Aid For the Blind- Wynnum Op shop

There's just so many op shops down at Wynnum, but one stands out of the pack and that is the incredible, huge space that is Aid For The Blind.  It's filled with clothing, books, shoes, furniture and bric a brac.  On the day that I visited, they were having an incredible 50% off everything in the store.  Apparently they do this 3 or 4 times a year.  I ended up buying a vintage, 100% cotton, Japanese long kimono for $4.

This place is clean, it's well spaced out and the clothing is usually divided into colours and clothing types, such as jeans, jackets, shirts and skirts.  There's usually quite an interesting selection of kitchenware and bric a brac.

The least you should know: Aid for the Blind is at 82 Florence Street, Wynnum.  The phone number is 3893 0252.  They frequently have special sales on certain items (for example shoes or hand bags).  Make sure that you have allocated plenty of time for this place, it's easy to walk past something wonderful because there's so many distractions.

Some of the racks of ladies wear, with the manchester and toy shelves at the very back of the store.

Some of the furniture for sale. I loved this 1930's table and matching chairs but  my tiny little bungalow is filled to capacity right now

The perfect place to look for clothing to wear to a fancy dress party.

Some of the formal wear.

So many pairs of shoes...

Op shopping at Wynnum

Last time I visited Wynnum, I decided to go for a walk along the waterfront.  As I passed the wading pool it was full of model boats having a race, the owners trotting alongside with their remotes, completely focussed on their tiny yachts.

From the streets of the main shopping area in Wynnum central, the islands in Moreton Bay seem to float in sparkling blue ocean.  It's pretty enough to visit Wynnum just for the sea air and the relaxed pace, however, if you love op shopping, then you'll be in heaven. The Salvo's, Vinnies, Red Cross even smaller op shops that seem to be unaffiliated with charities and run by people reselling things they've bought from the charity op shops all lie within a couple of streets of each other. Whatever you do though, don't miss the wonderful Aid for the Blind on Florence Street.

There's plenty of tea shops and cafe's dotted around the place.  If you're planning to stay for lunch, then I can recommend The Olive Cafe for it's incredible range of Lebanese sweets and savouries. It's usually full of locals enjoying a shared platter of Mezze washed down with super strong tiny cups of bitter coffee or mint tea.

The least you should know:  Wynnum has plenty of street parking.  Make sure that you wear comfortable shoes, because you'll want to wander all over the place looking at op shops.  The key streets that I recommend you investigate are  Florence, Edith and Clara Streets  and also Bay Terrace.  If you like old architecture, keep an eye out for the pressed metal ceilings and lovely old buildings dotted about the place,

Some of the beautiful Moreton Bay Figs that line the waterfront

The view along Bay Terrace

There's quite a lot of trees and greenery planted along the road edges

Wynnum is a relatively old suburb, by Brisbane standards anyway, and there are plenty of monuments dotted around to those local heroes who gave their lives in both world wars

Wynnum Wading Pool during it's resurfacing, where they replaced the old sand  with new stuff

Chandler Farmers Markets

Chandler markets are located in the car park of the Sleeman Sports complex.  This was purpose built for the 1982 Commonwealth Games and has swimming pools, a velodrome and associated other buildings situated in a beautiful parkland.

The markets are partially under cover and I think what makes them special is the native trees and plants that surround them.  These are marketed as a farmers market, rather than a flea market so they sell plenty of fruit and veggies, boutique food-stuff and plants.  They also have a really terrific selection of antiques, collectables and general bric a brac.  There's such a good variety of goodies here that I have never once come home empty handed.

The least you should know: Chandler Markets are located at the Sleeman Sports Complex, 1699 Old Cleveland Road, Chandler.  They are on every Sunday, rain or shine, 5am to 1pm.  Entry is $1 for adults. There's plenty of parking available, just follow the ring road until you find a relatively empty carpark- for some reason people tend to fight over the closest car park to Tilly Road- so just keep driving and you can have a nice walk to the markets through some splendid gardens.

Just have a look at these gardens, it's really worth coming out here  to have a picnic on the grounds

This stall isn't undercover, however it gets plenty of shade from the trees

This stall business is called "Nitide Subst" Really, really amazing gluten-free goodies here.  She's usually at Rocklea markets on Saturday morning and has a Facebook page as well

So many treasures for the urban pirate  

Not a terribly inspired photo, but this is the under cover area that takes up 60% of the markets

Toohey Forest walking tracks- Nathan

If you feel like getting away from the noise and bustle of the city, but don't really want to drive hours and hours to do it, then this is the place for you.

Toohey forest is only 9km's from Brisbane's CBD.  It's just off the freeway via the Gaza Road exit and there is quite a lot of parking, picnic tables and BBQ's.  I went for a short walk last weekend, the 1km Sandstone Circuit, which was rated as easy but was still quite a nice little workout thanks to all the steps up to the lookout.  There really wasn't that much of a view because the trees have grown quite tall, but it was still quite beautiful and green and worth the trip.

I really wrestled with mentioning this because it may have just been my own paranoia, but there were quite a few creepy guys dawdling around off the pathways.  I'm not sure if I stumbled into one of those secret gentlemen's clubs that my old flatmate the Kylie Minogue impersonator used to frequent, or whether they were just getting their breath back after a long climb up the mountain, but I would urge you to consider taking an exercise buddy with you.  It may not be the safest of places....

The least you should know: There are a few entrances but I found the easiest to be on Toohey Road at Tarragindi, where you can park on either side of the road. The signage is quite good, with trails clearly marked.

Toohey forest map, so you can plan your adventure in advance

One of the well-maintained walking trails

Some of the steps in the Sandstone circiut

The path back to the picnic/ BBQ area and carpark

Some of the picnic tables and BBQ's

RSPCA Op Shop- New Farm

Today's post is for those of you who love the labels.  I have two sisters, one is the queen of all things antique and retro and the other has a magical gift of walking into a fairly ratty old op shop and walking out with a genuine Dogstar frock This place was discovered my the label queen herself.


The RSPCA has 12 thrift shops in SE QLD.  Each one has it's own specialities.  The one at New Farm is packed with designer labels....shoes...leather coats...bags... It has a furniture section out the back that has very clean, good quality items.  There's a couple of walls of books and at the front is a small jewellery cabinet.  When I was shopping in here last weekend, one of the volunteers persuaded me to part with $10 for a pair of hiking boots.  When I arrived home, I realised that they were handmade Italian mountaineering boots that, when new, would have been sold for somewhere between $300 and $400.


I love the RSPCA. It's a fantastic charity and deserves our support. It's good to think that every cent that you spend here is feeding a dog or a cat while they are looking for a new home.


The least you need to know: NEW FARM FURNITURE BARN is at Cnr Merthyr & Lamington St New Farm Qld 4005 Phone: (07) 3254 2309.  There's a couple of parking spaces next to the entrance but quite a lot in the surrounding side streets as well.

This is the furniture barn part.  It's at the very back of the store

These arm chairs were $30 each.  bargain!

You have various prices of single items, with this 3 for $10 special every day.  Every couple of weeks, they have something excitedly called by my sister "Bag Day", where you can fill a Coles plastic bag with clothing for $10.

Some of the shoes

There's wall to wall books in here, organised by authors name or non-fiction subject.

Woolloongabba Antique Centre

If you're looking for something to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon, then you might like to consider going to the Woolloongabba Antique Centre.  It's an enormous warehouse filled with individual dealer stalls,  each one specialises in something unique from antique French couture (Chanel, Cartier etc) to retro 70's orange furniture and homewares.  It even has a 1950's diner in the centre that serves tea in the most darling little themed tea pots.  Don't think it's all for the ladies though, my husband loves coming along just for the cabinet of weaponry and military collectables.

Antique and vintage furniture really is very competitive with new furniture. You can buy something beautifully hand-made from solid timber for the same price as you'd pay for something made out of chip-board from a big chain store. I recently bought some antique Italian ceramic house numbers for $18 each and they were cheaper than equally sized soulless ones from Bunnings!

These guys have an incredibly good website here  I recommend you put your name down on their mailing list because I attended their Christmas Party in 2010 and it was excellent with lucky door prizes (my friend was lucky enough to win one), free champers and live music.

The least you should know: They are located at 22 Wellington Road, Woolloongabba.  There's plenty of parking around the streets on the weekends though I haven't braved it during the week.  They're open 7 days a week from 9 - 5 and make sure that you allow plenty of time for browsing because there really is a lot to see.

The warehouse has been divided into a series of small open rooms, each one with it's own theme 

Just in case you've always dreamt of owning GIANT neon letters. Sadly not really practical for my 50's California bungalow, but if I lived in a warehouse apartment....

I love that wonderful 1950's set of kitchen cupboards. When I renovated our original 50's kitchen, I couldn't bear to throw it out and the whole thing is intact in our downstairs laundry...now all I need is some paint

This is the most incredible 70's lounge suite.  I love those big cushions too.

Far Pavilions Factory Outlet- Salisbury

For the last three years, the Far Pavilions Factory Outlet has been located about 5 minutes from my house and I can't believe I didn't know about it until this morning.

Far Pavilions is a Queensland owned and operated furniture company that specialises in good quality "interesting and affordable homewares and furnishings". The company motto is "make every home a journey".  The head office and Samples, Seconds and Discontinued outlet is in an enormous warehouse in the industrial district at Salisbury.

The least you need to know: The Factory is at Commerce Street, Salisbury and they are open Wed - Fri 10-3, Sat 9-5 and Sunday 10-3.

It looks like an ordinary old warehouse from the outside

Inside, there are bargains everywhere.  At the moment they are offering 3 pieces of furniture for the price of 2, which is dangerous when you find the perfect entertainment unit and coffee table and you can have the other matching telephone table (worth $399) for free.

The very friendly salesperson was apologising for the mess, and there I was feeling I'd wandered into Aladdin's cave 

I have a feeling that I'll be visiting this place quite often

There's just way too many pretty pieces of furniture in here, very dangerous to my post christmas budget!