Inspired by The Great Op Shop Road Trip, I decided to organise a social trip for our four-wheel-drive club. It is to be an Op Shop Crawl on July 10. I figured I would start this - my first ever solo trip leader effort - by sticking to what I know, namely, the op shops of the north-east Brisbane area. And where better to kick off the tour than my beloved RSPCA Strathpine, opposite Westfield, where we had our shop for eight years.
Heather and I recced the trip a few weeks ago. The trip plan was a cuppa at Westfield, off to the RSPCA Shop, then hit the road.
There are two big good stores side by side at Lawnton. The first is Neighbours Aid, where I found the suit for my son David's school formal many years ago. Pity they can't spell!
Right next door is Vinnies. I decided I need a competition for my trip participants, so we devised a scavenger hunt along the way, and I found the prize for it here.
I figured this heavy glass salad-or-whatever bowl would appeal to most people's tastes, and it set me back $8.
Heather bought a piece of 1970s artwork here, which delighted her (you will see it later). Everyone to their own taste, I guess; but I fell that only those who didn't live through the 70s would value these images.
Now it was time for morning tea, so we headed for Bullocky Rest on the shores of Lake Samsonvale. On a weekday, we were almost the only ones there. And a koala walked right past me, moving from tree A to tree B.
While weekdays are inconvenient for many, the opening hours of op shops make a trip like this almost impossible to organise on weekends. The shops that do open on Saturdays often close at lunch time, and forget Sundays. And Bullocky Rest is chockers on the weekend.
We now headed for Redcliffe, parked one block back from the waterfront, and found ourselves neatly positioned next to two op shops and a retro shop. Inside, I found a wonderful unused 1970s floral teatowel for my friend Jo's collection, but look at what was in the window! By the time we returned to the car, this reel-to-reel tape recorder had been sold.
Up the street a bit, there is a big old-fashioned haberdasher, so it's a fun area to explore, and if you nostalgically inclined, you are right beside Bee Gees Way as well.
I was actually back in the same area a few weeks later, with my Great Op Shop Road Trip buddies, Jan and Jo, and Jan found this water jug in one of those two op shops. We love its simple lines.
A bit further south down the Redcliffe Peninsula is Margate, where there are two BIG op shops side by side, the new-and-improved Save The Children store, and the Lifeline Superstore. This photo shows one half of the 'outside' section of the latter.
It was here that Heather spotted and I bought a heavy-based 28cm Tupperware frying pan. Who know that Tupperware made frying pans? I didn't.
I had a look on the Tupperware website: $249 with lid. No lid? For me, no big deal. I have lids that size anyway. Cost to me? $5. And it has been in almost constant use since.
Now it was lunch time, so headed back over the Ted Smout Bridge to Sandgate and Shorncliffe where we had lunch at Cafe on the Park, overlooking beautiful Upper Moora Park and Bramble Bay.
The plan for the trip is for participants to either picnic in the park, with the cafe as backup (especially for those who want coffee), but we though we should check to see if the food is edible. It is. The final stop was the collection of four op shops at Geebung, where the obligatory 4WD Club trip icecreams are obtainable, prize presentations would be made, and people could shop further if they choose or drift away in their own time. In all, a most enjoyable day.
This is Heather's haul for the day: the 70s art, jeans, shirt, shoes and a box/easel which is perfect for her artwork projects. She had a great time.
And now the big question, how many club members have signed up for the trip in two weeks time? None.
Here is my little collection of goodies (sans clothing). I now own two of my favourite design egg beaters (one in the dishwasher and one out); my picnic set is enhanced by a good sharp knife; I have a sugar bowl that matches my favourite casserole; Mum has another teaspoon in her room; my one-handed camping whisk has been upgraded; the camping cutlery set has grown; I have some new jewellery and I can listen to K T Tunstall in the car. I bought 23 items of clothing and 15 of bric-a-brac for a grand total of $103.10.
Jan hasn't sent me a photo of her loot but here is Jo's. My particular favourite is the little glass two-handed sugar bowl centre back. Jo bought 12 (I think) items of clothing, 17 or bric-a-brac and 9 books. Not sure of her grand total expenditure. Jan's total was 26 items of clothing and 17 of bric-a-brac for an outlay of $97.95.
What we learned:
- Not all op shops are listed on the website opshops.org If you know a good shop, please go onto the website, see if it is there, and if not, add it. Others may thank you for it.
- Local knowledge is a wonderful thing. Ask the locals. About anything.
- Check the opening and closing times of the shops you plan to visit; if necessary via a phone call. Sometimes when it is quiet they may close a little early.
- When you 'do' several shop in a row, looking at clothing, you develop a condition we dubbed 'op shop shoulder' from holding your arms up high to work your way through all those hangers. Be warned.
- If you like it, buy it. You can alter it when you get home (because I am a short-ass, I had to take up six tops!). There is no going back on a road trip. If it doesn't work out, recycle it via your local shop.
- Never judge a book by it cover, or an op shop by its external appearance!
To end, here is a photo of me at work, completely dressed by The Great Op Shop Road Trip, including accessories (except my crummy watch). Not bad, eh?
The Dickabram Bridge was built 23 metres above the Mary River in the 1880s when Dickabram was a thriving township (the population now appears to be about 10). During the 1893 flood, it was under water!
It is one of only two road&rail bridges left in Australia and is heritage listed. It's a rickety old drive across, believe me. I am particularly impressed with the way it goes up in the middle.
On the western side there is a little camping ground with toilets, and when we arrived, there was a family there who seemed to resent our intrusion. If you were camped there, you would be pleased that the road goes nowhere, because the sound of vehicles crossing the bridge would keep you awake at night. On the loo wall there was a sign advertising a fete at the nearby Theebine School. How's this for a school badge?
We headed back east towards Theebine and stopped to photograph a wonderful rusting old tractor in a green field that we had spotted on the trip to the bridge. While I was lining up the shot (with my phone) the phone rang, and I was so excited, I accidentally started videotaping. On the audio, you can hear me panicking. Yes, it was Tony Mammino on the line and he had my camera.
It turn out there is a Mammino shop in Childers shopping strip as well as the farmhouse outset, and that is where I had called. When the shop spoke to the farmhouse, the confusion was revealed and the camera located. Tony offered to mail it down, but dear Jo nobly volunteered to drive up to Childers the following week and collect it.
It was time for drinks all round at the Theebine pub, another well-known watering hole I had yet to set my eyes on. And what a beauty!
We could hear music so headed out the back where there is a large covered barbecue area with a small stage called - funnily enough - Backstage at Theebine. A group of students from Gympie High School were getting some practice in front of a live audience, and naturally Jo know one of the teachers. We sat out in the sunshine, ate up and drank up, congratulating me on my good luck and us on a brilliant concept well executed. Our thoughts then turned towards home.
We continued down the back roads towards Imbil, unloaded my stuff and Jan's stuff into my car; I dropped Jan at Carters Ridge and drove back to Brisbane through a spectacular storm near the Glasshouse Mountains. Up until then, it hadn't rained at all during the whole trip. We had been smiled upon by both the op shop gods and the weather gods.
You can't pass through Childers and not have a Mammino ice cream. They are thick and rich and wonderfully yummy. They are made at the Mammino farmhouse in Lucketts Road, just east of town. There is a big parking area, a small shop and a big undercover area where you may lick away to your heart's delight.
I managed to take a photo of the three of us by positioning the camera on the corner of our table. I chose Passionate Passionfruit and I know one of the others was Ginger and Macadamia.
With tummies full and nervy teeth jumping from the cold, we left Mammino's, Jo turned the car onto the Bruce Highway, and we headed homeward past countless op shop untouched. The only one I know that actually opens on a Sunday is in Imbil, Jo's home town.
As we approached Tiaro (which I must report now has a set of traffic lights!), Jo asked if anyone would be interested in a diversion through Gundiah and a look at the Dickabram Bridge. Would I what?! The Dickabram Bridge is famous in our four-wheel-drive club since a trip many years ago got lost and found it by mistake. So we turned south-west and our first stop was the Gundiah Pub. It is a little cutie and as I reached for my camera to photograph it, I realised I had a problem. Where was the camera? We just about turned out the car looking for it. Then I remembered the group shot at Mammino.
Luckily, there was a phone tower nearby so I had reception. I googled 'Mammino' and rang the number. No, there was no camera there. A second phone call: no, it isn't in the car park. I left my mobile number with her and grimly photographed the pub with my phone. 'You are incorrigible!' says Jo. It was time for the Dickabram Bridge...
Once were were settled in at Woodgate, we had a chance to show off our purchases, which we hadn't been able to do for a while.
Then it was off to the bowls club for dinner, where the menu included 'Fragrent' Thai Green Chicken. The place was packed. I wish I had seen it full of bikers, though. Anyway, we were seriously impressed by the decor. I have long been intrigued by the carpets installed in clubs, and wonder if there is a special factory coming up with startling designs just for them. Anyway, at Woodgate Bowls Club, they not only have high-viz circles in their carpet but high-viz multicoloured chairs to match!
By now we were a little hysterical and giggly and an equally giggly waitress took our photo. She was lovely. We ate our dinner and headed home for the evening's game. We hadn't played one the night before in Miriam Vale because we were out being glamorous. Otherwise it would have been Pictionary night.
This game was Jan's and was all about Australian geography. We began to get even more hysterical when we discovered that the answer to every 'where is it?' question seemed to be Queensland. If not, we could find a Queensland connection. Sampling some Bundaberg Rum Distillery purchases (eg 'Smooth and Shifty', which is Bundy & Sars) may have made it seem funnier than it actually was.
Next morning, we packed the car, checked out, and it was time to hit the beach.
Our beachcombing revealed a high-viz crab shell, plus a cowrie shell. Mum now has that shell in one of her plant pots in the nursing home. It was so lovely to just stroll along the sand after our hectic previous four days. When we reluctantly headed back to the car, we had a chance to have a better look at Woodgate and discovered that the interior designer for the bowls club seems to have been involved in painting the local houses as well!
The next item on our agenda was Mammino ice cream...
We had to be up and about early to get to Bundaberg in time to do justice to their op shops before they closed in the middle of the day. This meant having to forego Miriam Vale's own op shop which was such a shame. Note to Biloea: Miriam Vale with a population of 361 has an op shop; surely you with a population of 1590 can do better than one!
On the way out of town, we stopped so I could photograph the Gary Larson Oval. Jo had told us excitedly that he had come from this little town (just like my friend Margot) so I had to record the fact. It was hard to see as the sun was behind the sign, so I just snapped and ran. Imagine my surprise to discover when I looked at the photo back home to discover it was not Gary Larson the wonderful cartoonist, but some footballer.
First stop in Bundy was The Guide Dogs, an excellent shop that even sells plants and where Jo had managed to pick up some Delft pieces while on the recce. This is a most accommodating op shop because it opens at 8.30am, earlier than most. I picked up a pair of shorts for $3.50 and a K T Tunstall CD for $1. The RSPCA were next, and there I found one of my favourite bras, unworn, for $2 and a sharp knife for our crusty bread for 50c.
Bundy no 3 was Endeavour, the most expensive shop we encountered on the whole trip, but they just happened to be having a fill-a-bag-for-$10 day and into that bag went a beautiful pair of R M Williams jeans for Jan, along with two other items. This was the only shop I had encountered that not only sorts their clothes into colour blocks, but into plain and patterned as well.
Red Cross was next - quite a small shop and I didn't find anything there - and then on to Vinnies, within easy walking distance.
Closing time was rapidly approaching, but Jan and I managed to pose for a high-viz fashion shot. Jo bought something just as the women were closing off the till. It might have been a lovely little green Japanese Stoneware jug and sugar bowl that I know she found somewhere in Bundy for $2. I forgot to mention that in Endeavour I had found the matching sugar bowl for the white casserole that I talked about in my no 2 blog post ('Dressing Up'). It cost me $1. The op shops of Bundy were now closed and we were done.
We found the coffee shop recommended by the ladies in Vinnies and had lunch there. We then headed for the Bundaberg Rum Distillery (as you do in Bundy) and on the way stumbled across the local hot rod show. There were some remarkable vehicles on display. There was even a beach buggy like ours (does anyone want to buy it?).
The cost of a distillery tour was too much, so Jan and I bought gifts for our menfolk and then we moved on, as the sea breeze was calling.
It's an awfully long time since I have been to Bargara, but boy, has it grown! I was pleased to note that the Don Pancho Motel still exists though. Back in my youth, there were Don Pancho advertising signs along almost the entire length of the Bruce Highway!
Our destination for the evening was Woodgate, and we were halfway there when we spotted sea of motorcycles outside the Alloway Country Club, which is in the middle of nowhere.
We didn't want to get too close as we were afraid we might be charged with association under the VLAD laws, but just over the road there was a farm shed that advertised sales of honey, avocados etc. I had been looking for some local honey, so we stopped, bought some goodies and checked out the bikers.
At Woodgate, we were unloading the car and taking our booty into our cabin, (with its delightful view of both coffee shop and ocean) when said bikers arrived in town. We counted over 100 as they drove past, heading in the direction of the bowls club. Our later research revealed that they were on a charity run and 140 of them had signed in at the bowls club for lunch. How tasteful of them: that's where we were going to have dinner.
I first visited Gladstone in Grade 7. We went there on a school tour in a Sandringham flying boat that we boarded at Redland Bay. That was a mightily memorable day, so my thoughts were very positive as we entered the western outskirts, with op shop closing time rapidly approaching.
Googling 'Gladstone Op Shops' showed there were plenty to choose from, but we only had time for two close together, with Vinnies first up. This was a good shop, bustling with customers, and with a fabulous collection of cookware and bric-a-brac in a separate room. The day before I had found a one-handed whisk of unusual design in Gayndah. The first of these I ever saw was one Jan used to own when she lived in Rockhampton. I was so impressed that I tracked one down and it has been part of the McBurney camping gear ever since. This one was better - metal rather than plastic where it matters - so I bought it. Blow me down if there wasn't an identical one in this op shop! Maybe there was a good door-to-door one-handed whisk salesman in the area some years ago. Anyway, Jan bought the second one.
I had been becoming increasingly desperate in my search for some sort of necklace to wear with my dress-up outfit, and tonight was to be the night. Anyway, Vinnies Gladstone came good in the nick of time. I won't ever wear it again, but it was perfect under the circumstances. I also picked up a top and a pair of trousers for $7. Then it was off to the Sallies. This was a BIG shop, and High-viz Central. I didn't find anything to buy there, and we were the last customers out the door.
It was time for a breather. Jan suggested we go visit the Gladstone Yacht Club, destination of the Brisbane-to-Gladstone Yacht Race. She and John had visited there many years before to see the yachts arrive. She didn't have to ask twice. When we arrived, she said it hadn't changed one bit in all those years! It was lovely to sit there looking out over the estuary in the afternoon light.
Our next task was to find provisions for Miriam Vale. We were going to a barbecue at the home of a local schoolteacher, who had herself been a pupil of Jo's many years before. We found the necessities at Woolies Gladstone Valley, but the BWS next door failed to produce the goods. All I wanted was a cold two-litre cask of Chardonnay. Undaunted, we piled back into the car and turned southwards, the first small step towards home. First stop in Miriam Vale was the pub, where you can purchase a one-litre bottle of French Chardonnay for $17! Boo Hiss, Gladstone BWS!
Off to the Miriam Vale Motel, and a frenzy of ironing to get us ready for our Formal Night at Jess's place. I think we scrubbed up rather well. Jan and I had found our dresses at the Sallies in Kingaroy, but I can't remember where Jo found hers. All jewellery was op-shop sourced (Jo's freshwater pearls at Vinnies Monto and Jan's necklace (from I-forget-where) but I think mine were the only shoes (Vinnies Kingaroy).
Unfortunately, by the time we arrived, Jess's husband, who is a volunteer firefighter, had been called out to a road accident near Many Peaks, so was not able to join us for the backyard barbie. When he did return, just as we were leaving, he told us it was a rollover. The occupants of the car were a grandmother and her three-year-old grandson who walked three kilometres home. The grandson just complained about the length of the walk, and the grandma ended up in Gladstone Hospital. They breed them tough in Many Peaks!
