Seeking Travel Advice for South Australia

Australia is a BIG place. When I look at a map and consider the places I have visited, it is only a narrow strip on the east coast from Townsville to Merimbula, a spot around Melbourne and another small strip from Perth down to the Margaret River area. I’ve never been to South Australia but the Laundry King and I have an opportunity to go exploring in July when I will be teaching at Quilt Encounter. We have the choice of some Mon-Friday dates or Friday-Tuesday dates. Normally we would avoid the hustle and bustle of wineries on the weekend but we’ve also been caught out before with visiting areas on weekdays to find many places closed. So here is the question. We have five or so days - where should we go and should we aim for the Mon-Fri or Fri-Tuesday? We like wine, local cuisine and new scenery. We’re thinking of Kangaroo Island + a more developed winery area but we’re open to suggestions!

Unpacking

My suitcase has arrived and here are some of the goodies inside. Clamps and perpex resist shapes from r0ssie; cones of Aurifil thread for piecing from Pumpkinvine Corner; a copy of Quilting Arts magazine that includes an article on extreme shibori; an acrylic brayer for when I am next foam stamping; some glass head pins; and some intriguing cotton silk fabric that Diane kindly gave to me that apparently takes up dye in surprising and unexpected ways. I’d love to play but first I have to finish unpacking.

More from Lancaster

Our day exploring Lancaster was clear but bitterly cold and windy. By far the safest thing was to stay indoors. A spot of shopping in Intercourse was successful. I didn’t find the quilting books I was looking for but I did purchase a couple of 5×24in Olipfa lip-edged rulers to replace the one that has been held together with masking tape since I stood on it a year ago. I also spotted Down Under Quilts magazine at Zook’s including the issue with Erica’s sunny quilt on the cover:

For lunch we adjourned to the Iron Hill Brewery in Lancaster where we were joined by fiber artist Sue Reno. After admiring Sue’s work and following her blog and Facebook, it was a pleasure to reach beyond the internet and meet Sue in person.
While we were too late to view Sue’s recent exhibition of botanical quilts, and too early for her forthcoming exhibition of works from her Watt and Shand series, we did get to see some of the countryside and cityscapes that have inspired Sue’s work, albeit it in winter. As the weather closed in, we were relieved to know that all of the staff were on deck back at the inn and that we would be able to dine in the restaurant (although we thought the bartender on Monday evening was better!).

Christmas carols were banned from the car CD player on the 4+ hour trip back to Pittsburgh. Instead we passed the journey in the time-honoured way: counting the tunnels (five) and the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns (four):
  

Adventures in Lancaster

Yesterday, the Laundry King, my sister-in-law, her husband and I ventured out onto the Pennsylvanian Turnpike in the 1997 Buick, aka the land yacht or moving sofa. Destination Lancaster County.

First stop was Hershey, home of chocolate kisses and other sweet things. Even the street lamps are shaped like chocolate kisses:

The free tour was a hoot - just the right amount of factual information about how chocolate is produced combined with singing cows with fluttering eyelashes.

I was on the lookout for things blue and white with a dash of black for the next Twelve by Twelve colourplay challenge and found a matching cadillac in the Antique Automobile Museum:

We didn’t stop for lunch so were looking forward to some refreshments and dinner when we checked into our hotel, a fairly substantial establishment ten miles out of Lancaster. Imagine our surprise when we entered the foyer at 5pm to find an envelope with our keys and a message to let ourselves in. Aside from a handful of guests, who we did not sight until much later in the evening, we had the entire place to ourselves. We decided to make ourselves at home. Our driver, in particular, needed rehydrating and declared the bar open. I’d show pictures but they might be incriminating…

Jet Puffed

Jet puffed - this could describe what happens to us after several weeks in America enjoying festive fare and warm hospitality. Check out the ingredients in Fantasy Fudge that I made with Jen this afternoon - jet puffed marshmallow creme? Only in America!

Three Words

Dialup is excruciating.

Tomorrow - hotel - broadband.

Until then…

Better early than late

This message comes to you from a cafe right here at Copacabana. In a fit of super-punctuality (or misrembrance) I managed to rally the Laundry King and our luggage to the bus stop a full hour earlier than required. There’s no point taking our luggage back up the hill to the house and so our holiday has begun…

I will endeavour to blog while we are away but with dial up I’m making no promises. In the meantime, comment moderation is enabled until further notice.

What to do in Pennsylvania & environs?

As has become our custom, and this being an odd-numbered year, the Laundry King and I will be celebrating Christmas in Pittsburgh with his family. We also propose to take a small side trip between Christmas and New Year. In the past, we have made an excursion to Pennsylvanian Dutch (Amish) Country which is picturesque, even in winter, and has a generous quilt shop to boutique brewery ratio. We’ve also taken sidetrips on our sidetrip such as the detour through Gettysburg National Military Park. We’ll probably head to Amish country again this year. However, we’re open to other suggestions. Our criteria include:

• the destination must be suitable for a comfortable 3 day/2night excursion - ie within 4-6 hours driving distance from Pittsburgh;
• the attractions must be suitable for all weather conditions for 2-4 active and curious adults; and
• quilt shops not essential but good food and refreshments are vital.

I’ll do some online research before I go but let me know if you have any ideas!

L’automne/otoño

Autumn has arrived at Casa da Praia - there’s a cool breeze; the ocean is whipped up and the delicate aroma of quince is wafting through the house. This is our second autumn in the past year as we experienced “l’automne” on our home exchanges to France in September/October 2008. In recognition of the season, David is making Braised Chicken with Figs (although I doubt any figs will ever match the divine figs we ate in Tourettes sur Loup) and I’m going to make some quince paste.

This photo of my quince reminds me of Gerrie’s Gilded Pears that she created for the 12×12 Illumination challenge and brings back fond memories of chartreuse and citrine colours of the south of France.

Autumn or otoño is also on my mind as we are contemplating travelling to Andalucia, Spain on home exchange(s) in September/October 2010. We’re only at the preliminary inquiry stage but if you are Spanish or are familiar with this area, please leave a comment and let me know what attractions are not to be missed.

Holiday Snaps

In an effort to keep some focus to my online activities, I’ve been a little slow to join the Flickr party but here I am:

www.flickr.com Go to serendipitypatchwork’s photostream

I’ve just loaded up 300 or so photos from our sojourn in France into some sets including:

• England
• La Bergerie
• Cote d’Azur
• Bouin and Environs
• Poitou Charente

There are some duplicates of images shown on this blog but there are lots of new snaps too, especially from the latter part of our trip.