Tuesday 31 August 2010

Tolarno Hotel



Whilst in Melboure we stayed at the fabulous Tolarno hotel in St Kilda - full of great character, fabulous food and wonderful art.


Playful murals by Melbourne artist Mirka Mora, an eccentric of the Australian arts scene, have adorned the walls since the 60s.


Since discovering her while at school, Mirka has always been a bit of a favourite of mine. Her mythical creatures, with their large soulful eyes, were so playful and inspiring against the rather monotonous backdrop painted canvas. Perhaps it was my discovery of art beyond the 2D form, which really excited me. We even created our own Mirka inspired creatures - mine was half woman, half mermaid. So to experience the originals, and to be able to stay surrounded by them at the Tolarno, and even steal a touch, was brilliant.


Guy Grossi's restaurant, aptly named Mirka, was refreshingly brilliant too. Simple flavours, made beautifully. Perfect.

Monday 30 August 2010

High Tea with Milly May...

I've been on holiday in Australia for the past month (spending time with family and friends), hence the silence.

We're now back in London, recovering from jetlag. We had a wonderful month - Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cape Tribulation, Cairns, Fraser Island, Stradbroke Island and an outback town called Charleville. It's been a bit of an adventure (an a little bit exhausting!).

Milly celebrated her Birthday in style. High Tea with thanks to the exquisite crockery from Fancy Tea and the help of my mum and her fabulous scones (she's quite the scone connoisseur), meringues and Angel Food Cake, along with my own, mini Blueberry and Lemon Bundt cakes, cucumber sandwiches and the stunning cupcakes made by Chelse. It was quite a spread (photos to follow...I managed to misplaced my camera, but should be reunited with it in a few weeks).

Milly had a great time, completely sugar fueled. She ended the day on a high, covering herself in strawberry jam. I managed to miss the event, but was in charge of the cleaning up. My friend Shae managed to capture it in motion...

Milly wore the ultimate party dress, from the lovely Belle and Boo...