wish I was a beer drinker

Right outside the Brewery in Dunedin, they have a tap on the street.

You can fill up your bottles any time of the day or night.

Genius! 

Reveal the views from our hotel windows in NZ

One of the first things one usually does when entering a fresh hotel room is to open the curtains to check out the view.
Here's how that worked out for us in New Zealand on our recent trip.

Firstly Christchurch. (They do have a good excuse though.)





Dunedin was next on our itinerary. (The red building with the smoke stack is the brewery)

In Queenstown, we checked in to the Scenic Suites. Not so much....

You can see the lake!

From the balcony you could see the top of the cable car

Oamaru. The view should have been this, but wasn't. (It was so boring I didn't even take a photo)

... and back to Christchurch; at a different hotel.

Maybe we'll do better next time we travel?

take a walk through a New England garden.

Whenever Paul and I visit his family in Armidale, one of my favourite things to do is to walk around his sister's garden.

The weather there is so very different to Brisbane. 

New England in Oz actually has seasons! frosts and occasional snow in Winter and of course a real Spring with flowers that we just can't grow in the tropics.

Take a walk with me in Kay's garden.

I don't think I've ever seen Hellebores before. They grow in gorgeous clumps like this, but don't face upwards.

If you encourage them, they'll lift their heads and you can enjoy their beauty.

The wattles provided an amazing showing all the way along the New 

England Highway. Kay has 3 varieties on her property.

.....but back to the Hellebores. She has these planted in a meadow, and in a large bowl. There must have been at least 20 different coloured ones showing.

To top it all off, she also has a flock of geese.

finish my rave

So let's move to Brisbane, where Marion Boyce has a exhibition (until tomorrow) of costumes created for the character Phrynne Fisher in the TV series, 'Phrynne Fisher's murder mysteries'.

For this exhibition, Old Government House in the grounds of Queensland University of Technology is the backdrop.

Once again, the combination of setting and glorious garments does not disappoint.

There was even a dressing up room available and a mock up in the cellar of a dastardly crime.

Such a lark.

I'm so looking forward to what happens next...

rave about a costume designer

Within one month, I have visited 2 exhibitions of costumes designed by the amazing Marion Boyce. 

Not only are her designs and the fabrics and the clothes remarkable, but she's has generously shared her work in these exhibitions allowing us to get up close (but not too close) and personal with them.

The alliances with the historic properties in Melbourne and Brisbane seriously inspires and enhances the quality of all garments.

Firstly, costumes from 'The Dressmaker'. This movie starred Kate Winslet and one of the Hemsworth bros. They were displayed at Rippon Lea in Melbourne.

They created the full film set concept, renaming the property Dungatar (as was the name of the town in the movie)

The infamous red dress.

 

Some dullness in the costumes of her Mother and the schoolmistress.

Contrasting with the elegance of her new style creations.

A recreation of the costumer's workroom

More gorgeousness

... And fun how they themed the meals in the cafe.

Blog part 2 will reveal the second exhibition.

wish we could grow magnolias

A drive to Mt Tambourine on Sunday reminded me of the blousy beauty of magnolias.

Brisbane climate makes their survival here a bit hit or miss.

I found some photos

Some images from our recent trip to QAG and GOMA.

This installation  is splendid and fun

This piece appealed to Paul's spatial confusion skills.

I think they're running out of wall space.

... And this huge explosion of colour just takes your breath away.