Sydney

.... where a picture is truly worth a thousand words.

The Opera House (or Oprah's House at its being dubbed by some parts of the international media given this is where she will broadcast her shows at the end of the year).

The beautiful backdrop of Sydney Harbour is used by all sorts of companies across the world for many different reasons. There's always something happening whenever you visit. IKEA, for example, was having some 3D fun at Sydney's Circular Quay to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the IKEA catalogue. The 3D chalk art was used to create an illusion of kids sitting in an enormous kitchen sink and mum balancing on the dish rack. A lot of fun for everyone passing by.



By the time you read this post I will be home again...for a short while before some more travel. Life is changing and it's a very good thing after the past few years. Take Care everyone and I will catch up with you soon!

Birds of all kinds

I found Jesus.

I discovered him near the beach of all places. I had to do a double take. Are caftans making a comeback or is he on his way to a fancy dress party do you think?

Then soon after I was eating lunch at this great outdoor cafe and ....noticed this amusing sign. The intricacies of tourists living in harmony with the local birdlife.

Anyway onto birds of a different kind. A few readers asked me some questions I thought I should answer in this post.

Lisleman asked, "Did you happen to go that beach town where they had meter maids in gold bikinis?"

Yes I did and yes they still do. Now given they all look like this I can't imagine why you would have been the least bit interested. The Gold Coast is famous for its sun, surf and sand, and it stretches along 57 kilometres of our eastern coastline. The Meter Maids were introduced in 1965 to help beat the bad image created by the installation of parking meters on the tourist strip in late 1964. This was a controversial promotion, using young women dressed in gold lame bikinis and tiaras, who strolled the streets feeding coins into expired parking meters, and leaving a calling card under the windscreen wipers. They have since replaced their tiaras for Akubra hats but the gold bikinis and the promotions remain.

Some of you wanted to see some more of my sister's house in Brisbane.

My sister moved back to Australia after living in London with her husband and four children for many years. Even though her home is in the inner city it is surrounded by bushland. Sitting on her back deck you could be forgiven for thinking your were living in the country. I have just included a few photos that were taken by the real estate agent when they bought the house in June.
She is the throes of redecorating so I will add some photos on my Inspiration blog soon.

This is the view at the back of the house which backs onto bushland.

My niece Caitlin.

There are numerous different casual living areas and a guest wing across the back of the house and formal areas and study at the front of the house and bedrooms, another living area and parent retreat on the second floor. It is open plan and surrounded by windows (suits a hot climate) and very peaceful. This is the main kitchen
And this is the curry kitchen which is off the main kitchen and opens up to the back deck - yes, you read right. Curry kitchen. The previous owners were Indians. They used to cook their curries in here away from the main kitchen and living areas. It is very handy for entertaining when you want to do preparation away from your guests.
And finally Helen asked if I had been to Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast.

Yes I have and it's a beautiful coastal town with beaches and a rather large port. So here are some photos of the sunshine coast and Fraser Island too. You must come for a visit again!

Makeover Magic

I really love makeovers. Of any kind.

It makes no difference if it's a beauty makeover (not the extreme ones), home makeover or garden makeover.

I love to see the finished results.

Sometimes the smallest changes can make the world of difference to people, places and more importantly to our self esteem.

As a former make-up artist I always loved seeing people's reactions to getting a new look. More often than not the new look meant far less than far more makeup.

It's not about looking 'fake' and paying a fortune for new products and potions. It is about making small changes to bring out the best in people. Everyone has something unique to offer the world and sometimes we need a bit of encouragement to let our individuality shine.

I have a friend Sarah (who comments on my blog) who is a Hair and Makeup Artist. Recently Sarah joined Westfield Fashion Stylist Trish Murray to transform a Westfield shopper, Ashley. You can see the videos below. This was a gorgeous makeover and lovely to watch.

I'm supportive of anything which increases a woman's self esteem and confidence levels. Often we put ourselves last on the list when we should be No 1.

The long and winding road

can sometimes turns into a long and winding blog

I might not be able to fly you all here but at least I can give you a tiny taste of what Oprah and her 300 plus friends are going to see when they get flown to Australia by Qantas pilot and sometime actor, John Travolta, at the end of the year (by the way Tourism Australia is paying for the trip not Oprah - I love the idea what great marketing it will be). Here are a few pictures from my road trip (a few? -that's so not true but ..)

In a nutshell, and without drawing breath, I left my city, went out west, then much, much further out west than planned because I got the towns confused, saw too many road signs, caravans, trucks and kangaroos and wondered WTF am I doing many times over, played Usher loudly on repeat to the point that if he needs a stand in at any time I am so there, then went north to a bigger city, went round and round in circles for far too long swearing at my Sat Nav trying to find my sister's house situated somewhere in the middle of the dense urban sprawl, then after staying put for a while in gorgeous surrounds I eventually went further north up the coast to some beautiful beaches and am now coming back down (no, not to earth just in case you were wondering).

As we only have six States (yes I realise some of you have bragging rights to 50 plus), I only made it up through part of the one State I live near, New South Wales, to another one called Queensland. Our whole island covers an area of 7,686,900 square kilometres which is slightly smaller than the United States mainland which is 7,827,848 square kilometres (not including Hawaii and Alaska - I had to google that because the reality is I've always been under the impression that Australia and Texas were the same size. See what wearing big hats says to people?)

Anyhoo, moving right along, who knew where one little road could lead.... it started off a bit questionable but got better and better...

You can tell a lot about the inhabitants of a country from it's road signs....we are black and white and say what we think...ok.....and clearly some of us may drink and swear too much as well.

Civilisation finally..or so I thought....even the wildlife looked different...just to see if you are still awake..

I actually saw way too much of the inner workings of this beautiful city (Brisbane) - I circled it for hours it seemed..L-O-S-T.







And then, I finally found what I was looking for ....my sister's house. That's only half the house and personally I thought it should have stuck out like a sore thumb but instead it was like finding a needle in a haystack. I've never been so pleased to arrive anywhere....and couldn't wait to get out of the car.


On the road again.......























the road pretty much led to paradise.

I know, someone's got to do it....and you can thank your lucky stars the road ends soon...stay well everyone!!