South Island Holiday - Arrowtown and Walter Peak

 It's always such a bonus to have a two night stay on these coach tours, instead of packing up and moving on each morning.   In saying that, there was a lot packed in to our stay at Queenstown.   First things first, just look at this fabulous morning view looking out of my hotel room at Lake Wakatipu.

Early morning view

After breakfast we climbed aboard our coach which drove us to nearby Arrowtown.  The Arrow River became famous in 1862 when William Fox discovered alluvial gold close to where the town now stands.  This pretty little town boasts carefully preserved wooden cottages on the tree lined streets, and many of the historic buildings have been converted to tourist shops.  I did enter the Gold Nugget gold shop, hoping to find a suitable gold charm for my charm bracelet.  But couldn't believe it when I was told they only have silver charms for sale.  While I was there, another customer asked to see the biggest gold nugget they had, don't know if they purchased it as the asking price was sky high! 

The main road in Arrowtown

Later in the afternoon it was time for one of the highlights of the trip to me, a cruise to Walter Peak Station, aboard TSS Earnslaw, I had never been to Walter Peak Station before.  Our group, together with a large number of other passengers, gathered at the Steamer Wharf, the home of the steel hulled Earnslaw.  This ship was built in Dunedin, then completely dismantled, hauled by rail to Kingston, where it was reassembled and launched on Lake Wakatipu in 1912.  She is the last of many steamships that once worked on the lake.  The passenger loading soon got underway, we all hurried up the gangplank to find a seat, and settled down to enjoy the journey.  I was interested to look down at the working engines, the steamship gets through a ton of coal an hour, and is capable of 13 knots.

The engine room

And then, after 45 minutes of cruising, the beautiful elegant buildings of Walter Peak Station came into view.  This was founded in the 1860s and is one of the oldest sheep and cattle stations in the country.  It is still a working farm, and now hosts many many visitors to its BBQs, lunches and dinners during the season.

A glamorous place for our dinner

I must admit that the food was amazing, so much choice that I really didn't know where to start.  I remember enjoying salmon (of course, on of my favourites) and something quite different for me, paua pate.  Then I saw one of my tablemates coming back with some lamb, and had to ask where she found that.  There were several rooms set out with buffet food, and I had obviously missed one of them.  The desserts were tiny little portions of this and that delight, so we could take several without feeling guilty.  I asked one of the staff members to take a photo of my table.  There was only one husband amongst us, the rest were ladies on their own.

Dining at Walter Peak Station

After our wonderful dinner, most of the group went to see the sheep shearing.  My back had been very painful over the last few days so I decided not to do the gentle climb up, and went and sat, with several others who felt the same, outside the homestead.  It was a lovely peaceful place to sit and relax.

And then, here she comes!  The Earnshaw was not only coming to collect us, but was bringing another boat full of passengers for the later dinner booking.  We waited patiently till they all disembarked, then it was our turn to board.  Sit down by the piano, our host told us all, so we all squeezed down that end.

TSS Earnslaw arriving to collect us

It soon became clear why our group was sitting by the piano, seems the tour group had booked these seats for us especially.  Once we were underway, the songbooks were handed out, and the pianist starting tickling the ivories.  They were old songs, a lot of war songs and even older,  but surprisingly, I knew the words to most of them.  What fun, we all had a great time, singing lustily at the top of our voices.  There was another tour group onboard of Asians, and someone commented that they were all looking at us with interest, probably wondering at the behaviour of these rather noisy elderly Kiwis!

The songbook

The coach was waiting for us at the Steamer Wharf, we climbed aboard, and were taken up the hill to our hotel.  What a great day we had.  And another full day was planned for the next day.

Binding and Knitting

 I attended a Stitching Day on Saturday, organised by my quilt club.  It's a very casual affair, a small friendly group of us go along, coffee and tea provided, we take a packed lunch, and work on whatever project we wish.  I find it too difficult to unplug and transport my sewing machine anywhere these days, so take hand work with me.  And stitching a quilt binding down is perfect for me on these stitching days.  You may remember I am doing secret sewing with blue hearts and stars - these two quilts have now been commercially quilted, and I have stitched the bindings on.  So I took one of these to work on.  Not quite finished but I made a good start.  

I love my binding clips

It's always interesting seeing what the others are doing too.  Sewing machines were whirring away, and one member was sewing the binding down on a very special baby quilt.  She was waiting for the imminent arrival of her great grand baby!  And another had brought along a yet to be started project from years ago.  She had changed her mind about what she wanted to do, and spent the morning  trimming a big pile of 6in squares into hexagons.  That certainly took some patience.  

We had a visit from a good looking man in a uniform too.  He walked into our hall looking for his fellow Search and Rescue colleagues, who were having a meeting in the area somewhere.  No we certainly weren't SAR people, just looking at us he would be able to see that none of us were fit and agile enough to climb hills with a heavy back pack and rescue those in need!  We are quilters, we told him, so he went on his way to find his friends.

I've been knitting away as well, usually in the evenings when the TV is on.  A few rows here and there and it soon adds up.  My summer cotton top is slowly growing, I've finished the back and working on the front now.  I don't really like the feel of knitting with cotton, it certainly has a much different feel to wool.

I'm knitting this one for me

And I've also knitted some baby beanies, which will be donated.  I used three different patterns, to see which one I preferred.  I think I'd like to try a 2X2 rib pattern next with a folded  brim, I'm sure I will be able to find a free pattern on the internet.

Baby beanies

I met up with my daughter Nicky for lunch last Thursday and she was looking at my hands, and commented that my fingers were all nice and straight.  Nicky has several crooked fingers due to arthritis, sadly.  I feel she had a double whammy from both sides of the family, my mother had bad arthritis in her hands and elsewhere, and her father also suffers too.  My arthritis is in my back and neck, which does get sore as I'm getting older, but I'm so thankful that my hands are not affected.  We certainly need our hands and our eyes for our craft work, don't we.

Red and Burgundy Drawstring Bags

 Red is the colour for Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month, so I dug into my big bag of bag making bits and pieces, lining fabrics and cords,  to see what I could find.  I like to make drawstring bags for foster kids from time to time and have been using the RSC colour of the month to keep me on track.  Not much red there at all, just enough for one bag.  This one has cute little teddy bears with red bows on it.  I got this little piece of fabric from a pile of free fabric at my quilt club meeting this week.

Teddy bear bag

There were several pieces of burgundy fabric to use, that's close enough for red, I decided.  So I stitched a bag made from burgundy tie fabric, that might appeal to an older boy, perhaps.  Then one using a piece of Japanesey looking fabric, and then I had some  New Zealand print.  Lastly was a small bag featuring little dolls.  The bags all end up being  slightly different sizes, depending on the size of the feature fabric I have to use.

Four more in shades of burgundy

I went to see the Wuthering Heights film recently.  But first I re-read my copy of the book, to make sure I knew what was what, and who was who.  I was disappointed in the film, there were so many major differences.  But to those filmgoers who have never read the book, it probably would have been quite a good film, with gorgeous dramatic scenery and plenty of passionate lovemaking taking place.  Of course, that never happened in the book, theirs was a love of the heart, mind  and soul, even surviving death.  It is a strange book, full of love, power, cruelty and revenge - not a classic love story at all really.  

My daughter gave me this book some years ago, and I treasure it.  Nicky has her own copy and told me she likes to re-read it every couple of years, she is a real fan.

South Island Holiday - Hokitika to Queenstown

 After leaving our hotel at Hokitika  (translates to return directly) we had a little time to spend in the town.  Hokitika is well known for greenstone, known as pounamu.  This is  a highly valued stone found exclusively in the South Island, and is deeply significant to Maori culture, and is carved into tools and jewelry.  Some of us visited a large store selling greenstone jewelry, merino knitwear, and lots other items to appeal to tourists. I purchased a couple of items for future gifts.   We could look through the large windows into the workshop when the craftsmen were working on shaping the greenstone.

It was quite wet in Hokitika, no surprise really as the West Coast is well known for the heavy rainfall.  This is caused by the Roaring Forties westerly winds bringing moisture from the Tasman Sea, where the clouds then travel up to the Southern Alps, and drop the moisture as rain, often as intense, short duration rainfall with some areas experiencing over 300mm in 24 hours.  All this rainfall ensures that the West Coast native forests are lush and green. 

Our coach traveled south, passing by Harihari.  The claim to fame in this small settlement occurred in 1931 when Australian aviator Guy Menzies, piloting a single engine Avro Avian plane and ended upside down in a swamp, mistaking it for a grassy paddock.  This landing spot is marked by a memorial, which Robin and I visited on a caravan trip several years several years ago.

Driving past Harihari

Lunch stop was at Franz Joseph, yes, it was still raining, and I joined several others going to try the recommended Seafood Chowder for lunch.  Mmm, it certainly was delicious.  While we were enjoying our lunch a group of others were off on their pre booked scenic helicopter and glacier landing trip.  Not me, I wasn't brave enough, and I have been on a helicopter some years ago.    

Back on the coach again, we drove down to the Franz Joseph glacier, named in 1865 by German explorer Julius von Haast in honour of the Emperor of Austria,  to go on a short walk to the lookout.  The glacier has been rapidly retreating since 2008 and people cannot now walk up to the terminal face due to safety concerns.  We were lucky enough to have experienced a guided walk on the glacier, complete with crampons, some years ago, something that people cannot do these days.   Sadly, my photos of Franz Joseph seem to have got lost.  Our stay for the night was at a large local motel, which did not have a restaurant, so we were taken to a cafe along side pretty Lake Matheson for dinner that night, and the following morning for breakfast.

On the road again, the coach pulled into Bruce Bay, 40km south of Fox Glacier,  for a photo stop and to stretch our legs.  The rain had stopped, but the clouds were still rather ominous.

Bruce Bay

There was more excitement today for the 20 or so people who had booked the Haast River Safari.  They were dropped off at the starting point and the coach continued on along Haast Pass.  Then we traveled along to the pick up spot and waited for the boaters to return.  They certainly had a great time, they said.

Here comes the River Safari

The coach pulled in to the Country Cafe at Makoroa, not a place I had stopped at before, just driven past, towing the caravan behind us.  It reminded me of some of the Road House Cafes we stopped in, during a trip around the Ularu area in Australia.  Our bus load of passengers stood in a line, selected our lunches, and found a table to sit down.  

Country Cafe at Makoroa

The weather was certainly getting much brighter and we pulled in to see Lake Hawea.  This beautiful lake is 35km long and is a popular spot for fishing, wind surfing and boating.

Lake Hawea

There was one last stop before we made it to Queenstown, to Jones Fruit Stall, just outside Cromwell.  This place brought back memories, we had stopped here with the caravan on an earlier trip, to buy fresh fruit and a snow freeze fruit ice-cream.  This shop also has a wonderful selection of dried fruit, I remembered, so came away clutching several bags of delights.  No, I won't open them, I told myself, take them home and the fruit will be so tasty added to my home made muesli.  The coach host had phoned through and there was a small tub of fruit ice-cream waiting for us all.  Delicious, we sat on the picnic tables and ate our ice-creams with gusto!

Jones Fruit Stall, Cromwell

It had been a long day of driving, with the  boat ride for those adventurous people as well.  I was pleased to get into my hotel room in Queenstown, with the knowledge we would be staying two nights for a change.  There was a lot planned in Queenstown during our stay.  And just look at this lovely view of Lake Wakatipu out of my hotel bedroom.

View from my room at Queenstown

Sew Wot Tuesday

This was our first Sew Wot get-together of the New Year, as several of our ladies had been experiencing health issues, so it was great to get everyone back this week.  Carol was our hostess this time, which coincided nicely with her belated birthday.  It's always such fun watching the birthday girls unwrap their gifts, I'm sure we enjoy it as much as they do.

Happy Birthday Carol

Once that excitement was over, it was time to view the rose challenge.  Rose wall-hangings in various shades were shown.  They were all so lovely, well done, girls!  I didn't want to make a rose, and had decided instead on a poppy, to celebrate Anzac Day.  But..... my poppy was a no show, I haven't even started it yet.  In fact I'm not too sure where the pattern and fabrics are, I'm sure I've tucked them away safely somewhere.

Helen's pink rose, to be donated to Rural Woman Association

Red rose stitched by Sandra

Mary stitched three red roses

Jude made a cushion, a white rose on red 

Carol's rose was the lucky last

Show and Tell is always exciting too.  Sandra had made two pretty donation quilts, sure to be well received.

Made by Sandra

And Carol had a lovely blue and white quilt to show us, such pretty colours.

Carol's blue and white quilt

Helen had been knitting up a storm and brought along several pairs of socks.  The men in her family have big feet, she remarked.  Helen and Mary are teaching sock knitting on two needles at my favourite quilt shop, Fox's Cottage.  That's where I went to my sock knitting classes too, several years ago now.  I really need to cast on another pair of socks, I think, even though I've got other projects on the needles.

Helen's socks

My snow people came along to say hello at show and tell too, together with the blue and yellow cot quilt I finished recently.

Hello from the snow people

There was plenty of news to catch up with, it's been ages since we all got together.  And then, morning tea time, all laid out on another of Carol's recently finished quilts.  Ooops, hope we didn't spill anything..

Morning tea time

As always, it was such a lovely morning.  Many thanks to our hostess, Carol.

Red for RSC

Red is the colour selected for March for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.   I had a few simple blocks to make - the same block in two sizes, so that didn't take too long at all.  The baby blocks were first, and I wanted to keep it soft, no bright, glaring red, I decided.  So I chose a pink and red print to keep the look I was after.

Baby blocks

The dinosaurs were next, and I used a bright red solid for these ones.  Another donation quilt, I'm sure some young boy will love snuggling up with the dinosaurs.

Dinosaur blocks

I have a couple of red draw string children's bags to stitch for RSC, hopefully I'll do them next week.  Then I want to get on with my own stitching, as well as the monthly Chook Shed Challenge - there is always plenty to keep me busy.

There was an E-Waste collection today, I discovered early in the week so I have been gathering up items to dispose of.  Such as a lap top computer, a tablet, and three old cell phones.  Plus a whole lot of computer cords and things which have been lying around in cabinets and drawers.  The local Lions Club organised the day, and for a small fee took these things off my hands.  They go to be recycled safely, and the Lions get some funds for their continuing good deeds.

Two bags of stuff to be recycled

Hard at work sorting the E-Waste

Gemma often likes to hide out in the cubby hole on her tower, but yesterday hopped right up on top, surveying her kingdom.  She is very sure that she rules the house!

Hello Gemma

South Island Holiday Part 1

 My South Island holiday got off to a bad start.  On Sunday severe weather was lashing the country, with high winds and flooding, and several areas had declared a state of emergency.  Flights and ferries were cancelled, roads were flooded, would I get away on Monday, I wondered?  The weather slowly cleared and the sun came out in my area on Monday morning and I was notified that the taxi sent to take me to the airport was on the way.    Great, it arrived on time, my luggage was loaded and off we went.  But....... we hadn't even made it out of the village when the taxi phone rang, to say the flight was cancelled and to take me home!  That was a very quick trip, wonder what the neighbours thought.  

Flight cancelled,  just a 5 minute taxi ride on Monday

The tour company was very good, I had numerous phone-calls to update me, on both Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.  The flights were back on, and the taxi had been booked to drop me at the airport.  One day late, but really, I understand that safety comes first, and the planes were not able to fly in such terrible  conditions.  So on Tuesday I finally boarded the flight.  It had been about 10 years since I had flown, so I was a little nervous.  "I'm not going to think I'm high up here in the sky, hurtling along in a tin can", I told myself.  The flight was fine, I landed in Christchurch, where my ride was waiting to deliver me to the hotel, phew!

That's my plane

As I settled into my room, then joined my new travel companions for dinner, I realized that I had got off very lightly indeed.  There were two other couples that should had flown out from Palmerston North Airport with me, but there was no room on the flight.  The tour company decided to drive them in a taxi van to Hamilton, a rushed 6 hour drive, without a single stop, and hope that they met the Hamilton to Christchurch flight in time.  They did, by the skin of their teeth, with the plane held up and waiting for them!

After an early breakfast the next day, our South Island adventure began - our coach took us to Christchurch station where we were heading for Greymouth on the Tranz Alpine train.  The 223km/139 mile journey took about 5 hours or so, and travels through 16 tunnels and across 4 viaducts.  Robin and I had done this trip several times before and certainly enjoyed it.  The scenery was magnificent, I was lucky to have a window seat and took some shots of the  Southern Alps with just a touch of snow.

The Eastern side of the Alps is much drier

The train made a stop at Arthur's Pass, a historic mountain pass and village, and we were all pleased to get off and stretch our legs.  I asked one of the train staff to take my picture against the train.

At Arthur's Pass

Once through the pass the scenery changed as we headed towards the West Coast, an area well known for it's high rainfall.  Pretty Lake Brunner came into view, a small place indeed with quite a lot of holiday homes, we were told.

Lake Brunner

Our coach was waiting for us at  Greymouth Station, having driven over SH73, also known as the Great Alpine Highway.  Our adventure wasn't over as we were taken to "Shantytown" a reconstruction of a gold mining town, made up of old buildings moved on site.

Shantytown

And look, a steam train, all fired up and ready to go.  I couldn't pass that by, could I?  So I climbed aboard, squeezed onto a hard wooden seat, and puff, puff, we were on our way.  That was fun.

Steam train at Shantytown

After all that excitement, we  boarded the coach again, and drove down to Hokitika, our stop for the night.  After a nice meal in the hotel restaurant, it was time for me to go back to my room, and spend a little time relaxing with Heathcliffe - I had bought my copy of Wuthering Heights to read on my trip.