I was knocked over to discover this somewhat unique store in the Capalaba Park Shopping Centre. Never before have I come upon a shop that combines fresh fruit and veggies with a butchery, deli, and various condiments. With such an array of products you can save plenty of time that would otherwise be spent visiting 3 or 4 different stores.

The fruit and veggies are fresh and inviting, and much to my liking, Fresh Sensations has an extensive range of cheese and olives. They also sell a plethora of sauces, biscuits and pastas. Most of these products cannot be found on supermarket shelves. I haven't tried their meat, although it certainly looked enticing. Whilst Fresh Sensations' prices are a little on the high side, the quality and variety of stock makes paying a little more well worthwhile.

Redland Bay Bakery stands on the Bay side of Broadwater Terrace, right on the corner of Stradbroke Street. It shouldn't be confused with Uncle Bob's Bakery, which is also in Stradbroke Street but is part of the Redland Bay Village complex on the opposite side of the road.

A fairly traditional store, Redland Bay Bakery offers a good selection of pies, pasties and sausage rolls at very reasonable prices. Their $2.50 sausage roll was most agreeable and the alfresco dining area a very pleasant place in which to kill 30 minutes if you've just missed one of the Bay Island ferries.

Redland Bay Bakery also sells spinach & fetta, together with broccoli and cauliflower, triangles, continental sausages, and cheese and bacon croissants. An interesting extra at 50c is the extra mushy peas. They also have a nice assortment of cakes, Peter's Ice Creams, and cold drinks. Dining is also available inside.

Approximate cost: $2.50

Redland Bay Takeaway is a small but competitively priced business specializing in hot food. Hamburgers start from a very reasonable $5.20 each and fish from $5.60 for a piece of cod. Chicken Meal Packs start at $3.90 for 1 piece of chicken and chips, although Country Fried Chicken is also available by the piece only for $2.00 for a drum stick or spicy wing.

A variety of hot snacks are offered including chips, potato scallops, prawn parcels, beef croquette, battered savs, crumbed sausage, chicko rolls, chicken nuggets, chicken dim sims, ordinary dim sims, garlic balls, chicken kabana, pineapple fritters, pluto pups, pork riblets, spring rolls, mini spring rolls, fish cakes, and fish cocktails. Toasted sandwiches and rolls are also available, together with a variety of special deal packs.

Redland Bay Takeaway offers friendly and efficient service and has a small selection of lollies for the child that's always tugging on your skirt. Cold drinks, naturally, are also available.

Laundromats are one of those businesses that you don't frequently contemplate until your washing machine unceremoniously carks it or you're away on holiday. Moreover, they're notoriously difficult to track down online for the very reason that they're ordinarily coin operated. Without a shop attendant there's no need for a telephone number and hence no White or Yellow Pages web presence. Alas, should you find yourself with a basket of dirty washing at Redland Bay you'll now know where help is at hand.

Redland Bay Laundromat is tucked away in the Redland Bay Shopping Village just down from Uncle Bob's Bakery on Stradbroke Street. The facility has 7 Maytag washing machines which are coin operated at $5.00 per wash. These top loading machines have a 30 minute cycle time. There is also a large double load machine suitable for Queen and King size blankets, doonas and quilts which costs $8.00 per wash. This is handy even for those with washing machines, particularly small ones. They also have 4 dryers which are charged in increments of $2.00 for each 10 minutes. I can't imagine that you'd get much drying done in 10 minutes.

Redland Bay Laundromat has a large bench in the middle of the facility for sorting of clothes and 4 seats for waiting customers. Strict instructions adorn the walls including such directions as not washing items with dirt or animal hair on them. I don't know if that says more about the residents of Redland Bay or the officiousness of the Laundromat's owners. It couldn't help but make me remember with a laugh the somewhat bizarre caravan park in Wanganui, NZ that I once stayed at for the night. Run by a German, the list of "dos" and "don'ts" was so extensive as to make your tremble with fear at the consequences of a breach :)

Although they've yet to sell me a winning lottery ticket, Redland Bay News is notwithstanding a superior newsagents. With a convenient corner location, this store is large and well stocked. Together with the usual newspapers, magazines and stationery that one finds in such establishments, Redland Bay News has a good gift range and an abundance of statues of the Buddha for sale. Pink Poppy products can be found in abundance, together with a reasonable selection of what's left of Darrell Lea Chocolates.

Redland Bay News stocks John Sands greeting cards and has quite an extensive range. A hanging advertisement invites customers to participate in the John Sands Club and buy 6 cards and receive the 7th for free. Quality paperback novels are also offered at $5.95 each, although the variety is somewhat limited. For the kids they have some cute Angry Bird money boxes at their front counter. As to be expected, Redland Bay News is a Golden Casket agent.

Other than the quality of the food provided, I've always believed that customer service is just about the most important feature of a take away food outlet. So frequently you're let down by dour faced employees who consider you, the customer, to be privileged to receive their offhand service. Luckily Redland Bay Fish & Chips is not one of these establishments and provides phenomenally friendly service.

Redland Bay Fish & Chips is open 7 days per week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and welcomes phone orders. They have a great kids' menu for $5.00 which includes your choice of 6 Nuggets and Chips; 4 Fish Bites & Chips; 6 Calamari & Chips; or Kids' Cheese Burger. Burgers start from $6.50 and fish from $7.00. A number of value packs are offered starting with Fish & Chips for 1 at $9.50. This includes fish of the day, chips and a can of soft drink. A Seafood Basket is offered for $19.50 (a saving of $6.00) and includes Chips for 2, 4 Fish Bites, 2 Prawn Cutlets, 2 Sea Scallops, 6 Calamari Rings, Sauce and 2 cans of Soft Drink. A wide variety of hot food is available, together with sandwiches from $4.00 and wraps from $6.00. Eat in or take away is available.

Approximate cost: $9.50

I wish that I could be as glowing in my reviews as others have of My View, however my experience with redeeming vouchers has been appalling. I redeemed a $20.00 Wish Gift Voucher on 9 October 2012 and have still not received it. I have now rung My View's Brisbane office on three occasions and have not received a satisfactory response. I have been told that they have to have the incentives people look into it. Finally, yesterday, it was admitted that a number of people had not received their vouchers and that they were hoping that they would be dispatched by the end of this week. I really am beginning to wonder if this is a big con. Hitherto I've never had any difficulties redeeming vouchers from similar organizations.

I regularly used Landsborough Mechanical during the years that I lived in Landsborough and couldn't recommend them more highly. An independently owned business, they pay particular attention to their customer's needs and you can be assured that you won't be overcharged or charged for items that aren't needed. Service was exceptionally prompt and they were always obliging when it came to fixing up the odd piece that fell off the car. I was always having trouble with the electrics and lights for my trailer and they'd have them fixed in a jiffy. As a women who loves cars but knows little about their mechanics I always felt confident using Landsborough Mechanical.

I only recently discovered Super Butcher's Birkdale shop and was absolutely knocked out by it. The store was clean, fresh and not smelly like some other large butcher's stores are. I was impressed by the phenomenal range of meat and the free samples that they gave out.

Besides meat at very good prices they also stock an extraordinarily large selection of sauces, condiments, pasta and the like. They also had bargain bins with items such as a 695g jar of SPC pears in raspberry infused syrup for $1.00. They're absolutely delicious and with a screw top they're easy to store away in the fridge. There's a whole wall covered in freezers with a wide variety of foodstuffs from frozen french fries to pre-prepared curry meals. I was particularly impressed by the deal of a 12 pack of 680g cans of Butcher's Choice dog food for $12.00. I'm going back tomorrow to buy a slab of them. Here's hoping my dogs like it!

In terms of rewards programmes WDTY.com.au isn't too bad, particularly if you check your emails regularly and undertake some of the offers. On one occasion I received around 600 points for taking out a pre-paid Mastercard, and on another close to 800 for opening an online bank account. The surveys are far and few between but occasionally you come upon a good one, like the 1700 point life style one recently. I only joined in late September and have already received my first $20.00 cash redemption and am not far from my second.