What a beautiful day it is, here in Katoomba! We’re here for a few days photographing the Darnell Collection, one of the most impressive private collections of vintage clothing in Australia.

I couldn’t resist taking a few snaps of the Carrington Hotel, where we’re staying. It’s such a beautiful place. I first saw it a decade ago, while it was undergoing renovations. I tried to sneak around and was exploring the old stables when a security guard escorted me off the premises. Thankfully it’s now open to the public, and for the price of a room you can explore to your heart’s content. Here’s the view from the verandah:

I seem to have it all to myself – now, if only someone would bring me a gin and tonic, life would be perfect!

The Carrington is that most of wonderful of establishments: built to great aplomb in the Victorian era and extravagantly redone in the 1920s. It has an interesting construction, as the original building wasn’t so much as changed as expanded – it’s like a ’20s hotel (with Macintosh, nouveau and deco touches) built around an elaborate Victorian one. So you have fabulous stained glass windows that open onto corridors and enclosed verandahs, and a veritable rabbit warren of rooms. It has 66 guest rooms, and all manner of public lounges, a library, a billiards room, a bar, a dining room, and of course, a magnificient verandah from which you can safely view the hoi polloi below going about their lives down on the main street.

Want to see more? Click here – warning: image heavy.