About 90 minutes from Sydney is Long Jetty, a small town on the Central Coast. We visited there one Friday to check out what sort of shops they had- hopefully some unique items and maybe even a thrift store or two.
Overall, Long Jetty is a mixed bag. There are a few fashion stores, where the prices were quite good. There's a pretty big thrift store, but you just kinda feel uncomfortable browsing in there, and that's never a good thing. A singing owner actually makes you want to leave rather than stay and browse. Then there's the giant Christmas store. What can I say about this place? It's packed with Christmas decorations- so packed, in fact, that it's hard to get around, and makes one feel a bit trapped. There's a similar shop in Bredbo (it's a town near Cooma), and I guess if you're after some decorations, these are the places to go.
While there's not a lot of stores in Long Jetty, some of them are pretty cool. There's a kid's store that sells cute (albeit expensive) dolls; there was also an antique store which, for some reason, was shut.
Bateau Bay is a town just new Long Jetty, and it's the home of Australia's first Carl's Jr outlet. For those of you who have never visited the US, Carl's Jr is yet another fast food burger franchise. We tried it one time, when we stopped for lunch along one of the highways in California. Does the Australian version live up to the those in the US? Kinda. The thick shake was quite nice, and the prices are on par with all the other fast food places. My jalapeño burger was actually pretty tasty, but unfortunately, the lettuce was still really wet, so when you bite into the burger, all this water comes spurting out. Whilst I wouldn't drive an hour to visit, I would probably go again if there was one near my house.
I hope you guys are having a great day, and I'll catch you next time for another story from my life.
D