…which is pronounced 'Melbin' – say it fast and swallow the 'r'. I've almost got it. We flew in, took a taxi from the airport, and checked into our cool hotel. The Bloomfield Albany is a boutique hotel I found online. The hotel has a retro-cool 1960s vibe. There's a huge poster of a young and very thin Mick Jagger in the lobby and this one in the stairwell that take me back to my youth.

There are black and white prints of 1960s photos, enlarged and used well throughout the hotel. The headboard of our bed is made from one of these prints:

Some of the people I recognized but who is this woman? I love her face…

(After hearing from several of you I think it is possible that this is Claudia Schiffer – except that she was born in the 1970s. If they chose images from the 1960s it's not her. Perhaps it is Natalie Wood as others suggested.)

This floor is from an older part of the hotel. It would make a nice quilt:

Here's a detail:

The hotel is south of the city center near the Botanic Gardens – a nice
walk for us into the heart of Melbourne. Here's the street our hotel is on. A lot of Melbourne looks like this. The city center is a city with old and new buildings and lots of people. I've seen more men in business suits in the last 3 days than I've seen together in a long time. Dark gray business suits. I'm kicking myself for not taking more photos but, in my defense, I was busy enjoying the moment and didn't want to see everything through the lens of a camera.

Steve carried the heavy camera for hours and the best shots I got were of a graffiti alley. I believe there are several of these designated spots throughout the city.

I love the scale, the energy, and the colors on these walls.

We walked Melbourne for 2 more days, with the smaller camera. Didn't take as many photos but we had a marvelous time! And we ate (and ate) well. There are an amazing number of small restaurants here. The painted column, below, is from the restaurant near the hotel where we ate breakfast every morning. Cafe Domain has the best porridge (oatmeal) and multi-grain toast I have ever eaten.

By and large, Australia is full of art. Every city we have visited has art on the street, in the buildings, and of course in the museums. I wish art was as much a part of the city I live in. Did I take pictures of it all? No. But I did snap this chalk Venus on the sidewalk by the river. Even the sidewalks here can make you smile.

As I write this Steve is on a plane heading home. I'm about to go for a walk before being picked up to go to my next stop here in Melbourne. I'll be teaching for three days at Amitie – and then I head to Alaska for the Valdez Quilt Festival! I'll take more photos and keep you posted…

We spent 4 1/2 days in Sydney. I taught a 2-day class to a very fine group of ladies at Material Obsession and I wrote a wonderful post about that experience – and my silly computer appears to have eaten it! Oh my.

I rarely have time in class to take photos but Kathy Doughty (owner of Material Obsession and a class participant) took some great shots and wrote wonderful things about the class on her blog. Click here to read and see.

It's really nice to make a good friend when traveling. I believe that Kathy is one. We had such a good time together. She took Steve and me on a beach walk to Bondi Beach. Here we are:

And here is one of the beaches we passed. Notice the surfers…

Real estate is valuable here and they use it all. Lots of windows are looking out at these great views of the water.

We walked in a lovely seaside cemetery. Each grave was set apart with stone or concrete walls. In most cases more than one person was buried in each grave site. The headstones noted everyone below. Now, this may not be what anyone else would think but I think that is a great use of space.

I took some wonderful photos at Material Obsession. They were in the post my computer ate. I wanted to put the photos here but I cannot find them!!! There are days when my computer makes me a little cranky. So, please do go to Kathy's blog. She posted a second post about the class (click here) and in it you'll see bits of her wonderful shop and some of the fantastic quilts from her Tuesday class.

I gave a lecture on color at Quiltsmith in Annandale, outside of Sydney. The quilters in the room were easy to talk to and had a variety of interesting questions afterward. I enjoy giving this lecture because people tell me how much they get from it.

Melinda Smith, who owns this fine shop, gave me a treat – a package of Australian candy! There is a nice variety of flavors and Steve and I are enjoying them. I am supposed to be giving up sugar so that I don't have to take medication for high cholesterol so I'm trying to just have a tiny bite each day. Australian candy is different. It seems less sugary – but perhaps that's my wishful thinking.

I have a collection of candy wrappers from my previous trips to both Australia and New Zealand. I want to use them in a quilt, but haven't yet. These will be added to the group.

Steve spent two days in Sydney when I was teaching and he came back with some good photos. Here are a few:

Luna Park is visible from Circular Quay. It's even better when viewed from a ferry. Aren't those eyelashes something!

The Opera House looks good from the ferry as well.

This is a grevilia that he saw somewhere along the way. It reminds me a a woman's hairdo from the 50s.

And this is something I spotted on a sidewalk near the beach that seems perfect for a Friday post…

We’re in Sydney where I’m teaching at Material Obsession. I love this shop! I read Kathy Doughty’s blog and it’s great fun to meet her and the ladies who frequent her shop.

We came in on the day before class started. Steve and I had that day to wander around Sydney. We walked out onto the Sydney Harbor Bridge. A very nice lady offered to take our picture so here we are:

Sydney is a harbor city. Lots of water. The famous area with the bridge and the Sydney Opera building is very walkable. We walked to the center of the bridge and over to the Opera itself in less than an hour. This is the Opera as seen from the bridge:

As we got closer to the Opera I realized that the white parts are not really white, they are more creamy in color. And as we got even closer I realized that all of that light area is made from tile!

Here’s an even  closer look:

Who knew!? I don’t know what I thought the Sydney Opera Building was covered with but I’m sure it wasn’t tile. I does, however, make sense once you think about it.

We shopped – well I shopped and Steve was patient. We found some presents for folks at home. I bought a green bangle bracelet made from resin that I love. It was too expensive but I knew if I didn’t get it I’d regret it. I didn’t buy any of the lovely designer clothes I saw. I tried to buy some blue jeans but Australian jeans don’t fit me any better than US jeans do. Oh well. I have a lot more luck buying fabric at the quilt shops!

We went to dinner at Cafe Sydney which is on the top/5th floor of the old Custom’s House. The Sydney Public Library is on the 1st and 2nd floors. Very nice. This building is right on the Circular Quay. If you stand at the front of this building and walk right you go to the Opera, go left you go to the Harbor Bridge. There is a train station in front of the Custom’s House that blocks the view of the harbor – but you can see over the train station from the 5th floor.

We had to visit ‘the facilities’ that are part of the library area early in the day. This is how the doors are marked:

Perfect for a library!

Our table for dinner was outside. It was cold and windy but they have propane heaters and blankets on each chair that kept us warm. The food was really fine. A very nice woman and her son were sitting nearby and she offered to take out picture. They were from Connecticut and it was there last meal before getting a the flight home. The lights out in the harbor and across the way were really pretty. You know, sometimes it’s worth it to spend more money on a fine meal in a spectacular place!

I really have to share these photos of the last bits from the Katoomba area:

We’ve seen at least two Goldsmith streets – this one I got a photo of. It’s fun to find your name on a street!

This van with the dots/spots is seriously fun. I asked Steve if he would be OK with me painting dots on my car (a 2007 Ford Fusion). He said no. I guess I can go along with that – it is in excellent condition. But when my car is 10-15 years old it is very likely to get some spots.

This tiny wren came right up to us when we hiked at Wentworth Falls. I was tiny – smaller than my fist. Aren’t the browns and grays pretty?

We went on an adventure! This 4 hour bushwalk (hike) at Wentworth Falls that included waterfalls and lots of stairs. It was beautiful! The air was crisp and we were out of the wind most of the day.

I found out before we set out that there was a strange storm at home with 80 mph winds that bent the pole that holds the shade over our pool. Thankfully it bent the pole and didn't pull the roof off. (Thank you Christopher for taking the shade down before more damage was done.) It's odd when this sort of thing happens when you are so far away that you can't do anything about it.

See, we don't look worried at all, do we? We ran into 2 other hikers and managed to get some photos of the two of us together. Nice.

Lots of falls.

Amazing scenery.

Stairs. Up and down. Up is harder. I spent a lot of time focused on where my feet went. The stairs were actually good to look at. Carved out of the rock, they were lovely. In many places we stepped on blocks of stone – that was the path. Way cool.

We took this shot after walking up these stairs. It was good place to catch our breath. Great photo!

I posed on the rock below at the waterfall. I didn't get all the way on the rock because I kept wondering who would rescue me if I fell and broke my leg. It's hell getting old enough to worry about that sort of thing! I worried about my 'hat hair' and I'm happy to see that it's not so bad!

Well, I was in the lead for a long time so I shouldn't complain – but I'm competitive so I can't say nothing! I got an email from Ami Simms about the current World Series Quilt Challenge. I've written about it here before. I'll put an image of my quilt below to jog your memory. You can 'vote' with your dollars for the quilt you like the best… I do hope it's mine! If it is, please do take a moment to move me out of the cellar! Click here to go to the page to vote.

Remember that all funds raised from these votes and from the auction of the eight quilts go to fund Alzheimer's research.