilinga to Burleigh

We arrived at the unit block at Bilinga as night was falling, and so was rain.  My Airbnb instructions said the key was in the letterbox, guarded by a combination padlock. I tried to set the combination, but couldn't see without my glasses. Jo joined in, and set the numbers but they wouldn't work, no matter how subtly she changed their positions. Jan arrived with the torch from her phone.  I had no phone numbers for the hosts, so messaged them...no immediate response.  Eventually, I took over the combination dials and felt them click into place.  Success!

By now we were all quite wet, and were even wetter by the time we had transferred the contents of the car into the unit.  Fortunately, it was on the ground floor.  We could see the lights from the tall buildings twinkling to the north, and thought the morning would reveal a lovely setting for our home for three nights.  Dinner was Lamb Rogan Josh prepared by moi, and then we all collapsed.

We were right.  Bilinga is lovely. No high-rise because of the airport nearby, views to both Surfers and Coolie, and an ultra-wide beach with barely a soul on it. We tested the water and it was freezing, so those togs we bought would not get used on this trip!  Brekky, a relaxing coffee, and we were off to explore Burleigh, dressed in our G-for outfits.  Jan was gaudy top and grey pants, Jo was gold and I wore green. Today we would be tackling just a select few of the oppies at the southern end of the Goldie. No time to do them all.

Our adventure for the morning was to walk around Burleigh Headland, which was recently scarred by fire.  It made the rockfall area even scarier than usual.  The rain the night before made everything smell fresh and lovely, and there were many water dragons out on the tracks.  Just before we reached beautiful Echo Beach, we were informed the track was closed because a film was being shot there. Curses!  We peered through the trees but couldn't spot any Hemsworths.  This meant that the only way forward was upward.  Jo strode ahead, while Jan and I huffed and puffed our way to the first lookout.  It was worth all the effort.  Unfortunately, the geocache I hoped to find nearby eluded us, and a passer-by, so it was second lookout/car/loo time, all in rapid succession.

Our reward was coffee and cakes at Paddock, a coffee shop I had found thanks to Facebook.  It is lovely, and has all sorts of hidden spots if you want to sit away from the crowd.  I introduced Jan to cruffins.  Jo spotted a familiar face as we were leaving, and, sure enough, someone she knew from Imbil was preparing the take-away coffees. I should also report that the decor inside the toilets definitely qualifies as quirky, right down to the little metal hand behind the door that holds your bag.

It was finally time for the first op shop of the day, and I had chosen Animal Welfare, which was accessible only through back streets and one-way systems.  The local streets have alliterative names names in alphabetical order, from Acanthus Avenue, through Ferny Fairway to Hibiscus Haven.  Our destination was in Elder Entrance.  It is a strange, crowded little shop, where no-one - staff or customers - was wearing a mask.  The clothes were cheap, but we saw a second pair of thong bookends in the window, which were in much worse condition than the pair I bought, at three times the price.  There was one particularly memorable customer with a very loud, irritating, voice.  As the vibe was not good, we didn't stay long.

More backstreet navigation then led us to a paid parking spot in the middle of the bustling Burleigh shops.  We did another hill climb to the Anglican shop, and then a downhill run to a very crowded Vinnies.  Surprisingly, the prices were good.  I acquired a rather nice caftan for the day three theme.  The dressing rooms here are strange, with tiled walls like a bathroom and security-gate doors. 

Back to the car, and the next destination was the Church of Christ shop, just off West Burleigh Road.  Now that's an op shop!  Lovely staff, heaps of stock, cheap prices, and lots of goodies found.  One of the chatty volunteers there was quite happy to take our first group photo.

Meadowbrook to Oxenford

We headed east into the wilds of Logan, ignoring the Sallies at Berrinba and Vinnies at Meadowbrook because of time constraints. My destination was the Authentic Church oppie at Meadowbrook, where we had to negotiate a sea of witches hats; turns out it is a Covid-19 testing centre.

The girls looked less than impressed but I had been here before and knew that appearances can be deceptive.  There are actually three separate sections, all loaded with cheap goodies.  I found a whimsical teapot here, but bravely resisted buying it, because I do not need it and have nowhere to put it.  I have since been chided on Facebook for leaving it there.

We then hit the M1 for the first time, exiting near Dreamworld for the Uniting Church oppie, which was called Living Rivers when Michael and I did the recce.  Another good one packed with stuff, where free bread was on offer. This meant one less thing to buy before nightfall. My excellent pick-up here was the banana earrings, which cost me $2.  

By now, the rain, which had been threatening since we left Grand Plaza, started to fall and we all acquired a rainwater rinse en route back to the car. Oxenford was the next stop, because there are four op shops there.

We skipped the Salvos, saving it for later if we had time, and started at the Anglican.  This is quite good, if a little expensive, and is well-hidden in the middle of Oxenford Square, a complex whose best days are behind it.  

I can't remember which shop it was, but I had a golden moment when Jo said "Can you keep a lookout for any books by John Bourne?" to which I replied "Like this one", because there was one right in front of my nose. It was the only John Bourne book found all trip.

The Community Op Shop is on the outside of the same centre, and it was the most disorganised shop of the whole outing.  Stuff piled everywhere, and clothing so tightly packed on the rack, it is hard to look at anything..  Some of the books are quite expensive, but the $10 rack of designer clothes was half price and Jo picked up two treasures there.  She found a pink-and-white Carla Zampatti top and a silvery grey Sandra Soulos top, both of which should have excellent resale potential.

By now, the sky was black and the thunder was rumbling ominously.  The proprietor of the shop took pity on us, and showed us an awning in front of a shop which had closed up for the day, where I could park the car in case of hail.  I went for a walk in the rain and did just that.  When no hail eventuated, we drove to the nearby Lifeline, and I parked next to a gutter with some water in it.  This shouldn't be a problem, I thought

This Lifeline was wonderful.  It's a bit of a TARDIS, because it looks really little from outside, but isn't.  I found a jug/vase as soon as we walked in, and tried to talk myself out of buying it.  I didn't need it, but just loved it.  I looked it up online, and it was from a Danish range called Just by Rikki Tikki, so I figured it was my Danish blood that was telling me to buy it.  Then I spotted a truly quirky pair of silvery bookends featuring thongs (in the Australian context) and had to have these too.  I just beat Jan to them.

I bought an orange top that I didn't particularly like, but thought I might need for O-themed Wednesday. It was cheap enough.  The other thing that was truly amazing about this shop was the arrangement of books laid out on table, all sorted by the colour of their spines. This is NOT the way to sell novels. Alphabetical order by author is the go, otherwise I will not even bother to look. 

Back to the car we went with our booty, all well supplied with G- themed clothing, only to find that the gutter next to the driving-side door was now a raging torrent. Wet leggings and cold feet followed. It was fine on the other side of the car!  There was a Woolies nearby, so we provisioned ourselves and headed back to the M1. The rain poured and the traffic crawled, all the way to the Smith Street exit. We have not had to drive in conditions like this on any previous road trips, and I was the lucky one behind the wheel.

Browns Please-exPlains

Op Shop Road Trip No 8 began on Monday, 18th October 2021, at 8.30am. Jan and Jo had arrived the night before, after I had dug out the superhero toilet paper I bought at Tannum Sands last year. Whenever else would it be appropriate to use it? We managed to finish my Where's Wally? jigsaw just before we left.

Our first stop was the Salvos at Browns Plains. I had recced the route with Michael, so knew where to exit various large roads to get there. At the door was every op-shoppers motto, "No one goes to an op shop because they need something; you go to an op shop and it tells you what you need", which was a good omen.

I actually did have a list of things I was hunting: a pair of small acrylic wine glasses for our picnic set, balls of wool (at least 70% wool) for my friend Suzette, a mini-bundt cake tray for daughter Heather, a small Vision saucepan for me, because the spout had snapped off mine, a binder diary and fish-tank pump for my daughter-in-law Tash, and a watering can for Michael. 

I also need to find clothes for the next day. Because we were spending three nights on the Gold Coast this year - the first time we have stayed in one place for more than one night - the theme for 2021 was G-O-L-D. Tomorrow, we would all need to be wearing something starting with G.  We also had our annual challenge of each finding a Quirky Object and a Quirky Book, to be judged by Michael at the end of the journey.

The Salvos was good, nearby Lifeline not good for me, but good for the others, and I had high hopes for the OneWorld shop just up the road. Alas! It doesn't open on Mondays. How had I missed that? We hopped in the car, and in a matter of minutes were in Hillcrest, where we parked at Link Vision.

Jan said we all needed swimming togs because we were staying at the beach. I hadn't thought of that, but found a pair here. And then I spotted my first candidate for Quirky Object 2021, a bizarre game where you have to attempt various vocal challenges while wearing a mouthguard. $3 well spent!

This was a strange little shop, but good. Behind the counter was a large stuffed snake and mongoose statue.  The snake was a cobra, but mislabelled as a rattlesnake.  Just up the road was Vinnies, by comparison more organised and spacious, which can often mean sterile and disappointing. Not so, because here I found the acrylic wine glasses. That night, they went straight into the picnic back pack, and the big ones they replaced were immediately nabbed by Jan.  We already had quite a haul by now, so headed over to Grand Plaza shopping centre for lunch.  After that, it was time to leave Browns Plains...

The Reckoning

This was the first time that John had been our judge. Jan won the original Quirky Book competition and I won the first Quirky Object one.  This year, we had both categories.  The books were judged first, and this time, our judge ventured inside the covers as well as outside.  He rejected my Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for its lack of pictures, and didn't really inspect Why You Can Go Out Dressed Like That due to his lack of interest in fashion. He has no idea what he missed.  My daughter-in-law has already borrowed it.

The eventual winner was Jo's Creepiosity, which is truly wonderful and includes such things in its list of things that are creepy as  "Lucille Ball in colour".  I can't argue with that.  The clincher for John was "Guys who look like Santa Claus but aren't the actual Santa Claus" because the photo looked like my MIchael.  How could I argue with his logic?  So that was a win to Jo, her very first. 

The three entries in the Quirky Object category were my toilet paper,  Jan's metal dinosaur, and Jo's Prince Charming.  I'm in with a good chance here, I thought.  But wait!  John rejected my loo wipes because they were made in China!  Surely it must be the VERY quirky dinosaur, But no, he went for Prince Charming; a surprising choice.    So Jo won the double.  What will we do next year? 

I stayed at Carters Ridge that night and drove sedately south in the morning.  As I still hadn't found that egg beater, I drove via Nambour and dropped in briefly to the big Neighbour's Aid there.  No beater, but I found two treasures: a classic Viewmaster and a collectors edition of America's Cup placemats and coasters. Did I mention that i was looking for placemats?  Op shops used to be full of them, but now they are a rare breed.

My final haul: 8 tops, 4 skirts, 2 shorts, 3 jeans/long pants, 5 pairs earrings, a bra, reading glasses, watch (non-functioning accessory), underpants, 2 hats, 2 Santa hats, shower cap, 8 cakes soap, hand beater, a bamboo bathroom stuff holder that sticks to the wall with suction cups, small paua shell frame, a glass, Halloween spider webbing, packet of envelopes, travel Monopoly, 3 jigsaws, 2 postcards, 4 books, an egg cup, super hero toilet paper, 1 dozen eggs, and 2 bottles of honey. For my granddaughter: 5 wooden puzzles, a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, a bag of bath toys, and 3 books. Total outlay: $131.  This does not include Dave the Dung Beetle, the children's book written by a Biloela woman, that I bought new in the cafe in Gayndah; nor the goodies from Nambour, because by then the trip was over.  I think my favourite pickup was the $2 reading glasses from Vinnies at Maryborough.

Accommodation, fuel and some of the food cost us each $232.

What did I learn this year?  Jo always maintains that every op shop has knitting needles and I can't argue with that. Now I believe they each have at least one whisk.  I also learnt that no matter how many bras you bring or buy, if you have a rib injury, they are all uncomfortable.  And accommodation with we top bunks is now out of the question forever.

Jan's favourite buy was a black and white cow egg timer, from she-can't-remember-where. And here endeth Op Shop Road Trip Number Seven. 

The Last Day

Our first stop for the day was to be Monto but I wanted to find a geocache first.  The first one I chose turned out to be on the wrong road, but there was a likely candidate near a rest area in Coominglah State Forest.  I left the girls at the car and went bush.  The cache turned out to be near the highway cutting nearby.  I had just found it when I spotted a reason for us not to rush back onto the road to drive down the range.  Meanwhile the girls were panicking because they had lost sight of me.  By the time we found each other enough time had passed for the roller to get a bit ahead of us.

Vinnies at Monto and the coffee shop nearby were both familiar territory from a previous trip, but there were a lot more people about.  We finally spotted the town's free camp through the shrubbery and it was full of vans.  Since we were there last, the silos at Three Moons just south of town had been painted beautifully.  Sadly, the Mulgildie pub was closed and for sale.

Mundubbera was next, where once we were entertained by the cheerful ladies at the Anglican oppy, but were unable to visit the Uniting Church one, as it doesn't open every day. Jo had timed the trip so that this time it was open, and it is a beauty. The handbag collection has been turned into decor, strung up across the room.  Once Jan had revealed that she works at the Cooroy Lifeline, she and one of the women talked shop for quite a while.  Example: For how many years do you hold stock? Jan: Six weeks!  We found various goodies and were surprised to find that they sell eggs.  Jan and and I bought the last two dozen and discovered that each one contained one green egg. I had never seen one before.  I was relieved to discover that they are not green on the inside.  When we were back home, I ate mine with ham, of course.  Jan's new best friend was happy to take our daily photo, the day's theme being Skirting the Issue.

We headed for the Anglican next but couldn't find it.  I discovered later than it had moved up one block and onto the other side of the road, but by then it was too late. Gayndah was the last oppy stop and we revisted the same two that were there seven years ago, Lifeline and Gunther Village.  The woman in the latter shop explained to me in great detail that she would never allow elephants in any shape or form in the shop with their trunks down, as they are back luck. Trunks up, or not at all!

In the Lifeline, Jo found a treasure.  It is a Brownie Downing wall plaque and these are very collectible kitsch.  It may not look like much, but I found a similar one on sale online for rather a lot.  "How much do you want for this?" says Jo. "Oh...$1".  "I'll give you $2".

We had lunch at the coffee shop that used to be the ANZ Bank, and mine was the best frittata I had ever tasted.  Then it was time to head for home.  Once we reached the turnoff north of Ban Ban Springs, I had travelled the entire length of the Burnett Highway during the space of eleven days, following MIchael's and my trip to Mount Perry on the long weekend.

My last river crossing was the Mary (for the fourth time) on the Wide Bay Highway.  The total river count was fifteen: Pine, Caboolture, Maroochy, Mary (4), Burrum, Cherwell, Isis, Elliott, Burnett (3), Kolan, Calliope, Fitzroy (2), Dee (3) and the Don.

We reached Jan's home at Carters Ridge at 5pm, and it was time for her husband John to judge our quirky items.

The Last Pub

The Biloela Hotel has been recently refurbished (nice paint job) and some work is still going on downstairs.  Our host showed us the upstairs common area and said they had decided against putting in a kitchen.  A bad decision in my opinion.  In the last seven years, we have stayed in a number of country pubs and some of them have great kitchen areas, one even providing cereal.  

The common area here has a lounge, a TV (the remote control didn't work), an electric jug, coffee, tea, wooden stirrers and UHT milk, two mugs, a few cups, and that's it.  So how do you fill the jug?  The sink in your room?  Jo's room didn't have a sink (but it had a chair).  My room had a sink 

and a mirror (but no chair); Jan's room had all three.  But the jug won't fit under the tap in the sink.  Off to the Ladies' then.  Jo's room was a long way from the Ladies'.  Or you could fill up the water glass in your room and bring it to the jug; except there were no water glasses in the rooms. With only two mugs available - presumably the others were in people's rooms - I was glad I brought the camping set.  So you make the coffee and leave a ring on the bench. You can't wipe it up because there is no water or Chux available (as there would be, in a kitchen).

Each room did have a fridge, but despite our rooms having been booked in advance, these were not turned on.  I turned mine to a cold setting, as the milk and other coldies had been in the cooler compartment of the picnic backpack all day.  Jo asked if we could have an iron and ironing board, and a brand new one of each appeared quickly.  Maybe no-one had asked for them before, but Jo remains convinced that they raced out and bought them.  We then went down to dinner and forgot about such mundane things as fridges and irons.  The meal came quickly and was quite yummy.

I slept well and it was time for breakfast. My milk, banana and yoghurt were all frozen.  I blamed myself, but Jan's food was all frozen as well, and she had simply turned on her fridge. Maybe the room's previous occupant had had the same idea as me.  I decided I would have a shower while they thawed.  The individual shower was not operational, just the one over the bath.  The bath had permanent stain marks in it, but I can live with that. The toilet, however was gross.  I realise that bore water or dam water can turn the water black, but this loo needed a really decent clean.

As we ate our breakfast we made a decision: it was time to ditch the country pub stay on future op shop road trips.  This was actually the most expensive night of our stay (I realise Billo is a mining town), and the facilities were by far the worst.  We are too old for this nonsense now; no more shared bathrooms.

We entertained ourselves for a while watching the elderly gents from the local services club load up all the empties that were redeemable for cash (their truck had parked us in) and then we were off on the last leg of the journey.

A Bang and a Beer in Billo

I was sad to leave Mount Morgan but Biloela and its new op shop beckoned.  The last time we were there, on the very first trip in 2014, we were astounded that a town of that size had only one op shop, and that was tucked away in a back street, requiring local knowledge. Now there are two, the newie being Loved to Reloved and it only opens on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Jo drove like a champion, past distant fires and open cut mines, and we made it at 2.40.  Next to the Lutheran Church, it, too, is buried in a back street.  We only got lost once.  "Does that sign say it closes at 4?" asked our driver.  It turns out they had extended the opening hours a couple of weeks before. Why weren't we told?!

It had quite a lot of stuff crammed into a small space and cheerful staff.  I found a rather nice dress featuring dragonflies, and needed to try it on. One of the women guided me to a back room with access to the outside, so it was kind of her to lock the door.  It was an interesting multi-purpose room with nowhere to hang clothes except the doorknob and the fridge.  The dress was a success though, and I later wore it to dinner at the pub.

Vinnies had relocated to much larger
premises right on the main road, with seriously impressive signage, and we now had plenty of time to browse.  Jo parked out the front, and later, when she and I were waiting for Jan to finish chatting to the staff, a van parked quite close to the front of our vehicle.  I wasn't surprised, therefore, that Jo backed up quite a way to get out of the parking spot. The sound of her hitting the car behind was more unexpected.  The funny thing was that she had told us earlier in the trip that every prang she had ever had in any of her cars had occurred while she was backing.  I think she needs a reversing camera for Christmas.  Fortunately, there was no damage to the vehicle behind us.

It was time to find the Biloela Hotel, following our tradition of always staying one night in an old-fashioned pub.  We discovered that it backed onto an one-way alleyway, so once we found the right end to enter, we were soon parked next to the bottlo.  Once inside the beer garden, we were greeted by the publican but he was a bit busy, so we dumped our stuff and had a drink.  The decor consists of vertical gardens made from old wooden pallettes, which is both attractive and creative.

While the girls were having a beer, I attempted to recreated the photo of the two of them out the back of the Theebine pub on the last evening of our first trip.