Brisbane Ranges National Park

The past three weekends we have gone hiking in different parts of the Brisbane Ranges National Park.

Our first walk was through Anakie Gorge.

A detour to Lower Stony Creek Dam.

Then we did a circuit with some lovely lookouts.

A couple of places along the hike had stations where you cleaned your boots to reduce the spread of fungus.

Our second walk was another circuit starting at the Steiglitz Courthouse.  The trail notes detailed that a couple of kilometres of this hike were off trail where you followed the creek.  

The trail notes said that in dry weather it would be easier to walk along the creek bed.  Given that it is the middle of summer I though it would be a relatively easy walk, but there was plenty of water in the creek and those two kilometres involved quite a bit of bush bashing and creek crossings.  

As the creek curved the outer side usually was cliff or steep rock so we would need to cross before this point.  

Mostly we rock hopped to cross, but one time we used a fallen log.  Paul didn't think that I would be able to make it, but I proved him wrong.  It was harder than it looked as there was movement in the log and it got narrower as you got to the other side with a broken branch sticking up to navigate around.

The third walk we did today.  It was in a more remote area of the National Park and we didn't see another hiker.  It was mostly along park management tracks, so fairly easy walking.

At times we were walking along the edge of the National Park next to farm land.  I took this photo of a couple of horses.  The sky is an amazing colour.  I have not altered the photos at all - this really is the colour it was.

The maps of the three walks in the order we did them in.  The first was in the middle of the park, and was the busiest with other hikers.  The second was in the southwest of the park, and the third was in the north and was much more isolated.

Quilt to Illinois

Today I mailed a quilt to a friend in Illinois.  She is not a quilter, and doesn't follow my blog, so this won't spoil the surprise.  She is a teacher, and as for many people, 2020 has been a tough year for her.

Last time I send a package to her instead of taking two weeks to arrive as it should have, it took nearly two months and we had given it up as lost.  So this time I don't intend to tell her that something is on its way.  Hopefully it won't take as long this time.

The quilt is another one of the Antelope Canyon design, you can see two others that I have made here.  I love pink and brown together.

I quilted it with an allover feather plume.

The back shows the quilting nicely.

Bells Beach to Torquay

Yesterday (Thursday) I knew my brother had the day off work.  Wednesday night I messaged him -  'I feel like a walk along the coast somewhere.'  He immediately messaged me back -  'City or regional.'  I responded - 'Maybe slight preference for regional.'  Within 15 minutes he had it all planned with where we were going and where to meet.  Lucky me - I have the best brother!

We had an amazing coastal walk from Bells Beach to Torquay and back which was about 15kms.  Both of us had not walked this stretch of the coast and we can't believe we haven't been here before as it was so beautiful.

This is Jan Juc Beach.  You can see the flags put up by the surf lifesaving which you are recommended to swim between.

As you can see the weather was perfect.  It wasn't too hot and there was a slight breeze.  Of course we both had lathered on the sunscreen before setting out.

We made the walk a little longer as we walked to each look out point to enjoy the views and when we got to Torquay we went to Woolies to buy a sandwich for lunch which we ate on the foreshore.  

Here is the map zoomed out so you can see where we were relative to Melbourne.  It was a bit of a drive to get there, but well worth it.

Perth Visit

With no COVID community transmission cases in Victoria for nearly two months and the border to Western Australia open after being closed for most of the year, we felt it was safe to visit our nephews in Perth.

Unfortunately after we had been in Perth for four days there was a community transmission in Victoria, and Western Australia put all Victorian visitors that had left Victoria after the 21st of December into fourteen day self quarantine.

Given that we would be allowed out of quarantine on the day we were scheduled to fly home, we didn't see the point in staying and brought our flights forward and came home yesterday.

At least we got four days.

Paul's Quilt

This is the third quilt I have made for my husband Paul, and the first one where he chose the pattern.

When we were in Alaska in 2019 we visited a number of quilt shops - of course.

We were in a little shop in Sitka and Paul found this pattern.  He has always like quilts with bright colours and black backgrounds, loved this pattern, and asked me to make it for him.  As this was the first time he had specifically asked me to make a quilt for him, I couldn't refuse.  Luckily I liked the pattern.

I send away for the fabric in the pattern so I could make it exactly the same.  This is the first time I have ever made a quilt precisely the same as the pattern as I usually like designing my own quilts, changing a pattern, or adding my own fabric choices.

While I was waiting for the fabric to arrive from the US, I made a practice version in greens for my friend, and her favourite colour is - you guessed it - green.

When the top was finished I asked Paul how he wanted it quilted - assuming he would choose and allover pattern.

I have obviously taught him too much about quilting as he said he wanted it ditch stitched with horizontal lines in the border the same width as the piecing.  For those long arm quilters reading this you will know that is not going to be much fun for me.  So I talked him into having it 1/4 inched in matching thread colour and vertical lines in the border after one line of horizontal quilting.

After moving in March, and getting my machine set up in my new studio, it was the first quilt I did.  This was during the first lockdown due to Covid-19.  And yes I know I have a lot of fabric in my stash - I miss my dedicated fabric cupboard that I had in my old house.

The Grampians

We got away for a long weekend staying at Halls Gap and did two hikes in the Grampians National Park.  Whilst this wasn't the first time we had got out of metro Melbourne since the restriction was lifted on Sunday the 8th of November - we did go for a day hike a couple of weeks back - this is the first weekend away we have had this year.

Our first hike was Mt Rosea circuit.  We have done a longer variation of this hike a few years back that included Sundial Peak with our nephew who would have been eight or nine at the time, but it was an overcast day.  It was great to do the hike again, and this time the weather was perfect. We got some spectacular views over Bellfield Lake at the top of Mt Rosea.

Signpost at the top.  

Don't you love the colour of the sky.  You can see the trail to the left.

Me on the hike back down, before it got steep and we had to rock scramble.

Our second hike was Wonderland Loop.  The sky wasn't as clear as rain was forecast for the afternoon.  We got up early to make sure we were finished before the rain came.  Still the veiw from the Pinnacle Lookout over Halls Gap was gorgeous.  This photo was taken a little before we reached the Pinnacle - I liked the sky as it was shortly after sunrise.

The return walk had some interesting rock formations.

Linen and Lace

I pieced this quilt in 2013, and quilted it around 2015 I think.  I found it packed away when I moved in March this year with the binding attached, just needing to be stitched down.  I had even made the hanging sleeve, ready to be attached.

It was a good project to work on in the first lockdown and finally have it completed.  I probably would quilt it differently if I did it now with less pebbles.  But I like the feathers and circles.