Op Shop Tour of Melbourne
Joanne O’Callaghan began doing the Op Shop bus tours in Adelaide as a promo for her cabaret show ‘Girl in a Tablecloth’ and it took off to become hugely popular in it’s own right. So she decided to do the Op Shop tours in Melbourne, despite her evening cabaret show at Melbourne’s Fringe Festival, Ca Va, having a completely different theme (waitressing). Op Shopping would have to be the ‘fringe’ version of shopping, wouldn’t it? The best ones are hidden, dotted about the inner suburbs of Melbourne and may look a bit tatty at first can surprise you with glorious glamorous gems. Best of all, not only do you save some cash, you are recycling, giving to charity and come out feeling really good about yourself. On the Op Shop Tour, you feel even better because you have a bus full of people to share it with.
Joanne set the mood for a stimulating day by singing the appropriate “History Repeating” to open the tour, then she gave us the run down of the trip and explained the rules. There were going to be 5 stops on our four hour tour with access to ten op shops and we could leave the bus at anytime, but if we weren’t back on board in time, then the bus would go off without us. We were expected by the Op Shops, some of whom put on extra staff and special bargains for us. It was a nice mix of all the major Op Shop charities and a Savers thrown in. Savers is not a charity second hand store, but there was a charity Op Shop nearby for those who objected. Part of the fun was finding out what everyone bought and who got the best bargain. As well as clothes, some found books, for others china and one chap scored a pith helmet. Mine was a beaded silk organza Anthea Crawford top for five bucks.
On the bus Joanne had organised some entertainment including pass the parcel, door prize, who can buy the best tie for the bus driver and the quiz which didn’t work all that well in such a large bus, but that’s OK as we all learned some things about op shops. Most of us chatting on the bus agreed that it might be better to choose a smaller area of Melbourne and spend more time in the op shops and less time on the bus, 20 to 40 minutes at each stop was barely enough time. But Joanne was sharing with us her secret special Op Shops and it was a great way to have a taste of what’s around. Considering all the stuff we came away with, a fun Op Shopping day was had by all.