Treasure.

Oh my goodness, I love op shopping!! I LOVE it!

Op shops, thrift shops, second hand shops, garage sales, market stalls...I love them all.

I love the anticipating and the hunting and the sorting and the looking and the wondering and the planning and the admiring and the riffling. Love it!!

To be completely honest with you, I think that a big part of the excitement of this trip for me was the hope that there would be lots of little second hand shops in tiny towns all along the way. Lots of granny treasures to sort through. Lots of floral sheets and table clothes and china. And there have been quite a few. And we have hunted them down and driven out of our way and found some lovely things. 

And then there are some that we drive past and stumble upon by accident. You should hear the chorus of OP SHOP!!!! that comes from our car at such times.

The photos on this post were taken in a second hand shop in Albany that was so much more exciting than the Good Samaritan shop we had been directed to half a block down the street.

I adore that we have chosen op shop treasures to fill our caravan. I feel proud that we eat off odds bits of English and Australian fine china and not metal camping plates. And when accidents happen and bowls get broken, I love that it is a legitimate family outing to pop into an op shop and find replacements.

The down side of living in a caravan is the fact that space is limited. I know the more we buy, the less space we have for living. So we have learnt to be selective and that's probably a good thing anyway.

One of our road trip friends recently remarked on how patient farmer Bren must be. On how she marvels at the fact that she sees our car on the road outside junk shops all over the place. I was surprised for a second when she said that. I forget that not everyone lives like we live. That not everyone googles the op shops in every town they arrive in and includes visiting all the shops on our list as legitimate tourist outings right up there with the museums and geographical sights.

I do love that my kids love op shopping too. That they know to turn a plate upside down to check where it was made and if it is a Johnson. That they understand and embrace our recycling ideology. That they know that Mum loves florals, little jugs, pale blue and is not so interested in the little saucers or in the made in China.

I have little stashes of newspaper wrapped plates and jugs and bowls stashed all over the caravan that I look forward to unwrapping when we get home. Others buy tea-towels, snow globes, Indigenous art pieces or jewellery to remember their trips. My souvenirs are my op shopped treasures. I can't wait to put them to use and display them when we get home.

So do you op shop? Do you love the thrill of entering the world of an unknown op shop and the unknown treasure that awaits? And what section do you make a bee line for - the manchester, the clothing, the brick-a-brack, the books? And most importantly, have you found any wonderful treasures lately?

Happy treasure hunting. xx

She collects sea shells by the sea shore.

She collects sea shells by the sea shore.

She listens with amazement at the rush of swirling air of the beach that is coming from her shell by the sea shore.

We all love a treasure hunt by the sea shore.

She likes mother of pearl shells. She likes the smooth rainbow of colours and dreams of finding a pearl one day by the sea shore.

He has time to dream and plan a mobile made from white shells with holes in them found by the sea shore.

She loses track of time and distance on a walk with her Mum and comes home with sore legs and a bucket full of treasures from the sea shore.

And she (I) adores cowrie shells. She can't help but pick them up and admire their patterns and shapes. She dreams of finding a large dark one with white spots one day by the sea shore.

We fill our hands and our pockets with sandy treasures by the sea shore.

We collect greedily, hungrily....and then, after a while....we drop a lot of sea shells for others to find and use as habitat by the sea shore.

And she, my big girl, spends hours soaking and washing and rinsing and cataloguing the shells. It makes me so proud when people walk past to ask and admire them and listen as she tells her stories and answers their questions.

Thank you for a wonderful time 80 Mile Beach. We feel beachy and sandy and are enjoying the clinking sound the shells make in their box as we travel to the next sea shore.

Happy travels. xx