Aid for the Blind Op Shop at Cannon Hill is a great op shop raising money for a very worthy cause. The volunteer shop assistants are friendly and helpful and will even hold clothes for several days, without deposit.

The quality of the clothes sold is very good and the prices reasonable. A women's skirt, for example, would usually sell for around $8.00. Clothes are displayed in accordance with variety, eg, skirts, tops, dresses, and also colour, thereby making your clothing choice much easier. Particularly fashionable clothes are displayed in appealing racks outside the store in the mall. They also have racks of size 16 and over clothes and sell a variety of home and kitchen wares, for example, plates, knives and forks. Aid for the Blind Op Shop is also a good source for LP records, for which they generally have a plentiful supply.

The Redback Garden Centre is the home of Brisbane's famous Big Redback. The redback is not on the toilet seat, however, but on the roof of an out house which does have a toilet inside, even if it isn't connected :)

Although plants are available at the Redback Garden Centre, it's principally landscape supplies that are sold. The yard is full of mulches, barks, gravels, sand, rock, boulders, soils, road base, compost and the like. There is also a good variety of timber for landscaping needs. The place is swarming with trucks, both the Garden Centre's and private businesses, so care must be taken not to become a victim of one!

Australians tend to have a bizarre interest in things big - The Big Banana, The Big Pineapple, The Big Marino to name but a few. Beerwah boasts its own "big" thing - The Big Mower. Unlike the other "bigs", which are often tens of metres high and made of fibreglass, The Big Mower is a several metre high billboard adorned at the top by a painting of a bikini clad women driving a ride-on-mower.

The Big Mower sells and services lawn mowers, chainsaws, brush cutters, hedge trimmers, generators and water pumps. The have a huge supply of spare parts for the products sold and you can always be sure to pick up that lawn mower blade, spark plug, or pull cord that you need for your mower. The shop is large, clean and well laid out and the staff attentive. The serving department is on the ball, although I did consider the cost of servicing my Victa mower a little excessive.

When my son was experiencing speech and language difficulties his school referred us to John Pearcy Audiology for a hearing assessment. A Saturday morning appointment was quickly and conveniently arranged. Parking was available right outside the clinic as it is within a small plaza set back from busy Cleveland Road.

The staff were friendly and helped reassure my somewhat hesitant son who had never before undertaken a hearing assessment. The assessment took no more than 30 minutes and a detailed written report was provided to the school on Monday, only two days after the appointment. I was extremely happy with the service provided and can thoroughly recommend John Pearcy Audiology.

Approximate cost: $130.00

Residents of the south eastern suburbs of Brisbane are blessed to have the services of Manly Road Veterinary Hospital, a facility that is open 24 hours per day. Although their charges are somewhat high, this is to be anticipated given the extended hours that they operate.

The 24 hour nature of Manly Road's clinic also means that it's a frequent deposit point for lost animals. One of my dogs went walk-about in Cannon Hill one Friday evening and was picked up by a friendly stranger who thought him lost. My dog was taken to Manly Road Veterinary Hospital where he remained until I was able to locate him on the Sunday. The RSPCA had suggested that the vets might be one possibility. When I collected my dog he was happy and healthy and the vets did not charge for keeping him for two days. I was overjoyed and so thankful!

Conveniently located only 200 metres from the ferry jetty, Bay Islands Veterinary Services at Macleay Island is open for consultations on Tuesday (all day) and Saturday mornings. They offer free pickups from the jetty and also, in the case of out of hours emergencies, a pet ambulance to their parent practice, Manly Road Veterinary Hospital. This service is available to all four of the Southern Moreton Bay Islands (SMBI). They also offer free micro-chipping for clients - the pets, not the human owners, that is :)

On a Saturday morning after I had removed 5 or 6 paralysis ticks from one of my dogs the previous evening, I was blessed to be able to quickly obtain an appointment. Thankfully my dog was not showing any great signs of paralysis and required only anti-serum. Being able to attend a vet close to my home and in a timely manner invariably saved my dog from deteriorating. It also safeguarded me from much higher veterinary costs had the dog needed hospitalization.

Open 7 days per week, the Thornlands Veterinary Hospital provides an excellent service for busy people and emergency veterinary cases. The vets and support staff at this recently built facility are kind and considerate, both to their animal clients and also to their often anxious human owners.

It was a Sunday emergency that introduced one of my dogs and I to the Thornlands Veterinary Hospital. We live on Russell Island, a beautiful island but one nonetheless which is infested heavily with parasitic ticks in the summer months. Having removed a number of parasitic ticks from my older dog one evening, I noticed the first signs of paralysis the following morning. To ensure the well-being of my dog I had no option other than to make a trip to the mainland to a Sunday opening vet clinic. I was blessed that Thornlands Veterinary Hospital was open and could almost immediately see my dog. She required anti-serum and an overnight stay at hospital but was released in good form the following day. Although the cost was higher than expected, the service was tremendous and undoubtedly saved my dog's life.

If there's one thing that's guaranteed to be always happening at Russell Island then it's construction work. With a rapidly increasing population, and a plethora of vacant land, houses are constantly being constructed. Ensuring that you have the tools and equipment required is a ongoing battle made all the more difficult by the fact that Russell Island is not connected to the mainland by a bridge. Andy Hire attempts to make this battle a little less difficult.

Andy Hire provides equipment hire such as a dingo, crane truck and driver, and a Pantec that can be driven with car licence. They also hire general tools required for construction work.

The Andy Hire Hardware Store is open 6 days per week and sells a selection of hardware supplies and timber. Although the range of hardware supplies is not huge you can generally find something to fit the bill. In the event that they don't, the Russell Island Service Station next door also stocks a good selection of hardware. This helps alleviate the need to make a trip to the mainland just to pick up the one little item you forgot.

When you're the only glazier on an island accessible only by ferry and vehicular barge it would be fairly easy to become complacent and unresponsive to your customers needs. After all, where else can they go? Luckily nothing could be further from the truth for Russell Island Glass and Glazing. All my contacts with the owner operator, Gary, have been 100% positive. He has turned up exactly at the time arranged on each occasion and completed the work quickly and in a workman like manner. Gary removed a broken shower screen and replaced it with a brand new shower screen/door. I couldn't have been happier with the work.

Russell Island Glass and Glazing are insured and carry out all work in accordance with Australian Standards. Together with all your glass needs they also supply window, door and fly screens. As Russell Island is inundated by mosquitoes and midges, having perfect screens is a must if you don't want to spend your life itching and covered in calamine lotion!

Operated as an outreach of Redlands Veterinary Clinic, Russell Island Veterinary Services has vet consultations every Thursday between 8.30 a.m. and 1.00 p.m. and at other times if booked through the mainland clinic (3207 7325).

Each Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 8.30 a.m. and 12.00 midday the clinic is open for the purchase of vet, pet and grooming supplies. A dog washing service is also available by appointment on Sundays. As Russell Island is afflicted by paralysis ticks in the summer, the availability of a veterinary service which sells preventative treatments such as Advantix, Frontline and Tick Collars is essential. Prices are competitive with mainland veterinary clinics, although purchasing online would possibly be cheaper. That, however, would require you to be organized :)