Wednesday 27 April 2016

Time out on Norfolk

Today has been a lovely day off after two busy days of quilting……well maybe more talking than quilting! It was lovely to have a lie in and plan a quiet day seeing more of this beautiful island. But first a little of the workshop. Just three girls organise it all - even supplying 25 sewing machines, scrumptious lunches and morning and afternoon teas. Here are two of them - Raewyn and Kay working in the kitchen………
 Raewwyn brought in her beautiful version of 'Portiere' entirely appliquéd and quilted by hand……just beautiful. It is always so special to fondle a hand quilted quilt…….

 The venue is very roomy and with 25 participants that is good……..
So our day off started with a visit to find the third organiser Rowena working in the quilt shop…….
And I think she may have arranged this sign hanging out in the street!……..
While in the shop we learnt that their quilting influence resulted in official Norfolk Island stamps….how fantastic is that?………

 While wandering in and out of the shops we noticed quite a few of our quilt group doing some serious retail therapy……
During our time here we have also noticed an awful lot of very large spiders - the Golden Orb and my goodness their web structures are massive……..


So time for our first coffee stop where Mr Hill is looking very relaxed……
Back in the hire car to the highest point of the island for some fabulous views……..


 And then the spot where Captain Cook landed back in 1774. We are not quite sure where he could have possibly landed - there must have been a lot more beach back then……….







 You can see the size of those Norfolk pines towering above the hire car. (We've been driving a black Nissan Tiida Sophie!) 

Our final visit was to visit the historic World Heritage listed Kingston where we stumbled across the locals gathering for a meeting reporting on progress of the visit to the UN to appeal the current government changes….



 The Georgian buildings reminded us of early British settlement……...





 Cemeteries are always quiet places to contemplate how hard life was in the past……….



 Tomorrow greets us with two more days of stitching so I will report on that soon x

4 comments:

  1. We drove up Mt Pitt at night - if it is clear then the stars are fantastic. If you get a chance, check out Ball Bay, it is where all the fuel comes onto the island via huge pipes.

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  2. Love Portiere so nice to see the hand work! The island looks so pretty and so nice to see they have a quilt shop so all are not denied the magic of a quilt shop. I bet Captain Cook had to anchor a ways out in the bay and row on in! Just such a pretty place - hope you are getting some relaxing in but I bet it is fun to talk to all the students and talk patterns and fabric

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  3. Our first Christmas tree was a potted Norfolk Island Pine. We did not have room for it in our yard after the holiday, so my DH sold it to a neighbor. Now it is huge after 47 years and beautiful. My that is a long walkway - is it down to the beach. Wish I was there taking that class. As always, thank you for sharing, Michele.

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  4. Imagine, Norfolk Island Pine in pots are sold at Christmas time here! I am so happy to look through your photos which are most interesting.

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