G’day, mate!
This week we travel (virtually) down under to Australia, specifically to Perth on the west coast and Urunga (north of Sydney) on the east coast where I taught fabric collage two years ago in April. Was it really only two years ago? So much has changed since then it seems longer.
If you are an armchair traveller, you’ll appreciate this week’s Summer Rerun Saturday blog post (which is really two posts in one). Aside from the wonderful fabric collage quilts (beginning with Jill Linton’s stoat portrait, above), I took and shared tons of scenic and memento photos of the country and its wildlife. There’s slideshows of botanic gardens, wildlife parks, a Segway tour of Perth, sunrise beach walks, and more. If you’ve never been to Australia, you may feel you have after viewing the photos.
There are also a few audio and video treats. In one, Michelle Pearson tries to correct my use of Australian slang—good on ya. In another I recorded the racket the birds—especially lorikeets—make each morning.
You have one more Summer Rerun Saturday coming up next week, before we return the week after with a brand new blog post. Cheers!
On the Road Teaching: Perth, Australia—2018
Originally Posted: June 2, 2018
I might as well start this post off with a HUGE thank you to Michelle Pearson for being such a wonderful host and tour guide during my visit to Perth. Michelle was ambassador extraordinaire while I was in town to teach a four-day class at her shop, Handcrafters House.
Michelle and my students expressed their appreciation to me for making the trip Down Under. I have to say, it is a haul. The first, 18 hour leg, went over the Arctic to Hong Kong—due to the length of summer days, it was daylight the entire time. I arrived in Hong Kong at sunset, so the second leg to Perth was dark the entire time.
Australians are known as world travelers, and they realize that it is a big commitment to be willing to put yourself through the hassle of air travel and jet lag and customs and so on and on.
When I finally arrived in Australia, Michelle was very adamant about keeping me so busy the first few days before class began that I wouldn’t have time to get tired or take a nap when my body was telling me it was the middle of the night.
Boy, did she do a good job of keeping me busy.
BUT, we’ll get to that later, because Tom reminds me that this blog is supposed to be about fabric collage quilting. So I’ll talk about the class first, then I’ll back up and cover the sightseeing. I have tons of photos and videos, so be prepared. If you want to skip the travel photos, I understand. But another thank you to Michelle for not only generously sharing her time with me, but her photos and videos as well.
Teaching
Handcrafters House has a really nice classroom space, with copious light. And of course, it’s always a treat to be working in a place that has such an extensive fabric selection, so if you forgot or need anything, it’s right there.
The photo above left, shows the pallet of fabric shapes that Jan Rowe cut for her chameleon, below, after making her initial fabric selection. I was honored when Jan told me she had been waiting 11 years to take a class from me—from my first visit to New Zealand in 2007, to a wait-list for my first Australia trip in 2016, and finally into this class. It was a pleasure to see her chameleon come to life after all that time.
Ric Blaquiere’s Spitz pup—seen on wall in photo below—got a floral make-over this week. Part of the class is to train your eyes to look at your fabric in a different way, to see lines or patterns that you can use for your image in a way not necessarily intended in the original fabric design. I was totally impressed when Ric found her dog’s teeth in butterfly wing spots—see photo above. I love it.
These students came from all over the state of Western Australia, which can mean many hours of travel since Western Australia is one third the size of the continental United States. One woman, Liz McAinsh, came all the way from South Africa to take the class. She had a grand time creating the larger-than-life laughing image of her friend (above).
When they weren’t taking their tea, I kept these ladies hard at work, or as they might say, they were “flat out like a lizard drinking”—one of my favorite Aussie sayings that I learned.
I definitely needed to be coached on Aussie pronunciation. I was able to amuse everyone at a staff dinner by my inability to say the word “no,” as an Australian does. You wouldn’t think that a two letter word could be so hard to wrap your tongue around.
They also had to coach me on how to the say the word “tulle.” In the sound clip below, Michelle gives me a lesson. When said at regular speaking speed, there’s a “ch” sound at the beginning, but when she slows it down, it sounds more like “tyule.”
Regardless of the language barrier, by Day Four the fabric collages were coming together and looking “bloody awesome.” There was a nice variety of subject matter as you will see from the slideshow below.
Student Work Slideshow
The last day of class was Mother’s Day. I was happy to spend it with a whole group of women and mothers and all their wonderful energy. Michelle had put out flowers for everyone. And there was a surprise bouquet from my husband Tom and son Sam, waiting in the classroom that morning.
Sightseeing
The morning I arrived, Michelle whisked me of to the Botanic Gardens in Kings Park, where I saw a Boab (not Baobab) tree for first time. We also visited the Caversham Wildlife Park where I got to pat koalas and wombats and feed kangaroos. How cool is that? I found out that kangaroos have soft and gentle feet when they steady themselves to eat from your hands.
Kings Park Botanic Gardens Slideshow
Caversham Wildlife Park Slideshow
That day, Michelle started introducing me to Australian colloquialisms. As we were dropping my stuff off at the B&B, there was a murder of noisy, obnoxious crows about.
“Stone the bloody crows!” said Michelle.
The next morning, in my non-Aussie way, I remembered it as “throw a rock at the crows.” Michelle got a kick out of that one—hear it below.
Michelle loves doing Segway tours, and introduces as many tutors (as teachers are called in Australia) as she can to that mode of transportation. So on Day Two she got me out on one. She’s pretty coordinated—doing videos and even panorama shots while operating a Segway. Me, I finally got to point where I lifted both hands off the bars, for maybe three long seconds. But it was empowering for me in a small way: now there’s one more thing I know I can do in life. Via Segway I got to see different areas of Kings Park, which is one and a half times the size of Central Park in NYC. From our tour guide I learned a little more about the Boab of Australia. It’s an ancient tree existing since Australia and Africa were joined in the ancient super-continent called Gondwana. When the continents split apart, the Boab tree diverged from the Baobab tree of Africa.
After Segway-ing, lunching, and walking around Perth a bit, I was able to introduce Michelle to some street art I had read about, but she hadn’t known about, called the Wolf Street murals.
Segway Tour Slideshow
Downtown Perth Slideshow
Wolf Street Murals Slideshow
More Downtown Perth Slideshow
On day three (my last day of freedom before class), we drove south for a ferry ride to Penguin Island in the Shoalwater Islands Marine Park, to see the little (or blue, or fairy) penguins, the world’s smallest penguin. The penguin colony takes to the sea to feed during the day, but we could still see feeding time for a few orphaned and injured penguins that are being cared for. We then took a boat tour from the island and were treated to a mother dolphin and her six-week-old calf swimming next to the boat. Then we admired the endangered sea lions on Seal Island, the males were out and sparring on the island as others were playing in the wake of our boat. We also drifted past a pelican rookery. Once back on land, I dipped my toes in the Indian Ocean for the first time, and I got a video of a cute little bird called a Willy Wagtail, with a tail that, well, wags.
Penguin Island Slideshow
Every morning (before sightseeing or before class) I went for a walk around “my” Perth neighborhood, trying to see or hear as many birds as possible. One morning I saw rainbow lorikeets, magpies, twenty-eights (a type of parrot), galahs (a type of cockatoo), and also flocks of black cockatoos and white cockatoos (which are considered pests)—all of which you just don’t see back home in Maine, USA. While teaching in Perth, the area posted record-breaking warm temperatures during their autumn: 31 degrees C, or 80 plus degrees F.
Cheers!
Before flying to the east coast of Australia for the next leg of teaching, I had one more day in Perth. Michelle and I returned to Kings Park and saw a few of the other attractions there, and plantings of flora from around the country. I had seen photos of the beautiful aquamarine blue water of Western Australia, so we drove to the coast for lunch at Cottesloe Beach and dallied in the area long enough to see the sun set over the Indian Ocean. And what a beautiful sunset it was.
On the Beach Slideshow
On the way back that night, as Michelle was describing to me the many and varied uses of the word “bugger,” we missed a sign for a detour so we wound up “chucking a U-ey in the middle of bloody woop-woop.” Listen to Michelle’s description.
As mementos of my time in Perth, I returned home with a few kilos of Aussie fabrics from Michelle’s shop. Added to my previous stash, I figure I now probably have one of the best private collections of Australian Aboriginal fabrics in the Northern Hemisphere—or at least in Maine.
On the Road Teaching: Urunga, Australia—2018
Originally Posted: June 9, 2018
Australia is big. It was a whole day of travel to fly from Perth on the west coast to Coffs Harbour on the east coast. It was twilight by the time Caroline Sharkey, fellow fiber artist and my host for the second half of my Australia visit, took me shopping for a few a groceries for the efficiency apartment I would be staying in (BTW, pictured above is sliced polenta with melted mozzarella cheese (mine is a vegan variety), then topped with Vegemite and guacamole!).
I looked across the parking lot and in the light from the city I saw this flock of birds go by—and it kept going and going and going. I asked what they were. “Oh those are bats.” Fruit bats—seemingly thousands of them—were heading out to forage for the night. Can’t say I’ve ever seen that before. Five nights later, on my last night in Urunga where I would be teaching, I got to see and hear them as they took off from roosting—but more on that later.
Urunga is a short drive from Coffs Harbour. It’s a small town where the Bellinger River meets the pounding surf of the Tasman Sea. A kilometer long boardwalk allows people to safely cross over the sand and strong tidal currents, through the mangrove forests, and to the ocean beach. Perfect for morning walks.
I had my first day in Urunga off to relax before my class began at Caroline’s “Sewing Up a Coastal Storm” Retreat. That morning, I planned to head for the boardwalk, but as I was eating breakfast on my outdoor patio, a kookaburra landed on the chair next to me. He was interested in sharing my food. When I failed to produce anything edible, he made off with my Mother’s Day rose that I had left in the sun to dry. A small price to pay for such an up close and personal encounter with an iconic Australian creature. On the final night when I saw the roosting bats, I also got to hear the kookaburra’s call. It sounded like a troupe of monkeys or maniacal laughter.
I did finally get out to the boardwalk that first morning, and every other morning while in Urunga—it was just too beautiful not to. Starting days like that was a treat for the senses: a visual feast for the eyes, a touch sensation as I dipped my toes into the ocean (which was amazingly warm), and the sounds of the birds twittering away in the trees from sunrise to sunset will not soon be forgotten.
Morning Birds Audio
Sunrise Walks Slideshow
Class
One thing common to both of my Australian classes was morning tea. Around about 10:30 each morning, I might be giving a talk and I’d notice some were getting distracted. They were doing everything except look at their wristwatches. I finally realized it wasn’t (necessarily) me.
“Is it time for tea?” I’d say.
The class would break, then sit for tea and snacks. Unlike here in the States, they wouldn’t bring their cuppa tea or coffee back to sip as they worked—or for me to finish my talk. No, it was sit and socialize for 10 to 20 minutes.
But if that’s what it took, it worked. Take a look at what my Urunga students accomplished in the slide show below.
Student Work Slideshow
There were two classes going on at “Quilting Up a Coastal Storm,” my own four-day class and another three-day class who were painting and then stitching their creations. A lot of good energy all around.
On the third night, there was a group dinner—including any spouses or friends—at a local sports club. There were a few big screens set up and on the one closest to us, some of my students asked to change the station from the soccer match to the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Australia being a commonwealth of Great Britain, my students were very interested in the Royal Family, and the topic added another layer to the dinner conversation. I doubt I would have watched it at home, but I got caught up in the social drama and ended up watching the rest of the wedding later in my apartment.
Apartment and Birds Slideshow
One of my favorite evening things was the sound of rainbow lorikeets which swooped around in great flocks their chittering and chattering drowning out all other sounds. They got especially loud at sunset, creating a din as they gathered to roost.
Lorikeet Racket
Out and About in Bellingen Shire
Caroline played tour guide my first day in Urunga. We went a short distance along Waterfall Way, up into the Gondwana Rainforest in Dorrigo National Park with its lush trees and tree ferns. The area is called New England (coincidentally, I live in New England as well) and some spots had fall color in the trees. It was the only time while in Australia that it felt like a typical (for me) autumn.
Caroline told me the area was know for public mosaics, and we did see a few examples without really searching them out. The crocodile above, is just a segment of a much longer mural that takes the viewer along a mosaic timeline through natural history.
Sightseeing and Mosaics Slideshow
And then on the other end of my stay in Urunga, Caroline’s husband Wayne, drove me to a spot where fruit bats are known to hang out. You can just make out their hanging shapes in the photos above. Notice one or two start to stretch their wings for the evening. As the moon rose and night fell, the flying foxes took off and started swooping through the trees. You can see them, and hear their chittering noises, in the video below.
On my way home I had a layover in Sydney until the next morning. After I got my luggage into my hotel room, I set off for downtown Sydney and Circular Quay (pronounced “key”) on the commuter train. Climbing the Harbour Bridge Pylon Lookout was something students had suggest I do. I got my steps in that day, let me tell you. But what a view!
Looking back to the ferry docks of Circular Quay, I could see the world famous Sydney Opera House to the left and The Rocks to the right, an area of first settlement and penal colony, now restaurants and shopping. By the time I walked back around to the Sydney Opera House, the sun had already set, but the city was still lit with lights of its own. I was getting a bit hungry and made a quick google restaurant search. If you’re ever in Sydney, I’d highly recommend Mother Chu’s Vegetarian Kitchen on Pitt Street for delicious Chinese food. I even got recommendations for the best train station to head to catch a ride back to my airport hotel.
My final adventure in Australia.
Sydney Sightseeing Slideshow
What a spectacular trip! I love seeing these photos again and can almost feel those soft kangaroo paws as they were eating out of your hand! Thank you for sharing your memories of an epic trip! Hope that we will all be able to travel the world freely one day soon.
Thank you, what a wonderful presentation to share with us. I want to go there !!!! The ladies are so talented and their masterpieces are bright and gorgeous!!! And lovely people – just awesome.