Carnarvon

All finished with my workshops here in Carnarvon.

Above is a shot of the water near the channel which leads straight out to the Indian Ocean. It is nearly about as far west as you can be in Australia.

This local house is being built from a water tank - now that is recycling.

Friendly llama came to say hello when I stopped to take a closer photo.


Smaller group this time and three different workshops happening at the same time which certainly kept me alert and on my toes.
Jane is making a Cutout Magic quilt - four times larger than usual - so striking isn't it?

Helen and Janet are working on their Aurora quilts and Janet had hers quilted and bound by the second day and started on the beading!



Shirley finished her Beneath the Surface top and basted it. Now she is perfecting her machine quilting and I think this is definitely going to be a star quilt.

And what is this - it is the rinse water from my washing which I did after the trip. Lots of wonderful Gascoyne dust. Not quite as red as on the ground but not a bad haul.

And in answer to some of your comments - yes the sky really is that blue - unfortunately for the locals they wish it was full of rain clouds but maybe tomorrow!

Onward to Perth for the Quilt and Craft Show - which opens Wednesday - please come and say hi if you are there.

Teaching in the Outback

I am so lucky that, as a quilting tutor, I travel to the most incredible places to teach.
This week I am in the far west of Australia at Carnarvon and Gascoyne Junction and above is the sunset over the ocean as I flew up to Carnarvon

This is the Gascoyne River - yes it really is a river. At the moment the water is all underground but still supports many plantations which surround the area. All sorts of tropical fruit and vegetables are grown here and I have eaten some magnificent bananas and grapes while here.


Here are the flood markings and the old bridge which wasn't high enough to cope with the floods when they do happen.

Carnarvon was the site for this satellite disk which was used in the moon landing but is now just a landmark


I was a bit nervous when asked to come out to Gascoyne Junction which is two hours inland from Carnarvon which is another two hour flight north from Perth to teach a group of station wives. For my overseas visitors - a station is more than a farm. When we added up the sizes of the 6 stations we counted over 3 million acres! They run cattle and sheep up here and to look at - the landscape is harsh and flat and DRY! There has not been much rain here for a long time.

We stayed/worked/ate at the local hall which has recently been renovated to include a modern kitchen and bathrooms so although we slept in the hall we were certainly comfortable.


More tomorrow