Australia Travelogue, Part III

Okay, so to catch up, I left Friday night 11/13, arrived Sunday noon in Cairns, and on Monday 11/16 Sue took me to see the sights in Port Douglas (Australia Travelogue Part II) and then we headed to Cairns to go to a quilt shop and do some other shopping errands Susie needed to do.  Our first stop was Button Tree Quilts, a small shop in a strip mall.  It was odd to see so many bolts of fabrics that were familiar and I was a bit distracted by the American Primitive quilts on the walls--in tropical paradise they seemed a bit out of place!  But, to each quilter their own.  We had a look around and then I found what I was really after: some Australian fabrics.

I bought a metre of the yardage on the left and gathered these fat quarters that sort of went with each other.  I had no idea in mind yet, just wanted some fabrics for remembrance of my trip.   We chatted with the owner for a few minutes, who said her shop was for sale and she planned to retire after that.  She told us of another quilt shop in town, and Susie asked if I wanted to go there, as it was not far.  Did I!

Kay's Fabrics was also a Janome dealer's and was stuffed to the gills with bolts and bolts, kits, machines, and everything else fabric and sewing related you could think of.  The shop manager (or owner, not sure) said she had been having large embroidery workshops and that was why the shop was in such disarray.  Susie has a Janome and while she and I were shopping, she called her son Tim and asked him to bring up her machine when he came from Brisbane as she wanted to sew again, starting with some little clothes for her granddaughter.  There was great variety but we just took a quick look and I found some more Australian fabrics. 

I could happily have spent hours in that store but we had plans to do the Skyrail so had to get going.  First we did some mall shopping which was a lot of fun, both of us not getting to shop with women friends that often!  It was interesting to see how similar some of the clothing was to home, it seems that we are starting to look alike all over the world, especially the tweens, teens, and young adults--skinny jeans, tanks, shirts with sayings, tiny tops and shorts, and of course swimwear...Spring and Christmas was a different mix than I am used to as well!  We finished up with a quick and delicious sandwich and salad lunch and then went off  to the Skyrail.  Unfortunately, we were too late, as they stop taking passengers after 2 pm due to the length of time it takes for the entire trip.  Oh well, there's always another day!  We headed home up the beautiful coast road with the convertible's top down and Michael Buble on the Ipod/stereo.