Second-hand bookstores in Australia (East Coast Cairns-Sydney) ?

X-No-Archive:

Hi all,

in deciding how many books to pack for my upcoming 3-week-trip to
Australia (mainly the eastern coast between Cairns and Sydney) it
would help me to know how easy it is to buy second-hand replacements
along the way. ;-)
(In case you are interested, I prefer fantasy, science-fiction and
crime/thrillers.)

I remember from traveling the US that each and every little town had
at least one second-hand bookstore, so getting new reads was quite
easy.

What is the situation in Australia like, will it be as easy for me to
find second-hand bookstores and what are the prices for used paperback
books ?

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)

In Oz they are called "Book Exchange" and they seem to be in every town and
city I have ever been in.

Some of the best are in the smaller towns. At Daylesford in Victoria is the
best I can recall. Not just a book exchange but a treasure trove of
collectables as well - imagine just about every Phantom Comic book ever
published.

Ross

PS Daylesford is 110kms north west of Melbourne city.

wrote in message
ups.com...
X-No-Archive:

Hi all,

in deciding how many books to pack for my upcoming 3-week-trip to
Australia (mainly the eastern coast between Cairns and Sydney) it
would help me to know how easy it is to buy second-hand replacements
along the way. ;-)
(In case you are interested, I prefer fantasy, science-fiction and
crime/thrillers.)

I remember from traveling the US that each and every little town had
at least one second-hand bookstore, so getting new reads was quite
easy.

What is the situation in Australia like, will it be as easy for me to
find second-hand bookstores and what are the prices for used paperback
books ?

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 06:23:52 +1000, "Ross"
wrote:

In Oz they are called "Book Exchange" and they seem to be in every town and
city I have ever been in.

Some of the best are in the smaller towns. At Daylesford in Victoria is the
best I can recall. Not just a book exchange but a treasure trove of
collectables as well - imagine just about every Phantom Comic book ever
published.

Ross

I'd only bring a book to read on the flights; any more is
excess weight.

The rules in the book exchanges vary, so always ask first.
Some are 2-for-1 exchange or similar, but most now place a
value on the ones you give them as a credit to purchasing
theirs.

Also look for "op-shops"; usually places run by charities or
supporting local causes. They sell second-hand donated
items, often including well-used books and magazines at very
low prices.

When book exchanges or op-shops are hard to find just drop
in at a cafe or pub for lunch and ask the locals.

Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:53:51 -0700, wrote:

X-No-Archive:

Hi all,

in deciding how many books to pack for my upcoming 3-week-trip to
Australia (mainly the eastern coast between Cairns and Sydney) it
would help me to know how easy it is to buy second-hand replacements
along the way. ;-)
(In case you are interested, I prefer fantasy, science-fiction and
crime/thrillers.)

I remember from traveling the US that each and every little town had
at least one second-hand bookstore, so getting new reads was quite
easy.

What is the situation in Australia like, will it be as easy for me to
find second-hand bookstores and what are the prices for used paperback
books ?

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)


Heavens above !

With only three weeks here, are you not going to be looking around ??

Can't do that with your nose stuck in a book.

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:56:53 +0800, wrote in
:

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 07:53:51 -0700, wrote:

X-No-Archive:

Hi all,

in deciding how many books to pack for my upcoming 3-week-trip to
Australia (mainly the eastern coast between Cairns and Sydney) it
would help me to know how easy it is to buy second-hand replacements
along the way. ;-)
(In case you are interested, I prefer fantasy, science-fiction and
crime/thrillers.)

I remember from traveling the US that each and every little town had
at least one second-hand bookstore, so getting new reads was quite
easy.

What is the situation in Australia like, will it be as easy for me to
find second-hand bookstores and what are the prices for used paperback
books ?

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)


Heavens above !

With only three weeks here, are you not going to be looking around ??

Can't do that with your nose stuck in a book.

Damn it, Tony, I was about to say that, but you beat me to it!

Admittedly, I read a lot, including "Sci.Fi." but were in "Oz"
for only three weeks, I could find a hell of a lot of better
things to do, day or night!

But, hey, if he has that much time and money to waste, I suppose
I could sell him some of my old Sci.Fi. books!

Perhaps I could sell them for enough to visit New Zealand, the
origin of "Cath".

Or perhaps even visit her in Texas?

This could be more interesting, if I didn't get "offed" and
"buried on the back 40".....

As some of we more literate types know, "The Female of the
Species Is More Deadlier Than the Male", or so said Kipling

See:
http://www.potw.org/archive/potw96.html

What might have happened if I had chosen N.Z. rather than Oz
decades ago? I conceivably could have run across her at a much
earlier age, mistaken her for a literate teenager, and asked her
if she liked Kipling.

Possibly she would have giggled and said "I don't know, I've
never kippled"?

....At which point I probably would have arranged immediate
transport across the Tasman sea to Oz, where the girls might be a
bit more literate!

Actually the were, but that is another story!

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:56:53 +0800,
wrote:

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)


Heavens above !

With only three weeks here, are you not going to be looking around ??

Can't do that with your nose stuck in a book.

I use a book to read myself to sleep at night and on long
flights. Useful for that.


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest

On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:20:26 +1000, Alan S
wrote in :

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:56:53 +0800,
wrote:

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)


Heavens above !

With only three weeks here, are you not going to be looking around ??

Can't do that with your nose stuck in a book.

I use a book to read myself to sleep at night and on long
flights. Useful for that.


Cheers, Alan, Australia

Even would be useful on a tourist bus if you find yourself next
to someone uninteresting. I will refrain from mentioning the
name of a certain person in Texas.

Of course, there is the possibility that one might find oneself
next to another science fiction or fantasy fan. A simple way to
avoid this is to go to a used bookstore and pick up a old, cheap,
hardcover book with a very obscure title.

Perhaps something along the lines of "Discovering Messages From
God In Advanced Quadratic Equations" or perhaps "A
Psychopathological Study of New Zealand Immigrants to Texas".

Cover the book you are reading with this. The person sitting in
the adjoining seat probably won't pester you.

More seriously, though, all travel involves some boring transport
by air, sea, bus, etc.

Then too, in the best planned trip, there are sometimes delays
due to transport delays, weather conditions, and so on.

Even severe transport malfunctions. In the case of aircraft,
a pocket Bible could be handy. If a ship, a survival manual such
as "Stay Alive".

Of course, as an alternative to a book, can always carry a small
but sensitive shortwave radio receiver. Then you can get world
news wherever you are.

Or you can scan around the bands and check for music from various
countries. If the person next to you winces at your choice, then
turn the volume up a little. With luck, they may choose to move,
or jump overboard, or take another bus, or whatever.

Or listen to a genuinely interesting voice broadcast, and comment
on it at regular intervals, or offer to interpret it to the
person next to you. :-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

It's a big, big country - and if you are on a longish point to point
journey - a book's a great consolation (beats the hell out of missionary
tourists and others of like ilk!).

The advice you've been given by the non-judgemental posters on this branch
is good!

There are 'book exchanges' in every town of any size in the country.

Some will 'buy' your books at 25% of the sticker price, and sell you books
at 50% of the sticker price - fair enough in my experience. Others have
different - but not too dissimilar formulae.

Have fun!





"kangaroo16" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:20:26 +1000, Alan S
wrote in :

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:56:53 +0800,
wrote:

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)


Heavens above !

With only three weeks here, are you not going to be looking around ??

Can't do that with your nose stuck in a book.

I use a book to read myself to sleep at night and on long
flights. Useful for that.


Cheers, Alan, Australia

Even would be useful on a tourist bus if you find yourself next
to someone uninteresting. I will refrain from mentioning the
name of a certain person in Texas.

Of course, there is the possibility that one might find oneself
next to another science fiction or fantasy fan. A simple way to
avoid this is to go to a used bookstore and pick up a old, cheap,
hardcover book with a very obscure title.

Perhaps something along the lines of "Discovering Messages From
God In Advanced Quadratic Equations" or perhaps "A
Psychopathological Study of New Zealand Immigrants to Texas".

Cover the book you are reading with this. The person sitting in
the adjoining seat probably won't pester you.

More seriously, though, all travel involves some boring transport
by air, sea, bus, etc.

Then too, in the best planned trip, there are sometimes delays
due to transport delays, weather conditions, and so on.

Even severe transport malfunctions. In the case of aircraft,
a pocket Bible could be handy. If a ship, a survival manual such
as "Stay Alive".

Of course, as an alternative to a book, can always carry a small
but sensitive shortwave radio receiver. Then you can get world
news wherever you are.

Or you can scan around the bands and check for music from various
countries. If the person next to you winces at your choice, then
turn the volume up a little. With luck, they may choose to move,
or jump overboard, or take another bus, or whatever.

Or listen to a genuinely interesting voice broadcast, and comment
on it at regular intervals, or offer to interpret it to the
person next to you. :-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 21:22:53 +1000, "A Mate"
wrote:

It's a big, big country - and if you are on a longish point to point
journey - a book's a great consolation (beats the hell out of missionary
tourists and others of like ilk!).

Good heavens ! Isn't that the whole idea of travel, to meet other
people and ideas ??

Not going to find those experiences in the book you're reading.....


The advice you've been given by the non-judgemental posters on this branch
is good!

There are 'book exchanges' in every town of any size in the country.

Some will 'buy' your books at 25% of the sticker price, and sell you books
at 50% of the sticker price - fair enough in my experience. Others have
different - but not too dissimilar formulae.

Have fun!





"kangaroo16" wrote in message
.. .
On Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:20:26 +1000, Alan S
wrote in :

On Mon, 15 Oct 2007 09:56:53 +0800,
wrote:

Your help and any recommendation of good places to hunt for new
additions to my book collection are most appreciated !
:-)


Heavens above !

With only three weeks here, are you not going to be looking around ??

Can't do that with your nose stuck in a book.

I use a book to read myself to sleep at night and on long
flights. Useful for that.


Cheers, Alan, Australia

Even would be useful on a tourist bus if you find yourself next
to someone uninteresting. I will refrain from mentioning the
name of a certain person in Texas.

Of course, there is the possibility that one might find oneself
next to another science fiction or fantasy fan. A simple way to
avoid this is to go to a used bookstore and pick up a old, cheap,
hardcover book with a very obscure title.

Perhaps something along the lines of "Discovering Messages From
God In Advanced Quadratic Equations" or perhaps "A
Psychopathological Study of New Zealand Immigrants to Texas".

Cover the book you are reading with this. The person sitting in
the adjoining seat probably won't pester you.

More seriously, though, all travel involves some boring transport
by air, sea, bus, etc.

Then too, in the best planned trip, there are sometimes delays
due to transport delays, weather conditions, and so on.

Even severe transport malfunctions. In the case of aircraft,
a pocket Bible could be handy. If a ship, a survival manual such
as "Stay Alive".

Of course, as an alternative to a book, can always carry a small
but sensitive shortwave radio receiver. Then you can get world
news wherever you are.

Or you can scan around the bands and check for music from various
countries. If the person next to you winces at your choice, then
turn the volume up a little. With luck, they may choose to move,
or jump overboard, or take another bus, or whatever.

Or listen to a genuinely interesting voice broadcast, and comment
on it at regular intervals, or offer to interpret it to the
person next to you. :-)

Cheers,
Kangaroo16

On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 00:12:24 +0900,
wrote:

On Sat, 3 Nov 2007 21:22:53 +1000, "A Mate"
wrote:

It's a big, big country - and if you are on a longish point to point
journey - a book's a great consolation (beats the hell out of missionary
tourists and others of like ilk!).

Good heavens ! Isn't that the whole idea of travel, to meet other
people and ideas ??

Not going to find those experiences in the book you're reading.....

Beats the heck out of annoying the passenger beside you
non-stop on an 8-hour bus or train ride or flight. There are
times when I found it useful to offer a free book to the
person beside me.


Cheers, Alan, Australia
--
http://loraltravel.blogspot.com/
latest: Slovenia
http://loraltraveloz.blogspot.com/
latest: Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest