SHOPPING !!!!!

One of the first places I visit after arriving in Yandina are the Eumundi Markets. They have to be seen to be believed with an uncountable number of stalls selling all sorts of merchandise from fruit and vegetables through food, plants, furniture, clothing, jewellery, paintings, pottery, ornaments - you name it, it is sold there. In the past I have bought amber, opal, mabe pearl, silver and enamel jewellery there, numerous articles of clothing, beautifully finished wooden spatulas, cake slicers, stirrers, etc. and looked longingly at the antique style furniture. There are even small wooden 'bottles' with a stopper which, when impregnated with perfumes or oils and placed either in your wardrobes or drawers, give out a lovely fragrance.


The food is something else with various dishes from many countries......and the fudge ! All the flavours imaginable with a few more thrown in for good measure. The vegetables and fruit are straight from the grower and since this is the area where lots of tropical fruit is grown, it is so hard to restrain yourself from buying much more than you could ever eat.


The markets begin very early in the morning and are held on Wednesdays (a smaller market but still big compared to others) and the larger one on Saturdays. It is a good idea to get there very early in the morning if you want a parking spot close by and convenient. There is parking in the streets but a lot of it is up on the crests of very steep hills and after walking round the markets for several hours the last thing you need is a 30-40 degree or so slope to climb before you reach your car ! Anne usually stays home when I visit the market since she is used to it and feels that I am better off browsing around by myself but it never fails to fascinate me. One of my friends in Sydney often asks me where I got this or that and usually before I can say anything she adds - I know, Eumundi markets !


I am not too sure what this character was about, apart from promoting 5-star toilets, but he was ogling the girls while parading up and down. In turn the girls couldn't get away from him fast enough !


The next centres to visit are the craft villages up on the Blackall Ranges which run parallel to the coast line.

Montville has a huge array of specialty shops which sell designer clothing, jewellery, antiques, souvenirs, a marvellous selection of garden pots, hand made wood ware such as photo albums and frames and other small objects as well as larger pieces of furniture. There are some excellent potteries in this area, too. Talking of pottery, Anne's daughter has a friend who has his own pottery studio and this is always worth a visit to see what his latest offerings are. I came home last time with mugs, plates, bowls and a huge platter with an abstract design on them in the earthy colours I love. The last time I was in Montville I bought shirts, camisoles and slacks made from hemp which interchange beautifully with the rest of my wardrobe and wash very well. One shop has a range of hand painted shirts and blouses in all the colours of the rainbow while yet another sells those lovely Venetian beads and painted masks. There are lace shops and leather shops and shops selling Scottish and Irish clothing and souvenirs and one or two selling antique jewellery as well as more modern pieces made from old fragments of very old Chinese pottery set in silver.

One of the cafes in Montville has its own very efficient plate clearer. Unfortunately, he tends to try to clear the plate before you have finished !


Maleny is another good place to shop in the ranges especially for another favourite of mine – cheese......


.......while close to the cheese factory is a gallery selling excellent paintings.


There is a good antique centre just outside Maleny with a cafe attached which has a great views over towards the coastline and the tall buildings of Mooloolaba and Maroochydore.






In Yandina itself is the world famous Buderim Ginger Factory set in beautifully landscaped grounds which can be seen during a miniature railway trip.....










.....while just across the road is the Nut Place which sells all kinds of nuts but specialises in the Macadamia Nuts. If you thought that nuts came either raw or roasted and salted then think again. The macadamias can be bought in all types of flavours like sour cream and onion, garlic, chilli, honey roasted, sesame honey roasted, butter flavoured, BBQ, Wasabi, plain roasted, Milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate coated, hickory smoked bacon roasted ........ you get the idea ? They also have macadamia paste which is like peanut butter.




They also sell cosmetic products like macadamia daytime and nighttime moisturisers, body butter and emu oil, avocado and tea tree creams.

Macadamias, by the way, are native to Australia.

There is no wonder I drive up to visit Anne - I could never fly up to Queensland since I need the car to transport home all the things I buy up there.