OUR FAR NORTH QUEENSLAND HOLIDAY - CAIRNS

Hello, my dear friends, hope you are all ok.

It has been a while since my last short post announcing our upcoming trip.  And although we came back over a week ago, I was having difficulties getting back into the grove.  It was only a week but there were so many things that I had to attend to that I simply didn't have an energy to squeeze up my creativity juices and start writing.

So here I am to tell you all about this fantastic sojourn but first let me take you back to 2019.  I was turning sixty and my husband booked us a holiday in the upscale town of Noosa, also in Queensland (Australia consists of six states and two territories) but much closer to Sydney which, by the way, is in the state of New South Wales or just NSW.  Then COVID came and our Federal government shut all borders between the states so we couldn't go anywhere and had to cancel the trip.   Luckily,  we were issued with a credit for our airfares which is valid till the end of 2022.  

So we decided to take up on this credit and celebrate my 60+2 birthday by taking a domestic trip to Cairns and Port Douglas, two main and most popular for visitors cities in Far North Queensland.  It is an interesting fact that most Australians (present company included) prefer to have their holidays overseas rather than in our own country.   Those who are employed, are lawfully entitled for four weeks of annual leave a year which provides them with enough time to travel far afield and explore the world.

Having said that, both of us are still hesitant about travelling overseas, so having holidays in Australia sounded like a good plan.  Our itinerary was as follows:  we fly to Cairns using our credit vouchers, spend there two days then hire a car and drive to Port Douglas where we would be staying for four days, then drive back to Cairns and to board a fly back home to Sydney.

Although Cairns is bigger city in comparison to Port Douglas, both of them regarded as small town (population less than a million people).  However, visitors tend to spend more time in PD then in Cairns, the main reason being that PD is closer to two of the most beautiful natural wonders of the world, Great Barrier Reef and Daintree Rainforest.

When we check the weather forecast and I saw that the average day temperature would be about 32℃ and mostly sunny, I just chuckled as here in Sydney we were inundated by weeks of rain, cold weather and wind but nothing prepared me to the heat that greeted us as we stepped outside Cairns airport.  We hurriedly got into our rented car, switched air-con on full blast and drove off towards our hotel.  The first thing we did was discard our warm Sydney clothes, changed into light garments and went out to look around.  We stayed at Sebel Cairns Harbour Lights Hotel situated on an Esplanade in a nicely appointed one-bedroom self-contained apartment with a full view over the lagoon and nearby marina.

As a rule, I don't like small towns with their one main drag full of souvenir shops, burger joints and Chinese take-aways where everything closes down at 2 pm and everyone goes home and there is nothing to do and nowhere to go till the next morning and was slightly apprehensive of what would Cairn be like.  I was pleasantly surprised by how nicely the town looks.  

The streets were wide and very clean, the big leafy trees provide the nice shade from the hot sun.  There were lovely looking historical buildings, all nicely restored and preserved to their old glory.  Few really attract my attention, especially the one that is currently occupied by the Cairns Post, and the other - heritage listed the old court building converted into art gallery and perfomance space.

The highlight of our stay in Cairns was a trip on a Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.  Situated only 10 minutes away from the city centre, this magnificent structure built in 2019 spans over 7.5 km over and deep into Australia's Wet Tropics World Heritage Area allowing you to glide over this magnificent canopy of pristine jungle looking down over the magnificent tree tops, Barron Falls and Gorge and surrounding sparkling lakes.  

The journey ends at Kuranda Terminal where we disembarked and after a short stroll reached mounting village called Kuranda famous for its markets all over the world.  We were warmly greeted by the locals inviting us to visit their stalls crammed with locally made wares like hand-made leather goods, Aboriginal artefacts, wood, jewellery, clothes and the likes and cafes where we could sample freshly cooked dishes of the region such as kangaroo and crocodile stakes or burgers as well as big juicy tiger prawns, Redclaw crayfish and Barramundi fish and enjoy a cold and refreshing beverage.  

Need I mention that it was scorching hot up there and I had to wear a hat and apply 50+ sunblock to protect my face and arms😎.  At least it was not humid so it was bearable.  The place was buzzing with tourists jetting from stall to stall, local Indigenous people, the original owners of this land, blowing their Didgeridoos and wandering buskers entertaining the crowd.  We felt slightly overwhelmed and excited at the same time.  As we kept walking along the street, our eye were constantly drawn to the local flora and the beauty of local species of tropical trees and plants that we have never seen before.

Many years ago, when we just arrived in Australia, I had a taste of kangaroo meat and honestly, it didn't blow me away so when we stopped for lunch at one of the many cafes, I gave it a pass.  After lunch, we took a slowly stroll back to the cable car that would take us back to Cairns encountering a bush turkey along the way.

On both nights that we stayed there, we went out for dinner.  Being a controlling freak as I am, we did all the bookings in advance which proved to be a stroke of genius since every restaurant worth its salt was fully booked for days in advance.

On our first night we went to a restaurant called C'est Bone, Cairns only truly French restaurant "where French sophistication meets down-to-earth local charm". We dined on authentically French classic dishes cooked to perfection and served with a French flair.  I absolutely love French food and we both enjoyed it immensely.

The following night it was dinner at a restaurant called Ochre, situated on the Esplanade meters from the river bank where we enjoyed local prawns cooked in coconut crumb, served with mango chutney and superbly cooked steak (it was beef😋).

The next morning we checked out, loaded our suitcases in a rental and drove off to Port Douglas stopping at Rustys Markets to buy some fresh local tropical fruit for the road but that is for another post.

Stay tuned.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

IT IS HOLIDAY TIME!!!

 Hello dear friends.  Hope you are all ok.

I am happy to say that my husband and I are taking a trip up to Queensland where we are planning to visit Great Barrier Reef, eat a lot of fresh seafood and tropical fruits, get suntanned using bucket-load of sunblock and just have a great time😎.

Apparently, it is going to be quite hot up there but after bad Sydney weather, it should be a welcome change🌞.

Will tell you all about it after our return.

Bye for now

Anna

xoxoxo

KANGAROO JUMPER AND A MINI SKIRT FOR SPRING

Hello dear friends, hope you are all ok.

Each day the weather is getting warmer and nicer and I can feel how my mood is lifting from the slumber of winter which quite obviously reflects in my spring wardrobe.  Last post was all about my new red dress, today I am sharing with you another colourful outfit that I bought for the spring season. this time my choice of colour was orange.  Orange is such an uplifting happy colour and depending on the hue, it suits the majority of skin types.  This antipodean spring is all about a splash of bright happy colour and bold silhouettes and I am loving it.

I can't speak on behalf of everyone, but I've noticed that the older I've become the less I am afraid of wearing bright clothes.  In fact, as we get older and our skin, hair and bodies have gradually lost the natural glow of youth, we need to bring in a new dimension to replace what has gone.  And that is where bright clothes, accessories, shoes and lipsticks come in handy.  For me, that is.  

It's not that I don't like to be dressed in the classic combos such as black and white or all neutrals etc, it's just sometimes my soul asks for extra stimulation and I feed it with bright colours.

This knit Roo jumper in salmon is simply adorable, I love this cute image of a proudly Australian kangaroo, whose iconic bounding stylised silhouette graces the tail of our QANTAS airplanes making them recognisable all around the world.   When I saw the jumper folded on a display table at Marcs store, I knew I had to have it.  

It was quite obvious that it will go with any kind of pants - jeans, slacks, trousers but I wanted something slightly less obvious.  In my mind I picture it paired with a slim fit mini skirt and looked around hoping to find one.  To my delight, next to me was a rack where I spotted a two-tone stripe mini skirt in orange and ivory and immediately took it to the dressing room.

I like its A-line shape, it is not too tight around the hips but still has slim shape and looks great paired with the Roo jumper.

Again, like with the red dress outfit, I was pretty sure that this outfit will look nice worn with sneakers but I wanted to test its versatility and for that reason opted for low heel dress shoes in a blue colour and grabbed a handbag to match.  Both of them are from Salvatore Ferragamo and have been in my wardrobe for years, their quality and classic style have passed the test of time.  You have seen me wearing them together or separately in multiple times.  

Finally, I added one more element to today's outfit - my Hermes scarf.   Its signature orange colour with the specks of blue was a perfect accessory that united all the pieces together into a cohesive outfit of the day.

Would you wear a short skirt?  What do you wear it with?  Please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

RED TIER TRAPEZE DRESS FOR SPRING

Hello dear readers, how are you all?

Spring is upon us, if you live in the southern hemisphere, that is and now it is the time to add some lighter and brighter items to your wardrobe.  Off with the thick warm fabrics, in with cotton, linen and other light, breathable fabrics that will keep you fresh all day long.

Case in point, my new tier trapeze shape cotton dress from Witchery in red.  There are so many points to like about this dress.  First of all, the colour.  I've been avoiding red colour clothes, especially if  it is in oversaturated hews, I think it looks too harsh against my skin, but this hue is in a darker shade of red and is quite agreeable with my complexion.  There are a lot of offices where I work, and I've noticed that the majority of young women who work there prefer to be dressed in black from head and toe.  And when it come to colours, it is, older women, who carry the flag.  I guess since we don't have the attributes of youth anymore, we compensate it with the addition of bright colours and bold prints.

The other feature of the dress that appeals to me a lot is this slightly exaggerated shoulder line that makes my sloppy shoulders look straight; the trapeze shape gives the dress an easy and relaxed feel and the length is perfect, not too long, and not too short.  The side pockets are a big plus for me as I sometimes don't know what to do with my hands.

I deliberately chose to wear it with high boots rather than sneakers.  They become such a "go to" and widely acceptable and appropriate footwear for all occasions that people stop bothering with wearing anything else.  The boots add the edge and elevate the dress from being too casual.

I wanted to make sure that as much as this dress qualifies as casual, with proper footwear and the right accessories it could be more than a just another day dress.

It was such a pleasure to do the photo shoot outdoors under the warm sun and bright blue skies amongst beautiful blooming azaleas.

Do you wear bright bold colours and what is your favourite.  Please let me know you the comment section below.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

Linking up with: Fine Whatever blog, Is This Mutton, Style Splash. Doused in Pink 

PINK TULLE SKIRT

 Hello dear friends,

It has been a while since my last post.  I was caught between having a nasty cold that significantly depleted my energy level which led to a long recovery which in turn affected my creativity skills.  But it's all in the past, hopefully, and I am all ready to have fun with fashion which brings me to today's post.

A few weeks ago my husband and I celebrated out 15th wedding anniversary.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, you might recall me mentioning that every month of the day of our wedding (it was on the 29th of July) my husband buys me, without failing, a small gift to mark the day and then on the actual day, spoils me with something more substantial.  

And you might understand my surprise when upon opening a beautifully wrapped gift, I saw a pink tulle skirt inside.  Slightly puzzled by his choice, I was just about to ask him, when I caught a sparkle in his eyes and a cheeky smile on his face and it dawned on me that it was a joke.  He could be such a tease sometimes. 

Once we both stopped laughing, he went to his office and came back with a proper gift.  It was a stunning looking watch with its face fully covered in sparkling crystals.  Turned out that the traditional 15th anniversary gift is a crystal and the most popular gift for this occasion is a watch. 

 

In the evening we went to a quite posh place for dinner and of course, I was wearing one of my new gifts (hint, it was not a tulle skirt😉).

However, I didn't discard it completely but rather accepted a challenge and gave it a go.  I paired it with a simple black sleeveless top, ballet flats and oversized hoop earrings. Not 100% convinced if I like it on me.  What do you think?  Please share your view in the comment section, your opinion means a lot to me.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo

MINI SKIRT THREE WAYS

 Hello dear friends, how are you all?

The winter weather in Sydney is just awful, it's raining non-stop, there are lots of floods around the city and the wind and a low temperature are making our lives quite miserable to say the least.  And once you are inside, it is almost as cold as outside until you turn on the heater or air-conditioner.  Can hardly wait till the end of it.

Enough of whinging, let's have some fun.  The skirt you see me wearing was purchased on the same day as the outfit I was modelling for you on a previous post (you can re-capture it here) and was purchased almost on a whim as I was not planning to wear such a short skirt any time soon.  Actually, I don't even remember when was the last time I wore a short skirt at all.

Then I saw a post from Mireille of Chez Mireille Travel Mom blog where she was modelling a very similar skirt and looking absolutely gorgeous in it and asked myself: "Why not?"

So here are a few versions of my take on a mini skirt.

First one, which I call an "office outfit", contains of a white button up blouse, a skirt, high flat heel boots worn with thick black tights and a black blazer (seen here).

My second outfit is more street style, I wanted to play with opposites:  short skirt - long coat, however there is no reason that I can't wear it to the office.

And last but definitely not least - I swapped the shirt for a white t-shirt and top it up with my biker style leather jacket from Sandro (worn here) for a street style edgy look.

There are two reasons these images were taken indoors.  Number 1, the weather has been so awful, the rain has not stopped for days and going outside for a photo shoot rendering it impossible.  The other reason is I am still not 100% sure I am ready to show off this skirt in public.

What do you think?  Please leave your comments, I truly appreciate your opinion😍.

Until then,

Anna

xoxoxo