Cheryl Down Under – Part 2

Swansea to Lismore

The second part of my #cheryldownunder tour was from Swansea to Lismore. I’m still playing catch up and working to share more highlights from my 5-week trip through the eastern part of Australia teaching mixed media and enjoying the raw beauty of the beautiful country. There are just so many photos I don’t know where to start. 😄

You can see the first part at Cheryl Down Under Recap: First 2 weeks in Australia – Melbourne.

Julie Short with Time to Create was my beautiful and gracious host for this part of my trip. After leaving Darkroom Door, we headed to Swansea in New South Wales. I saw my first kookaburra in the wild there (and I’m completely obsessed with kingfishers now).

I also saw hundreds of black swans. Did you know black swans are in Australia? I had never seen a black swan before. I still can’t get over how many birds I saw in Australia. Every day was a cacophony of bird sounds. I saw flocks of wild lorikeets and cockatoos all throughout my trip. I was fascinated with the magpies as I had never seen one before much less heard one. If you’ve never heard one, here is a great little clip for you to listen to – they sound like a robotic alien bird.

The Scrapbooker’s Confetti Box

The week wasn’t all play and sightseeing. I spent the weekend teaching at The Scrapbooker’s Confetti Box there in Swansea.

We had such a great time creating prints with our Gel Press plates and learning how to get multiple different prints with layers of paints and stencils. The students fell in love with Eileen Hull’s Travel Journal die and we made many gel print backgrounds to fill our Art Journal.

We also created animal canvases using all those extra gel prints we made and learned a few extra printing and stenciling techniques.

Everyone was so welcoming and we had a great weekend. I do plan on visiting again and teaching in the future so keep an eye on that. (Hint hint)

Australian Backroads Road Trip

After a weekend of teaching, Julie and I finally headed toward Lismore. It was so much fun traveling with Julie because she was adventurous and enjoyed taking the scenic route. I can honestly say that I saw such a great mix of Australia East Coast. I was amazed by the micro climates and how you could be in a seaside environment one minutes, farmland right around the corner, drive right into the mountains, and then be in a tropical rainforest the next – all within a 45 minute drive.

We took our time heading to Lismore with stops along the way to enjoy the scenery.

On the way to one location, we even encountered a horse in the roadway who was in no hurry to get out the way. It was quite comical.

But just past the horse, we stayed at a beautiful Air B&B Julie had discovered. It was so quiet, peaceful, and beautiful. The weather was still cold enough for a fire in the fireplace as well, which just added to the ambiance.

The craftsmanship inside and out of this home was breathtaking as all the rocks and lumber used to build this house came from the property it was located on and was hand crafted by the owners. Check out that staircase column and all that masonry work.

The view outside was just as breathtaking. It was an idyllic morning sitting on the porch having coffee and just breathing in the fresh air.

But it was time to leave and head on to Julie’s place. Again, Julie took the scenic route.

We even started to get lost once, but we found our way back on the right path.

A path that including even more breathtaking scenery of mountains, rainforests, and waterfalls.

The jacaranda trees were also in full bloom and beautiful.

I felt truly blessed that everywhere I went, the people I met in Australia really went out of their way to show me the different parts of Australia. I truly had not idea the diversity in landscapes. We tend to imagine the outback views when we think of Australia, but I can attest that Australia is so much more than that. As a matter of fact, over my entire trip, I never saw the outback at all and I covered quite a bit of miles along the eastern part of Australia.

I think that just demands another return trip to see more, don’t you?

I have so much more to share so check back soon. Hope you are enjoying my views of Australia so far.