Carina Fresh is an extraordinary deli and fruit & veg store. It's quite a rare beast in that it caters both for the high end of the market, particularly in respect of the deli items, and also to those less well heeled members of the community. At the front of the store there are always buckets of extraordinarily fresh fruit at even more amazing prices. Each bucket would hold in excess of 1kg of produce. Yesterday, for example, a bucket of divine looking Cavendish bananas were selling for $1.49, whilst a bucket of Honey Murcott Mandarins were going out the door for 99c. Potatoes, carrots and apples are always available at excellent prices.

Once inside the store one's senses are confronted by the plethora of deli items. "Boydie's Cheese Bar" has an exquisite collection of cheeses including Greek Massari, Sheep's Milk, Windsor Red, Buffalo's Cheese, Roaring Forties Blue, Black Wax Cheddar and numerous varieties of King Island cheeses, to name but a few. A wide variety of water crackers are sold to compliment the cheese. Although the cheeses on offer aren't cheap, they are certainly a delight for the connoisseur.

Once you reach the refrigerated deli display cabinets you are knocked over by the plethora of different varieties of olives. Amongst those available are green stuffed, fetta stuffed, parmesan stuffed, chilli stuff, Sicilian, marinated Italian and smoked Kalamata olives.

Carina Fresh also sell an amazing range of pastas, including one of my son's favourites, a rainbow coloured variety. Available as well is fresh pasta. Nuts, nuts and more nuts are available at the front of the store, together with a vast array of condiments and sauces.

It's difficult to give an adequate summary of just how awe inspiring this store is. If you're interested in finding out more a somewhat dated, but nonetheless still relevant, review appeared in the Courier Mail in 2008. You can access David Costello's article here - http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/fresh-take-on-quality/story-e6frer66-1111116846362

Opening directly onto the street, Peter's Seafood & Takeaway is a light and airy fish 'n' chip shop on busy Old Cleveland Road. Principally catering for takeway, the shop only has 4 or 5 seats for customers. These seats are before a large bench table and look out to Old Cleveland Road. It's a real shame that this store isn't at a beach where customers could have a lovely view whilst eating.

Peter's Seafood sells hamburgers, salads, rolls, sandwiches, dim sims, spring rolls, crumbed sausages, pineapple fritters, fish cakes, corn jacks, battered savs and lasagne topper. Chips and several varieties of fish can be bought separately or in one of a number of special packs. The seafood basket, at $9.50, is particularly good value and consists of 1 cod, 1 seafood stick, 2 calamari rings, 2 seafood bites and chips. The food is always nicely cooked and delicious.

Approximate cost: $9.50

Carina News is a large but sparsely stocked newsagents. Conveniently located at the pedestrian crossing and with a large bench seat outside, the newsagents is also next door to the chemist shop. For ease of access Carina News opens directly onto the street, with the Golden Casket counter at the very front of the store.

Carina News is a Translink Go Card stockist and also has a small array of gifts and books for sale. Presently children's books are on sale for $3.99 each or 3 for $10.00. This newsagents also has a good supply of ice cold drinks at the shop's entrance.

Open until 8.30 p.m. seven days per week, Carina Day & Night Pharmacy provides a much needed service for residents of south-east Brisbane. The pharmacy is also a particularly rare Compounding Chemist, which means that they have specially trained pharmacists who can mix drugs that aren't commercially available or provide them in doses not otherwise marketed. Compounding also allows them to attend to the needs of patients who require medicines with colour free preservatives because of allergies. In essence, the pharmacists at Carina Day & Night Pharmacy are able to mix drugs in the same manner as all chemists did in the days prior to mass produced drugs.

Carina Pharmacy has a good selection of walking frames and walking sticks for sale, together with a nice array of gifts. I particularly liked the chicken theme evident in many of the items. They also sell Darrell Lea chocolates (or what's left of them) and have a licensed Australia Post office within the store. Although parking is at a premium on Old Cleveland Road, there is a reasonably sized car park at the rear of the store, with back door stairwell access.

For a reasonably small Sunshine Coast Hinterland town, Landsborough Saddlery & Pet Supplies is a surprisingly large and well stocked store. Located within two shop spaces, the Pet Supplies is also the hub for an online saddlery, Kingston Horse Supplies.

The Pet Shop has an extensive range of live fish, fish tanks and associated paraphernalia, and they usually have guinea pigs in stock. Over the years we have bought a number of guinea pigs from Landsborough Saddlery & Pet Supplies and have found all of them to be in excellent health. On one occasion we bought a pregnant female and were delighted to be blessed with 4 babies within the week. Since we left the Sunshine Coast Hinterland we have continued to visit the store and even purchased guinea pigs and transported them to Brisbane. At $15.00 each they are far better value than the prices in Brisbane pet shops which can sometimes be as high as $35.00 for a long haired variety.

Landsborough Saddlery & Pet Supplies also sell rodent cages, cat scratching posts, dog kennels and beds, and an extensive range of saddlery products. Feed, most of which is mixed in-store, is also available for purchase.

I lived in Landsborough for four years and during this time the Landsborough Chemist was my pharmacy of choice. Although it's the only chemist in Landsborough there are a number of larger chemists in the next town, Beerwah. I always found that the Beerwah chemists were far too busy and the wait for scripts to be filled was inordinately long. Since we moved from the area we have called into the Chemist shop on a number of occasions. When you've got young children you often have cause to purchase emergency first aid supplies when you're travelling.

Landsborough Chemist is a reasonably sized store for its location and has a quite extensive range of gifts for sale. Whenever I browse there I can always be assured of finding something quite unique. Together with a large range of cosmetics, the Landsborough Chemist also sells the usual medical items that one finds in a pharmacy. They are also agents for the Bendigo Bank.

I've been taking my kids to Buck's Bakery since they were knee high to grasshoppers and it was with much regret to them that we moved away from Landsborough and the pies that they love so much. Whenever we visit, however, we call into Buck's Bakery.

Situated opposite from the railway station and down a little from the rest of the Landsborough shops, Buck's Bakery has been around for a number of years. I have to admit to having only ever purchased sausage rolls as my expense account could never be stretched to meet the cost of cakes and pastries :) My children, however, have eaten most of the pie varieties and think they're great. When they were very young they used to eat the pies with a spoon, which used to raise a few eyebrows. There are a couple of laminated tables outside for alfresco dining although the footpath on which they're placed is not very wide.

If you like a laugh, look at the house next door to the bakery which appears to be owned by the Buck's proprietors. On the gate is a hand painted sign stating "NO PARKING CARS WILL BE SHREDDED AND TURNED INTO CAKE TINS". Hasten to add, we were never game enough to test it out!

Approximate cost: $4.00

When I was in my teens I used to call stores such as Eclectic Dreams "Indian shops". Such was my naivety that I assumed all of their products came from one country. I couldn't have been more wrong. It was with great delight that I discovered Eclectic Dreams when I moved to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland nearly 7 years ago. Although I have since moved from the area, I always call into Eclectic Dreams when visiting my old stomping ground.

Spread across two retail shops and with a cafe, The 3 Divas Cafe, in the third, Eclectic Dreams is a wonderland of all things alternative and New Age. From their extensive range of clothes and shoes, to greeting cards and crystals, Eclectic Dreams has it all. They have a particular liking for motivational wall hangings and you can find many of these in stock. They also sell jewellery, incense, oils and burners. Their range of gifts is truly extensive. I can't begin to do justice to this store in writing and suggest that readers visit their Facebook page to catch a glimpse of their amazing wares - http://www.facebook.com/EclecticDreamsShop?fref=ts,

Aussie Toner is an independent retailer of printer cartridges which trades through eBay. Established for several years, Aussie Toner is a Top-rated seller with consistently excellent customer feedback.

I have twice purchased cartridges for my Brother HL-2130 Compact Mono Printer and have been extraordinarily pleased with the service provided. After extensive on-line searches and telephone calls to retailers such as Cartridge World, it was soon evident that Aussie Toner's prices were by far the most competitive. I paid $32.00 for a drum cartridge that Cartridge World quoted $50.00 for. Delivery was absolutely free and the package was posted on the day of order by Express Post. On both occasions I received the drum cartridge the next day. I couldn't have been happier.

In respect of the product features, Aussie Toner state that all items are 100% compatible to genuine products and have excellent printing performance. The products are factory sealed in retail packaging. Each item has 2 years shelf life and
3 months replacement warranty from the invoice date.

Approximate cost: $32.00

Together with selling directly from their website, Eastlakes Electronics also trades on eBay. When I've compared their website and the eBay store, there appears to be many more listings on eBay. The eBay store can be accessed at
http://stores.ebay.com.au/af2018?_trksid=p4340.l2563

I purchased a car charger for my Samsung Galaxy Y (GT-5360T) for the phenomenally low price of $3.99. Postage was free and the item arrived in SE Qld from Sydney in 6 days. I was pleased to purchase from an Australian company which has been in business since 1993 rather than from an overseas supplier. I highly recommend Eastlakes Electronics.

Approximate cost: $3.99