Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Toodyay, 'Place of Plenty'...



Walking along the main street in Toodyay (Place of Plenty) was quite the adventure! Where else will you find a Christmas shop open 360 days of the year on the same street as a cafe dedicated to Coca Cola.. the fact that Toodyay is only an hour or so away from the city makes it a popular pit stop for groups of bikers (as opposed to bikies) seen here enjoying morning tea.. pinkies up :) in the Wendouree Tearooms...


One of the first established inland towns many of the buildings are heritage listed. Looking at maps of Australia there are massive stretches of nothingness, but not so here.. Bob from St. Louis asked me yesterday what there is between Perth and Toodyay, the how to get there might help in that it shows that along the way you pass national forests & parks, through valleys, cross bridges not to mention the acres of farmland, the orchards and vineyards.. things are a bit parched after summer, but give it a month or so to green up and it will be a different picture...


So now to why we were there.. at last! The Avon Valley Collectors Exhibition & Fair held in the Toodyay Memorial Hall, a splendid location and unbelievable range of antique treasures. Who's parents had a set of flying ducks on the wall, my Mum had a 'flock' exactly like the bottom set below.. wonder what happened to them..  they could be on the way back :)


These are my treasures below, a delightful pair of porcelain 'kissing cousins', a c1930 lemon press for my sister's birthday and a set of.. well I'm not quite sure what they are but felt quite triumphant, many were after them, lol right :) Toodyay should definitely be on your 'to visit' list when you come to Perth. Hope your week is off to a good start, happy Tuesday, take care and stay safe...



39 comments:

  1. Bikers in a tea shop seems all wrong! And I remember a Christmas shop in our cottage country that's not quite open year round- it closes in the winter- but is open for the bulk of the year.

    Those antiques would have definitely appealed to my mother.

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  2. What a fun place!! I would enjoy spending some time there!! And what great treasures they have!! Love it! You do have fun places to go, Grace, and I'm so glad you share them with us!! Have a great week!!

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  3. Beautiful shop, I like the porcelain children :) Arianna

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  4. Replies
    1. Interested in a closer look? Car is for sale.

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  5. I'd be right there with you, Grace. My grandmother had those ducks!

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  6. I love this place!!!!! This has been a super outing. Thank you :).

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  7. How great to learn more about the country!


    ALOHA from Honolulu
    ComfortSpiral

    =^..^=

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  8. Love antiques ~ just don't see enough of them up here in the Far North.

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  9. Interesting post, I would like to visit there but it is not likely to happen. Keep well Diane

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  10. The building opposite the café is so beautiful! I don't usually associate bikers with tearooms, lol but I looooooove your whatever they are. Snowmen with a brollie?

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  11. Love the vests the bikers wear, Grace (yips, the ole safety-guy, me, huh? ;-)...)
    Oh, my. Last time I´ve been on a flea-market I was 17! (But guess that´s not the same)

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  12. Ah, now I know why you drove out there! The hall looked brimming with goodies.
    Oh my, who didn't have least two flying ducks on the wall growing up!!

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  13. All that way to shop!
    Are you a woman by any chance....?

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  14. Looks like a neat place I wonder what the next town is like and the next......

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  15. What an interesting (and looks like fun-loving) place. I love the architecture. I see a lot of things in your photos that would tempt me. I do have a "thing" for dish patterns so I'm sure I'd enjoy looking through everything on offer. My mother had a set of "kissing cousins" very much like these only in blue. I wonder where they went.

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  16. This looks like an interesting place to spend a few days for sure! I just love the treasures you picked out. I could spend hours looking at all of those beautiful items.

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  17. What a wonderful trip to find all those treasures.

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  18. Seems like a great little town and so close to the city. I am sure it gets very busy at times.

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  19. Lovely posting Grace; Yay for Toodyay! The little town has had its ups and downs. Not so long ago a devastating bush fire was very hard to recover from but the town stood together and lots of Perthites who regularly drive out there on the weekend made sure they kept coming to keep the businesses going. We've attended the wonderful Moondyne Festival every year for many years, it's the fun re-inactment of Moondyne Joe's escape from Jail in Fremantle and eventual capture in the town. I was a featured writer of the inaugural Avon Valley Writers Festival in 2012 and spent one day in Northam and the second in Toodyay. So much to see and do there, thanks for giving everyone a delightful soup·çon.

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  20. Really nice photos. I wonder if there is a Christmas shop in Christmas, Florida? I've seen a few open year round Christmas shops here in hte USA, but I have never been to Christmas. Florida.
    Looks like the Bikers in Australia are much more safety conscious than those here. Here they like to wear black and blend into the asphalt and wonder why cars and trucks pull out in front of them.

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  21. Uhhh, that was a bunch of bikers in a tea shop (shoppe) with their pinkies raised? The Aussie bikers are a bit different from the ones over here.

    So, Grace is a collector. Glad you found what you were looking for. I'm in the "deaccessioning" phase, not the collecting phase.

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  22. Lovely treasures you got there. I remember ducks like those too, they seem to be quite pricey, they must be back in fashion...I love that small old car, so cute!

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  23. I like all of these photos.

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  24. A year-round Christmas shop? I love it!

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  25. Nice set of pictures - the high-visability waistcoats do rather separate bikers from bikies!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  26. I remember those ducks; they flew all the way over here too! Looks to be a colourful town.

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  27. The lemon juicer is too cute. Love antique shows and thrift shops.

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  28. My goodness what a treasure trove Grace. You could search for hours and still not see it all.

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  29. It looks to be an great place to stroll around in and check out the shops and other sights.
    However, I have trouble enough going in a Christmas shop at Christmas time, I don't think I'd be going anywhere near one in the summer (summer here, that is!) Very nice photos!

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  30. What a lovely place, I like especially the last photo!

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  31. I would like to visit the antique store! Wonderful street views as well.

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  32. That kissing couple is a famous Dutch souvenir, specially in Delft blue ha,ha. Look here;
    https://www.google.nl/search?q=kussend+paartje&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=vbloU9a8KoLfOOGegfAC&ved=0CDIQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=899

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  33. ha, i love that photo of the big bad bikers hanging out at the tea room :) ohhhh an antique store, love it!

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  34. Ahhh!!! A girl after my own heart!!! I love antiquing! And "heritage listed" communities!!! Looks like a fun excursion!!!

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  35. What a hoot to find bikers at a tea shop! Although I have to admit that my husband's last hospital roommate was a biker and he drank tea (weak tea, too, believe it or not) at lunch and dinner. (Black coffee at breakfast though. LOL)

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  36. what an interesting place and what a lovely car!:)

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  37. The first one is funny! pretty!
    It will be a postcard without making any retouching.
    I'd like to use this shot, on christmas season!!!
    Thanks to post.

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