Return to Fremantle

While we were in Fremantle yesterday we noticed a poster for a show by emerging textile artists called Salvage/Selvedge. As a result we decided to return to Fremantle today to see the show.  It was a show full of art quilts that were being auctioned off to raise money for The School of St Yarred, Ethiopia.  The quilts were made from donated fabrics….basically Salvage and Selvedge or left over fabrics from tailors and other businesses.  The quilts were really beautiful and the few examples below show

(Katie here) The quilt below was an interpretation of a Gee’s Bend quilt.  Judy Stevens called it With the Beat of a Drum.  I’ve always though that quilt looked like a spider!

 

 

The show was in the Moores building, an old factory building that once manufactured wind mills.  It was the perfect setting for the quilt show/auction.

This is the floor on the second floor.  It is hard to tell but there are gaps between the well worn floor boards.

I loved the steps going to the second floor.

After a nice lunch at the Moores building, we made our way over to the Fremantle Prison.  The prison is a key part of the history of the area.  Fremantle and the area were just small communities that were not growing very well until the mid 1800’s when the city fathers asked to have convicts shipped to their area.  It was the convicts that were used to build the community and caused the rapid growth that eventually became Fremantle and Perth.  One of the early buildings built was the prison.  It remained in use as a prison until 1991 when it was finally closed.

We took the exterior tour which featured stories of people that escaped or attempted to escape from Fremantle Prison.  In any case we saw a good cross section of the prison.

The prison is a large complex built out of mostly limestone.

This is a typical cell block

This is the art work that was on the wall of one of the cells.

Yesterday evening we had a lovely dinner and last gathering of the Magpies at Bill and Gilly’s home.  We must thank Gilly and Terri for the wonderful time we have had here.  They organized meals, trips, sight seeing, etc.  We all had a wonderful time.  And us husbands appreciated being included in this trip and having the opportunity to tag along.

Tomorrow, back to Fremantle and then getting organized for our road trip south.

Freemantle and up the coast

We had a somewhat leisurely day.  We didn’t assemble as a group till late morning and then drove to Freemantle.  This is a community on the outskirts of Perth.  The area has been a trading port for centuries, but the town itself was founded in 1829.  It is the main port as well as a tourist destination.

The day was rainy and windy but we still enjoyed the trip there.  We had a nice lunch (fish and chips, my fish was Barramundi and Katie’s was Cobbler fish).  We then explored the area.

View of the Indian Ocean.  Lots of white caps.

Have you ever seen a chaise lounge on tracks?  It really doesn’t look very comfortable.

We have enjoyed the public art around the Perth area.  This bronze is on a park bench.

No port would be complete without a fishing fleet.

We also visited the Museum to Shipwrecks, part of the Maritime Museum complex.

This ship steam engine had been in the salt water for over 100 years when it was discovered and brought up.  It is being restored.  So far they have been successful in turning the main shaft.  Amazing considering it was in salt water for so many years.

From Freemantle we drove up the coast to Cottesloe Beach.  By the time we got there the wind had increased. 

As you can see the ocean is really turbulent.  It could have been much worse, but there appeared to be a reef some distance out that was keeping the waves from being much bigger.  There were a lot of kite surfers out.  The wind was blowing strong enough that as we drove along the coast, they were going faster than we were.

We continued north along the coast to Hillary’s Boat Harbour.  This area has been turned into a tourist area with lots of shopping.  It was covered and out of the wind so much more pleasant. 

Finally, I’ll leave you with an “official” picture of the Magpie group. 

From left to right is MJ, Terri, Gilly, Katie, Carolyn, Jean, Nann.  We have had a wonderful time with this group.  Not in the picture are husbands, travel mates, and my sister and brother-in-law.  They aren’t magpies.

This was the last chance to get a group photo, because they will be moving on, either to home or to other destinations starting on Sunday.  Our thanks to Terri and Gilly for the wonderful arrangements and guided tours around the Perth area.

Tomorrow…….on our own.

Quilts and Airplanes

Yes these two things are related, at least for today.  This was the day the Magpies went to see the quilt show here in Perth.  The quilt show was the “excuse” for the Magpie meet-up so at least one day had to be set aside for that.  Of course the men didn’t go that way.

The quilt show was at the Perth Convention center, a short bus ride from our hotel.

Katie here.  The show was quite large, more quilts and vendors than I had expected.  I rook lots of pictures and bought 2 surgical seam rippers (!).  Here are some quilts that represent the colors and textures of Australia.  The center picture above was made by Sara Ann Smith, who lives in the US and was an instructor at QuiltNebraska  a few years ago, 

 

This is part of a quilt.  The handwork was amazing.  All of the trees are hand-embroidered, with accents on the horizon, and the quilt is also hand-quilted.  It reminded me of the scenery in the Red Centre, with burned trees and red earth.

This is a triptych with views of 3 aspects of Australia.  Beautiful, with historic stories written on the bottom third of each quilt.

 

One last quilt from the color challenge.  These are two cormorants on a branch.  The green strips of fabric look for all the world like water beneath them.

While Katie and the Magpies were viewing and drooling over the quilts, Roy and I went to the Aviation Museum of Western Australia.  It is sponsored and maintained by the Royal Australian Air Force Association.  It has two large buildings chock full of aircraft and aircraft related and Australian Aviation History displays.  There are four main aircraft that are on display.

The first (in order of our viewing) is the PBY Catalina.  It is an amphibious aircraft used for submarine hunting, bombing and rescue during WWII.  Because of the size of the aircraft and the number of other airplanes and displays it is hard to get a picture of the entire aircraft. 

There are a number of engines both piston and jet on display.  This is the radial piston engine used on the B-29 and other aircraft.  It essentially is two 9 piston radial engines put together to form an 18 piston radial engine.

In the second building, the main aircraft on display is a Lancaster Bomber.  This is the main British bomber used during WWII.  It is one of the main aircraft that took the war to Germany, along with the American B17.

To give you and idea of size, here is yours truly standing by one of the main gear wheels.

Nose Art on the Lancaster

Here is a view inside the Lancaster, looking toward the front.

They also had a Dakota (US C47 or DC3).  This aircraft was the main cargo and passenger hauler for many years, pre and post WWII and of course during the war. 

And a view inside the cargo bay

There is so much more to see in this museum that there is no way I can include all of the pictures.  You will just have to take a trip to Perth to see for yourselves.

In the evening, we all went to dinner at a Swedish Smorgasbord restaurant.

The food was plentiful and delicious.  This is just the bread and dessert section.

Tune in tomorrow for our next adventure……Freemantle!

Perth–first day

Our afternoon sight seeing was a trip to Caversham Wildlife Park a little north of downtown Perth.  The park has a large number of native Australian animals that can be seen close up and in some cases it is possible to pet or touch them.  It was well done, and even though the animals are in captivity, it is a way to see animals we all hear about but would probably never see in the wild.

Here are just some of the animals we saw.

Kookaburra

Pheasant (really beautiful bird)

Tawny Frog Mouth (owl) and a Kestrel

Rosella

Orange tailed Cockatoo

Spotted Quoll (related to the Tasmanian Devil)

Wombat

Banksea tree

Kangaroo with Joey

Tasmanian Devil (in his borrow)

Dingo (wild dog)

Lots of colorful parakeets

and of course Kuala’s

Yesterday evening we all gathered in the room of our hostesses, Jilly and Terry and had a nice dinner and visit.  I did a lot of listening to the Magpie ladies.  They are a hoot to listen too their stories.

On Friday, the ladies are off to the quilt show, so Roy and I and any of the other men that want to are going to the Aviation museum.