The Journey Continues!!

Yep ... I'm back again with some more photos ... not quite as many as last time, Chooky, I promise! :0) So ... the next place we visited was a very special spot called "Paronella Park", near Innisfail.

This was one of the highlights of our holiday and a bit special to me especially because I remember visiting this magical place as a kid when my family headed north for a holiday. I've always had memories of  'castles in the forest', like the lost cities of South America. You see ... that's EXACTLY what Paronella Park is! :0) In 1929, Spanish immigrant Jose` Paronella bought 13 acres of native scrub/rainforest on Mena Creek ... and proceeded to build a dream! Jose` set out to build a pleasure garden that would provide a magical destination for local families to enjoy the outdoors and he dotted it with fantastical structures and buildings made with old railway line, concrete and clay plaster. You'll find more of the story of Jose` and his dream HERE ... it's well worth a read ... and reminds us all what can be achieved if someone has a dream and the drive to make it reality! :0) To cut the story a little shorter for those who don't have time to hop across, the park was hit my a number of natural disasters, deaths in the family, a fire and after a period of being completely abandoned, was bought by the current owners who have been working hard to restore the dream. Some of the structures are now off-limits due to deterioration making them unsafe, but it's still a magical place to visit! :0)

So ... onto some photos ...

If you look closely, you'll see people in amongst the trees ... they're climbing the grand staircase, which was the first thing Jose` built. And let me tell you there are a LOT of stairs in that thing that you have to climb down and back up ... the return trip being the toughest, of course!! The tables at the bottom of the photo are in a picnic area beside the creek ...

... which features this SPECTACULAR waterfall, which helped power the first hydro-electric plant in north Queensland. Jose` was an innovative bloke! :0)

At several spots on the creek, the local fish are used to being fed  by the hundreds of visitors to the park ... my Beloved Geek boy was teasing the poor fishies by throwing one pellet at a time in to cause a frenzy ... some little boys never truly grow up, do they! :0)

And here is one of Jose`s castles in the forest. I have a clear memory of my brother and I climbing this tower when we visited in the 70's. (Oops! Showing my age there! Tee! Hee! Hee!) I was standing on what used to be tennis courts to take this pic and looking back over a long pond with waterlilies and squirting fountains ... you can see the squirting water arches if you look closely at the photo.

More observation towers and bridges are scattered throughout the park ... you can almost imagine the jungle tribes peering at you from behind the ferns as you stand here ... or maybe that's just MY overactive imagination! Tee! Hee! Hee!

This is looking at the building closest to the front of the gardens, what is now the entrance to the park, from beside the top of the waterfall in the earlier photo. You can see how the concrete has aged to look almost like rock now. There are hundreds of planter boxes like the ones you can see on the support posts here dotted throughout the park.

This wishing fountain is in front of what used to be the kiosk where Jose`s wife Margarita would sell home-made ice-cream. Apparently, some of the local lads, desperate for an ice-cream on a hot day but lacking the funds, would dip into the coins tossed into the fountain for good luck so they could enjoy their treat. After Margarita twigged to what was going on ... after realising she was being paid in a lot of damp coins! ... Jose` brought the boys' lives of petty-crime to a close ... when he relocated several eels from the river to the fountain. Yep ... that would certainly stop ME from dipping my fingers in the fountain! Tee! Hee! Hee!

This is Teresa Falls ... a mini-waterfall fed by a fresh water spring Jose` discovered when he was building paths for people to ramble through his gardens. He modified the water flow slightly so it mimicked the larger falls and it was the perfect spot for small children to paddle and splash in safety. This pretty waterfall is named after Jose`s daughter.

And this is the house Jose` built for his family. Unlike the other structures in the park, this one was built from stone. It and others were all hand-rendered with a mix of local clay and concrete and you can see the hand marks of Jose` and those who helped him build his dream, which is kind of a nice reminder of those who went before.

You know how they say you can never go back, that places from our past rarely live up to our memories of them? Well, I'm pleased to say that Paronella Park is an exception to this rule! I thoroughly loved exploring Jose`s grand dream of castles in the forest again after some 35 years and would certainly recommend it as a 'Must See' if you're anywhere near Innisfail or Cairns ... or Atherton, like we were! :0) We do tend to cover a bit of territory when we're on holidays! Tee! Hee! Hee! And for those who may not ever be 'in the neighbourhood', the Paronella Park web site is well worth a look-see.

OK ... that's the end of my next holiday instalment. Still a few more photos to show you ... unless you're sick of seeing gorgeous north QLD scenery??? :0) And  next time I'll also show you some treasures I found on my travels ... of the fabricky kind! You just KNEW I'd find a patchwork shop or two in my travels, didn't you?! :0) Hope you're all having a fabulous week so far ... hope you're also staying WARM wherever you are, at least in the southern hemisphere ... just NINE degrees here on top of our 'hill' at the moment, overcast, rainy and blowing a gale. Is it any wonder I hate winter?!?! I sure am missing that warm northern weather!! Til next time ...

BRRRRRRRR ... BEAR HUGS!!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Home Again - Darn It!!

Yes, my Beloved Geek Boy and I have returned home from our two weeks of travelling around north Queensland ... DARN IT!! :0) You know how holidays never seem long enough ... especially when you go from enjoying temperature ranges of 16-26 degrees back to 2-14 degrees!! BRRRRRR!!! I knew there was something about home I WASN'T missing!! SIGH! Add to that the overcast, windy weather we've come home to and we were very tempted to head back to the airport and catch the next plane flying north again. :0) But ... the budget says NO, so we'll just have to rug up, turn the heater up high and snuggle under our blankies.

I know I was slack at keeping in touch while we were away, it was a combination of dodgy Internet reception areas and me being worn out from our daily adventures ... we did and saw some wonderful things, (and walked MILES!!) so in the next few posts I'll share some of our holiday with you. Which leads me to a ...

LONG, PICTURE-HEAVY POST WARNING!! :0)

So you might like to grab a cuppa and get comfy for a while ... sorry Chookyblue! Just can't do this in a short post! :0)

OK ... so ... last you heard, our adventures had taken us to Magnetic Island. Hmmm ... sounds like one of those old-time radio serial/sagas, doesn't it! :0) Well ... after a couple of lovely, exhausting days (involving some of those miles walked!!) on Magnetic Island, we hopped on the ferry and headed back to Townsville, ready to head northwards. But first ... we arranged to meet up with one of my bloggy buddies ... Jenny from Elefantz! YAY!

Jenny and I have chatted back and forth for a few years now on blogs and emails, so it was great fun to meet up in person. Can I just say that poor GB didn't get too many words in edgewise during our get together! Tee! Hee! Hee! There just seemed to be so much to chat about and so little time. But we enjoyed the time we did have and Jenny also fed us some YUMMY pumpkin soup for lunch! :0) Of course we couldn't have a bloggy meet up without a photo ...

I was a very bad blogger and left my camera in the car, but Jenny came to the rescue and sent me a copy of her pic ... Thanks Jen, for the photo, the lunch and the catch up ... we'll have to do it again soon! :0)

It was then "On The Road Again" which became our theme song for the two weeks! :0) Next stop, was a short one at Cardwell (not counting the stop-off at the Frosty Mango for the YUMMIEST gelato I've ever eaten!!!! Tee! Hee! Hee!). When cyclone Yasi hit last year, it came across the coast at Cardwell, a quiet little beach town that is RIGHT on the coast. I'd passed through there about 20 years ago on a trip north and was devastated to see the damage ...

Look at those poor dead trees. And there was much evidence of buildings still waiting to be repaired, roofs still not replaced entirely and roads that were still undergoing repairs ... some 18 months later!! When there has been a disaster like a cyclone/flood/fire/earthquake, it's easy for those of us not living in the area to forget just how long it can take for affected communities and residents to recover, so this was a little reminder to us.

It was then on to spend a few days with my uncle and his wife at Gordonvale. This is the view from their front deck ...

Lovely 360 degree mountain views .. it's a tough life! :0) This shot doesn't actually do the view full justice, but the late afternoon sun looks pretty speckie reflecting off smoke from a cane fire further down the valley. We spent the weekend sight-seeing around Cairns, lunched at a pretty beach ... not a lot of photos cos we were too busy looking and eating! :0) But I HAD to take a photo of this sign ...

We were told this used to be a favourite local swimming hole ... I said ... "No way would I swim here! I saw the movie and a giant crocodile ate anyone silly enough to get in the water!!" Well ... life imitates art, so they say, and although no one had been eaten, this gorgeous waterhole is no longer a hive of water fun activity because ... a large crocodile moved in and decided to call it home!!! And for some odd bureaucratic reason, the government won't relocate the croc, so ... keep your toesies out of the water!!

After a whirlwind weekend tour of Cairns, we headed inland a little and the first port of call was the Herberton Historic Village. We had SOOOO much fun here! Basically, a local man began collecting historic "stuff" from the time he was a kid, so that his collection of historic items grew and grew, until as an adult, he bought about 13 acres and started collecting old buildings from near and far and relocating them to his property to house his collection of historic "stuff". I was rather envious of his hobby! :0) The buildings have been arranged to form a little village and each is set up to replicate a particular use, such as ... a historic pub ...

When it came to set up "The Tin Pannikan", the founder of the village was inspired by the iconic pub in the Ettimoga Pub comics ... complete with old ute on the roof! Perhaps parked by a patron who'd had one too many!! :0) And inside ...

One of the local yahoos leaning on the bar! Just kidding, Sweetie! Tee! Hee! Hee! See the impressive bottle collection behind GB? That was a tiny selection of their stockpile!!! And upstairs ...

A couple of rooms had been set up, including the Honeymoon Suite. Don't you just love the cast iron bed and the GORGEOUS vintage linens?!!!

Love the bath stand ... and the jug and basin ... and the dressing table! A bit spartan by modern standards, but gorgeous to us heritage nuts! :0) Have to admit, tho, I wouldn't be staying somewhere where the only toilet facility was a potty under the bed!!!! EEK! :0)

This was one of my favourite displays ... Ada's Frock Salon. :0) Do you see the display in the window?

Look at this pretty vintage underwear ... I loved the hand embroidery and the gorgeous cotton lace. Then INSIDE ...

OH!! I had to be careful not to drool all over my shoes over the fantastic display of vintage clothing  and accessories ... the detail in these items doesn't show up in the photos, but I could have spent all day in there!!

Just FABULOUS!! These dresses reminded me of "Picnic At Hanging Rock" ... but with a happier ending! :0) I finally pried myself away from the frock salon to move along ...

GB enjoyed this one ... just where he would have been working! :0)

I really would have loved to look inside this house, which was the home of the village's creator, but it is a private residence ... can you imagine how fabulous it would be to live here!!!! :0) Then around a corner I found ...

OOOHHH!!! The sewing shop!!! Hold me back, I'm in STITCHING HEAVEN!! :0)

Every vintage sewing item you could possibly think of ...

... and THEN some!! :0) Sewing machines, buttons, ribbons, threads ...

... finely stitched cami's, embroidered doilies ... even a couple of vintage Salvation Army bonnets ...

... lace bobbins, stitching paraphernalia, samplers ... oh just EVERYTHING stitchy!!! I could have moved right on in and stayed here! :0) But there was more to see ... in fact, I think if your feet held out (which ours didn't really!!!) you could spend several days here looking at displays. And there was 'boy stuff' too. Vintage cars, carts and farm vehicles, a printing shop (complete with an enthusiastic retired printer who is restoring the vintage printing equipment), a display of old newspapers, magazines, books and comics ... oh the list goes on! And of course, scope for a bit of fun. We went 'shopping' for our next cars ...

GB's next work vehicle ... an old ute ...

... my pick ... something a little classier! :0) It looks like if should have been in an episode of "Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries", doesn't it!! Ah  yes ... one day when we win lotto we can collect vintage goodies and vehicles to our hearts' content, but until then, visiting places like the Herberton Historic Village will have to fulfill our vintage fantasies. I highly recommend a visit if you're ever in the neighbourhood.

WHEW! How many of you are still with me after that marathon photo report?! :0) If you've managed to make it this far, I hope you enjoyed a selection of our holiday snaps. There's a 'few' more to go, but I'll keep them for coming posts. Right now, I think I'm going to go and pop the kettle on for a cup of tea before I start a pot of soup cooking for dinner ... gotta do SOMETHING to combat the icky weather we've come home to!!! I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend and I'll look forward to catching up with blog posts and emails as the week progresses ... there were something like 75 new posts waiting for me in my RSS feeds list!! WOW! You must have all been busy while I was on holidays! :0) Whatever you get up to, have a fabulous week! Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Reporting From The Tropics!

Just popping in to say "G'day!" and let you know I'm still alive and enjoying the first of our two weeks' holiday in tropical north Queensland. I have to just get this out of my system ... I'M WARM!!! Tee! Hee! Hee! We've had wonderful weather and seen some fabulous sights ... Which I'll share at a later time ... when I have more user-friendly access to internet/laptop etc ... had hoped to post from my iPad, but even though I can add text, I can't seem to work out how to add photos to posts from my iPad ... any hints gratefully accepted!! :0)

Yesterday we caught the ferry from Townsville across to Magnetic Island ...

Here is the view looking back at Townsville from Magnetic Island's boat jetty. My Beloved Geek Boy visited the island a few times growing up and the last time was about 22 years ago. At that time, this was the main landing spot for all boats and ferries. He's seen a LOT of changes on the island between that trip and this. :0)

Today, GB wanted to visit some WWII fortifications ... it wasn't til we were on the track that I discovered the walk to them was all UP-HILL!!! EEK!!! So ... I struggled to drag my unfit body up that hill to see one of the lasting reminders that the war came VERY close to our back door here in Queensland. Townsville was a major staging area for troops heading to New Guinea and Magnetic Island was considered the perfect spot for a 'just in case' lookout and gun station.

Here's GB leaning against the gun powder storage bunker. All pretty grim looking and it made us wonder who the poor suckers were who got the job of carrying heavy artillery, ammunition and other supplies up that steep hill, cos I had enough trouble hauling myself up the steep gravelly path!!!

However ... we did decide it was a pretty place to spend the war ...

There are just so many gorgeous views to enjoy, so many fabulous colours to take in ... we may both yet send those post cards to our bosses telling them we'll be back in spring! Tee! Hee! Hee!

We're back on the ferry and over to the mainland again tomorrow for a fun meet-up with the lovely Jenny from Elefantz, before we head further north for the next part of our holiday Jenny and I have chatted back and forth for a while on blogs and emails, so it will be exciting to meet up in person ... it's ALWAYS fun to meet blogging buddies in 'real life'! :0) But right now, I'm going to finish my cup of tea and listen to our noisy neighbours ...

These Bush-Stone Curlews were sitting in our garden when we came back from our big hike up the hill. It was pretty funny to watch when we came close ... they both just froze like this. It was kind of a Star Wars moment ... you know ... "These are not the droids you seek!" Tee! Hee! Hee! There are hundreds of these funny birds on Magnetic Island and during the day you'll see them lazing around the gardens, trying to blend in with the mulch, but once the sun goes down, you hear them ... The Curlew is also known as the "screaming woman" bird because they have an eerie, high-pitched, screaming kind of call. Apparently this has freaked a few people out over the years and it's not unusual for police to get phone calls about someone screaming in the bush! :0) I actually find it kind of soothing ... not sure what that says about me! Tee! Hee! Hee!

OK ... off to drink tea and listen to the curlews scream ... Oh! And enjoy being WARM for a while longer! :0) Hope you're all having a fabulous week so far ... even if you're not enjoying holidays like we are at the moment! :0) Til next time ...

TROPICAL BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS

Manic Monday!!

No ... I haven't taken a musical trip back to the 80's with the song by The  Bangles ... although that song is now stuck in my head! Aaaarrrgghh!! :0) I'm describing the way my week has started ... and I have a sneaking suspicion it is setting the speed for the REST of the week ... EEK!!!! You see, my Beloved Geek Boy and I are getting ready to enjoy a two week holiday in north/far north Queensland and have you ever noticed that in order to relax for a short amount of time, you actually spend more than DOUBLE that amount of time working like a Trojan BEFORE you go and AFTER you get back?!?!? Well .. this week is "hurry up and get ready" week, with today off to a galloping beginning. Appointments to keep, errands to run, lists to make ... lists of LISTS to make!!! ... house sitter to brief, supplies to be bought, not to mention all the stuff at WORK that needs to be not only up to date, but AHEAD to cover the two weeks!! Both GB and I are in jobs where if we don't do our 'stuff' ... it sits on the desk and waits for us to come back!! :0) All in all, we'll need the holiday to recover from GETTING READY for the holiday! Tee! Hee! Hee! Just as well my weekend included some fun stuff to tide me over! :0)

I was lucky enough to be part of a FANTASTIC "Painting On Fabric" workshop on Saturday with the fabulous and incredibly clever Libby Richardson of "ArtSmart Craft Cottage". It was a horrible, overcast, rainy, foggy day here on top of our 'hill' ... and poor Libby thought she was coming for a visit to "SUNNY Queensland"!!! Tee! Hee! Hee! So spending the day snuggled into Marion and Steph's workroom at Quilters Angel with some other creative ladies was the perfect way to spend it.

Here is Libby demonstrating some shading. Can you see some of Libby's GORGEOUS creations in the background there?? Libby has adapted her folk art skills to come up with a fun way to add a little bit of depth to stitcheries and after being shown some of her tips and tricks, we each had two designs to play with.

Here's Pam practicing some shading. FYI ... if you have ever enjoyed a sweetie treaty from the Chocolate Cottage at the Village Green ... Pam is the lady to blame thank!! :0) She's as sweet as her chocolate creations and it was fun to catch up. I also got to catch up with ...

... Miss Mary from Fresh Hope Patterns. You can see we had to concentrate on what  we were doing. In fact ... Marion said it was the quietest workshop she's ever had in her workroom ... we were all so busy concentrating that we weren't chatting much ... a rare event indeed for most of us! Tee! Hee! Hee! Here are my two finished pieces ...

Aren't they GORGEOUS designs?!?! Libby is so very clever ... of course ... they DO involve some cute teddies, so perhaps I am just a LITTLE bit biased! Tee! Hee! Hee!

Two smoochy teddies under the apple tree ...

And my favourite ... a sweet little girly bear in her Sunday best dress. I had originally thought I would make these into wall hangings or cushion covers to use as gifts ... but I have now decided that I like them WAY too much and think I'll have to save my play money to buy a couple more of Libby's designs and make them all into a little lap quilt. Marion and Steph have lots of Libby's patterns in stock ... some come with the design pre-printed but unpainted ready for you to have a go at colouring it, while others come with a painted panel ... for the less adventurous! :0)

As always, Marion and Steph spoiled us all with delicious sweetie treaties for morning and afternoon tea, as well as a YUMMY chicken curry with rice for lunch ... thanks, Chef Leigh! :0) A big thank you to Marion and Steph for a wonderfully organised workshop and a HUGE thank you to Libby for sharing her painting techniques with us and encouraging us all to be creative. I have to say that while it was a bit daunting to be working outside my usual comfort zone of needle and thread, it was also a treat to learn from someone as talented ... and PATIENT!!! ... as Libby. Not only is she a clever designer, she's a fun, lovely lady! :0) Libby is planning a return visit to Quilters Angel next year, so if you are interested in having as much fun as I did at one of her workshops, let Marion and Steph know so they can send you information once a date is set. I can HIGHLY recommend being part of it!! In the meantime ... if you want to see some more of Libby's GORGEOUS designs, pop on over to visit her web site ... and tell her she needs to start a blog! Tee! Hee! Hee!

And after the weekend fun, I'll have to put my head down and tailfeathers in the air to get everything organised this week for our break. I hope to pop back in before we head north, but if I don't manage to cross everything off the "To Do" list for this week ... well ... let's just go with a quote from Arnie ...

"I'll be baaaaaack!!!"

Tee! Hee! Hee! Hope your weekend was fab and that your week is off to a great start. Til next time ...

BEAR HUGS!
CHEERS!
KRIS