Fair Trade Fortnight

Fair Trade Fortnight starts this Saturday in Australia and New Zealand. The theme this year is “The Big Swap” and they are encouraging people to swap an item that they would normally buy for something that is fair trade. For example, purchase fair trade tea or coffee. Purchase fair trade chocolate.

Check out the shelves in your supermarket and see how many fair trade items you can spot. If more of these items are purchased then hopefully this will encourage more fair trade items to be stocked and available.

Pictured right is my favourite fair trade tea!

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Perth CBD Guide

Form have put together a directory of businesses in the Perth CBD. Their scheme is called 15 blocks, after the number of city blocks encompassed in their net. The businesses listed are the more interesting and fashionable amongst the retail and food on offer.

Click here for a copy of the First Edition.

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An inspirational lady

I recently finished (re-)reading the autobiography of Dame Margaret Joan Anstee. She is such an inspiriational lady! Born in an era when women were begrudged an education, she forged a career in the United Nations and rose to the level below Secretary-General. Her life was full of many firsts. She is one of the trailblazers who showed us the way.

She worked in many interesting countries at all stages of career, including Chile, Morocco, Columbia and Angola, and rubbed shoulders will people from all different walks of life.

An amazing lady.

Read an interview with Dame Anstee.

Local designers

A shout out in The West this week about the local WA designers heading over to Sydney for the Australian Fashion Week!

According to the article they include:
- Aurelio Costarella by Ray Costarella
- Ae'lkemi by Alvin Fernandez
- Breathless by Robin Alexander
- Flannel by Kristy Lawrence
- Garth Cook
- Carly Hunter
- Kooey Swimwear

The trees are talking

One of the artists I especially liked at the Design Centre Tasmania was DeepBlue Designworks and their lovely trees! My favourite is the tree with birds, although you can also have a more traditional Christmas tree with snowflakes.

These are a little more conventionally shaped for Christmas than the ones I liked here and here.

Images here

Hobart

After seeing a small part of Tasmania, it was time to hit be a tourist in Hobart! I had a few items on my hitlist and wanted to have a walk around the city centre.

Of particular note was Thumbprint, a jewellery shop that was closing down. They had some gents dress rings that caught my eye, and I asked what the largest size was. C has quite large fingers and my experience here in Perth has been that the largest size they carry is an X... his ring size has been measured as Z+2 (or Z+3) so about four-five sizes up. I was stoked to find out that they had several around the Z+2 size so I snapped these two up.


I was also in search of a book or two to read, as I had finished the two I had brought from home. I wandered into the local Angus & Robertson... then wandered back out again after I found that they were selling the Popular Penguins, with RRP of $9.95 clearly on the back, for $10.99. I was much more impressed with the Hobart Bookshop at Salamanca, and added to my library there and at the ABC Shop.


Absurdistan is by ABC reporter Eric Campbell, and covers his time as a foreign correspondant for the ABC based in Moscow and in Beijing. I recommend this book. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it made me think about the world.


Saturday mornings in Hobart means the Salamanca Market. I did not realise just how big and how popular it would be! The crowd was claustrophobic and quite slow. There was however an abundance of locally made timber goods, foodstuff, fresh fruit and vegetables, jewellery, clothing and more.


I was very much overwhelmed however I did manage to find a few lovely items. A cube bag by Sashiko Design.

Organic bamboo onesies by Sahara Bloom.

I also bought some locally made silver earrings as well as a biscuit assortment to take to Easter Sunday lunch!

I was all shopped out so took a detour past Arthur's Circus on my way back to the hotel to get dresed up for the wedding!

Day trips in Tasmania...

I went to Port Arthur and acted like I was a tourist for the day. I was blown away by the scale of the whole site. I am not sure what I was expecting. Something much smaller I think. Port Arthur was a full scale penal settlement with a penitentiary, barracks for the soldiers, a hospital, houses for the important folk, an impressive church, gardens, shipyard and others. Post life as a penal settlement it also functioned as a town, ceasing as the government bought up the land and properties and converted it into a tourist site rather than a place to live.

The entry fee into the site included two days of access, and I could imagine how you could spend that long just immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the place. Awesome! I recommend a visit, and prepare to spend a bit of time wandering the grounds and buildings.

The last place I visited outside of Hobart was Richmond. Here I saw the Richmond Gaol, the oldest intact gaol in Australia, Richmond Bridge, the oldest bridge in Australia still in use and Oak Lodge, a home built between 1831 and 1842, and lived in until the 1990s when it was donated to the National Trust.

Also in Richmond were some lovely shops, inclding the Peppercorn Gallery, a collective of local artists. There were so many lovely pieces in the gallery but I do not have anywhere to put them! If you like your souvenirs soft and cuddly, then Teddies on the Green is probably more your style. They had lots of lovely teddies and toys and also a room with patterns and fabrics and all the pieces you would need to make your own teddy!

I was still on the convict trail so I headed back to Hobart to the Cascades Female Factory to learn of the fate of female convicts. The site itself has only (some) walls standing, and you have to use your imagination to picture the women who were incarcerated there.

Perth boutiques

Last night I had a look in a couple of Perth boutiques, tu and Miin.

Tu is in Shafto Lane next to Pigeonhole. Last night I learnt that Tu is moving to 218A William Street, Northbridge shortly. They are currently having a sale at their store, and there are lots of interesting items in their store - clothes and accessories. They sell their own label Tu as well as lots of other Australian labels.

Miin is on Murray Street, closer to the malls. I have had a few Miin pieces in my wardrobe. They are locally designed and made, and I was also scouting out to see if they had any dresses that could be suitable for a bridesmaid or two! Miin are opening up a new store in Mount Lawley on Walcott Street.

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The (same) road back to Hobart!

I packed up the car and headed to Cataract Gorge for breakfast and to have a look. One thing that seems a little incongruous is the placement of a swimming pool in front of the pool. However it is a pretty awesome view for those learning to swim!


I then headed to Franklin House, built in 1838. It seemed rather grand to me, four rooms downstairs with two bedrooms and an enormous living room upstairs. There were outbuilding as well including the kitchen, stables and a room used as a classroom.

Next (brief) stop was Evandale. I had a look through the lovely Handmark Gallery, where there were many beautiful pieces by local artists. On to Clarendon, also built in 1838 but on a much larger and grander scale! It consists of three floors, on a more tradiational English style. The bottom storey is the servants wing, the middle storey is the living area and upstairs are many bedrooms and nurseries.



My last stop was Oatlands. According to The Rough Guide to Tasmania, Oatlands "boasts Australia's greatest concentration of colonial Georgian buildings: 140 in two square kilometres". How could I not stop? Unfortunately I was there a bit late; shops and attractions start to shut from 4pm. I was lucky enough to walk into Applehouse, where they make and sell delightful children's clothing as well as some adult clothing and homewares. I indulged in some baby gifts!

I did not have time to stop at Casaveen to see their wool products. Next time maybe?

On the road to Launceston

On my first full day in Tasmania I set off on a road trip to Launceston. It is around 200km away from Hobart, and on the way I stopped off to have a look around Ross, a small town roughly halfway between the two cities. Ross is rich in history of Tasmania, and here I had my first taste of the convict past. The bridge was built in 1836 by convict stonemasons, and you can stand at the site of the Ross Female Factory (shortened from Manufactory) and was a work house for female convicts.

I went into the Tasmanian Wool Museum, and learnt some of the history of Ross as well as about sheep and wool and there were also samples to touch. I bought myself a beanie that had been knitted locally. I love beanies but they just don't seem to make sense here in Perth!

I made it to Launceston before the shops shut, and after checking into the motel I went for a wander. The Design Centre was full of interesting local artwork, and I wrote down a page of artists in my notebook in order to look them up when I got home! My favourites were the different sized pegs by Brad Latham, complete with working spring!


I was getting towards closing time for the retail shops, but I still managed to find Chloe Boutique and buy a new Natasha Gan top. It has more frills than I would normally wear - I thought that I would give it a go and see if I could pull it off!


I did a lap of the Launceston main mall. Most of the shops were closed at that stage and I ended up in Myer on a quest for tights!


Image of pegs here

Tights and more tights!

My friend N spent most of 2009 living in Melbourne. Along with yummy food and stylish clothes she also introduced me to the concept of funky tights. I have been used to wearing stockings, usually skin coloured although more recently I have branched out and started wearing black! The concept of brightening up my outfit with interestingly patterned stockings had never really registered until N showed me how it could be done!

The upshot is that I bought one pair last year of striped black and brown tights, but that was as far as my adventurousness went. This year I have decided that rather than buying more stockings I will try to find some interesting tights and see how they wear. This selection I purchased in Tasmania. As you can see I have not been very radical in my selection of colours however I cannot bring myself to buy luridly hued clothing. I will keep looking and try to push out of my comfort zone a little bit more.

Stockings from L-R
Levante Chevron Dog Tooth Tights [Tall]
Leona Edmiston Leggings [Med/Tall]
Metalicus Babushka [Small to Medium]
Voodoo Fashion Tights [Med/Tall]

I was happily surprised to find that only one of these pairs was made in China. The Levante are made in Italy, and the Metalicus and xx were made in Australia! For some reason I had assumed that stockings would be one of those items that were always made in China so it was a pleasant surprise to find otherwise.

I was advised by the lady at the Stocking Shop in Hobart to buy my stockings on the large size if I was on the fringe of a size range. My previous experience with stockings has led me to do the opposite, as I have found that if I buy the larger size then they will be loose and annoying!

I shall have to see how they all wear!

Notes: The Voodoo tights are comfortable to wear however I managed to snag a hole already in them. Not a good start. The Metalicus tights are comfortable and I would like to buy the same in different colours!

Sydney Post Script

Looking through the cards and receipts from my trip, I realised that I had missed a couple of purveyors of note in my previous post. I did not purchase anything from these but they definitely made me stop and take a second look!

The first was Stockholm Moose, selling lovely cushions and lampshades at the Paddington markets. The lampshade is made from Ink & Spindle Gingko fabric!!



The second was a shop I wandered into when walking up Oxford Street, called High Tea With Mrs Woo. They had some lovely clothing with silks and asian prints. Hard to describe without photos but definitely quirky! I was only at the start of my trip so not up for a big spend but I would love to own a piece or two at some stage.
[The website is not coming up correctly so I have not added a link.]

I realised today that the label is also available here in Perth at Love in Tokyo.

Photos from here

Driving in an aluminium can

I was so happy last night to be driving my own car!

I hired a Kia Cerato over in Tasmania.Hertz are one of the only hire car companies to offer a manual car in the compact size, and I have previously hired the manual Toyota Corolla from them whilst in Melbourne.On picking up my car in Hobart, Hertz attempted to "Upgrade" me to an automatic car. Since I did not consider this to be an upgrade, and there are quite a few hills in Tasmania I asked if they could give me a manual as I had requested.

I travelled over 1000km in the car, and I was not impressed at all by it. The Corolla would have been much more preferable.

Positives
- large boot size. There was room enough for two suitcases, something that the Corolla lacks.

Negatives
- No guts. I got into my car last night… coming out of a roundabout going 20kmh and up an incline in third gear I accelerated. The Kia would have gone backwards.
- crappy gears. I constantly stalled the Kia, I could not get used to the gearbox. Usually it takes me a day or two however the Kia was just too temperamental. In contrast I got into my car last night and it felt like I had not been driving another car at all.
- really light steering and really light car. It felt like I was driving in an aluminium can.
- central locking. You could not lock the car from the drivers door. Instead you had to wait until you had driven 20m down the road and it would lock itself. Then, when you turned off the car it would unlock all of the doors! Not my idea of security. (According to the brochure I just downloaded on the website it is the "Speed Sensing Auto Door Lock".)

The biggest thing really was that I did not enjoy driving the Kia. I have been a bit sceptical about Kia's, and now having driven one will not rush to repeat the experience. I would rather buy a better quality second hand car than spend my money on a new Kia Cerato.

According to the website the Cerato has a 2.0L engine. I cannot believe it! It is a world apart from my 2.0L Mazda3.

Shopping in Sydney

I finally made it to Sydney! I flew over on a Friday night redeye and after limited sleep I was loose on the streets of Sydney.

On the top of my list of places to go to were the Paddington Markets. My sister E had recommended that I check them out and I was keen to see what the fuss was about. They had less of a homemade feel than I was expecting, but there seemed to be more interesting fashion, vintage pieces and some awesome chocolates!

I bought a few items, including a dress from Betty of Ton&Ton Designs, a skirt from Kelda Leigh, some lovely tea towels from Rokoco and some divine chocolates from Delicaseys.

They were offering samples of the chocolates, and after tasting them I was hooked! The orange chocolate was real chunks of orange covered in chocolate.

The skirt I liked was unlined, and Kelda offered me the option of lining the skirt and posting it to me! She also posted a couple of fabric swatches with the skirt and I think that I could have found a great source for work skirts!

I left the markets and wandered back into the city along Oxford Street. There were many of the usual clothes shops and a few of interest. None that really stood out for me though and I made it back to the hostel with sore feet and no more purchases!

After checking in and a nap (so sad but I was tired!) I went to Market City. It was four levels in the style of some of the Asian shopping centres or markets, and it felt very random to be experiencing that in Sydney! The bottom level was a market, with lots of cheap and tacky items, as well as fruit and vegetables. The next level up was a very Asian IGA and normal clothing stores. Above that was a level with factory outlets, and finally there was a food court and some restaurants!


First thing that morning I had a quick look through the QVB (Queen Victoria Building). It was completed in 1898 as a market building, and now houses many exclusive shops and eating places. I was there too early for most of the shops to be opened, but the setting was magnificent and it was a lovely place to sit and read and relax after my night of interrupted sleep.

There was to be no shopping for me on the Sunday. The bus I caught to Circular Quay travelled down George Street, and I espied many shops that it would have been interesting to visit, especially the Sydney Myer store. After seeing the famous bridge and opera house, I was off to my next adventure.

I shall have to come back to Sydney with more leisure time and a bigger budget with a girlfriend or two!!