Awesome Trip to Australia and New Zealand!!

My husband and I just returned from a wonderful trip "down under"!   It was a 12-day cruise that we boarded in Sydney after spending two days there.   We then visited Melbourne, Tasmania and made four stops in New Zealand. 

We arrived in Sydney on Australia Day and what a celebration they have!  We were fortunate to go out for a harbor cruise and mingle with all the ships in there for the day.  And the Opera House is just amazing!  This is one of my favorite pics....

 

We traveled with some friends we've known since high school and had such a good time.  I highly recommend this trip.  The only thing we didn't like was the airplane ride over there and back! (15 hours to Sydney).  I'm telling everyone it's kind of like childbirth--terrible at the time, but you forget it soon enough.

My friend, Patsy, who is also a quilter, and I did find some quilt shops.  What we learned was there are no textile mills at either place and fabric is expensive--$22 a yard!  I couldn't resist though and did get one yard of some Australian designed fabric.  I also got a couple of panels that had the animals and flowers of both places.  Now to decide what to do with them!  Maybe I'll just fondle the fabric for a while!  : )

The following are two pictures taken at a roadside flea market in Tasmania.  I thought the patterns were interesting. The price was $250 each for these small wall hangings.

This is the fabric I bought.  Doesn't it just scream Australia?

                                                         
I love it!

Now, I could go on and on--New Zealand is BEAUTIFUL!!  Maybe more later.