South Island Holiday - Final Days

 Just the final few days to go, the holiday was coming to an end.  After a wonderful two days in Dunedin, the weather changed and we traveled to Oamaru in wet and miserable conditions. We stopped out of town to collect two local guides, who hopped aboard our coach, suitably attired in Victorian clothes, ready to tell us all about their hometown.  Oamaru, known as "The white stone city" boasts a wonderful collection of historic commercial buildings built with local white Oamarua stone.  It was discovered that the limestone could be sawn after it was quarried, and hardens when exposed to the air, making it the perfect building material in an area where timber was in short supply.  

Our first stop on this rather miserable morning was to board the Oamaru Steam and Rail (founded in 1985) vintage train, ready and waiting for us at  Habourside Station.  

Vintage train

The short 1.7km trip took us through the historic part of town, arriving at Oamaru's Victorian Harbour.  There is a blue penguin colony taking over the old wharf.  We were not able to depart the train to get a closer look.  But Robin and I had seen these birds up close on an earlier trip, very interesting, but rather noisy and smelly up close!

Can you see the penguins on the wharf?

So it was back to Harbourside Station to farewell the train, climb aboard the coach which dropped us at Whitestone City attraction.  Set in an original grainstore, this is not a typical museum,  instead being one where "hands on" is encouraged.  We settled down to watch a film about the beginning and growth of the city

What's this?  Wonder of wonders, it is a Penny Farthing Carousel!  Some of the more agile ladies climbed up on the bikes and had a wonderful time as the carousel went round and round, playing a tune.  Such fun for them, and fun also to watch.

Penny Farthing Carousel

There was a street full of shops to admire, a general store, barber and dispensary (chemist) looking through the windows at the goods of yesterday.  There were games to try, skittles, croquet, even cards, and old toys to admire.  I was very interested in the vintage gowns on display, I love seeing this sort of thing.  What an amazing place, I had not been here before.

Beautiful gowns

It was still raining and we had to walk to a cafe for lunch.  I got a bit lost walking up and down the historic street, couldn't find where to go.  Luckily I spotted the guides and tagged along with them to a very nice cafe indeed.  And yes, Southland cheese rolls were on the menu, so of course that's what I ordered, together with a nice hot coffee.  Just what I needed to warm me up.

Historic street and buildings

Our hotel was at Omarama that evening, quite a small place which is well known for the famous Clay Cliff Walkway, and the area is very popular for gliding.  This is all because the unique geography naturally generates three powerful types of uplifting air currents, thermals, ridge lifts, and mountain waves, which sends pilots to extreme altitudes.  Not for us though of course, it was late afternoon when we arrived, just time to settle down for a bit, before dining in the restaurant.  

The next day was our last driving day, heading for Christchurch, with a couple of stops along the way.  The very pretty Church of the Good Shepherd is rather popular for weddings, you can see why as it is in such a beautiful setting.

Church of the Good Shepherd, Tekapo

Lake Tekapo measures 27kms in length and is 6kms at the widest point, and is 710m 2330 feet above sea level.

Lake Tekapo

From here we drove on to Geraldine for lunch.  Geraldine dates back to 1884 when surveyor Samuel Hewlings built the first bark hut in Talbot Street, and planted a totora tree.  There is a lovely memorial at this site, and the tree is still growing well.

Hewlings family and their bark hut

Totara tree planted by Samuel Hewlings outside his family hut

Geraldine is a pretty little town and we lunched at Barker's Eatery, a lovely cafe indeed.  Barker's products are a New Zealand favourite and include jams, chutneys, sauces and syrups.  Their tasting room is very popular, and their are products for sale.  

Barker's for lunch

From here, it was foot to the pedal all the way to Christchurch.  We drove over the long bridge crossing the Rakaia River, which is one of the largest braided rivers in New Zealand.  A braided river is made of multiple, shallow, and interconnected channels separated by shifting gravel bars, causing the river to constantly divide and rejoin.  In New Zealand, they are only found in the South Island.

Crossing the Rakaia River

We arrived at  Christchurch in the late afternoon, back at the same hotel from where we commenced our trip, 12 days ago.  And I ended back in the very same room I stayed in previously.  There was a farewell dinner in the hotel that evening, with plenty of reminiscing about the highlights of our time away.

Our farewell dinner

After one last breakfast together the next morning, my bag was packed and stored in the office, and I vacated my room.  Everyone was being taken to the airport at different times, some had left bright and early for their flights back to Australia, but I wasn't being picked up till 2.00pm or so.  Which gave me the opportunity to catch up with my son Michael.  He collected me and we went off for an early lunch.  Then he took me to his favourite book shop, and look what I found, a book about the Tudors.  I love reading about this part of royal history.

The Rise of the Tudors

Michael said goodbye, and my transport arrived to take a small group of us to the airport.   The journey was almost over.  It was a nice fine day for flying, so that's always a bonus.

Goodbye to Christchurch

Door to door service meant that I was collected from Palmerston North Airport and driven home.  It was nice to sleep in my own bed again, and Gemma was collected from the cattery the following day.  I had a great time, enjoyed the Trans Alpine train trip, the Taieri Gorge train, and the tourists rides we did.  The Milford Sound cruise was a real highlight, as was the visit to Larnarch Castle.  Yes, I admit to a few sad moments in the evenings, traveling on my own, and missing Robin.  All in all, it was a wonderful trip, full of wonderful South Island scenery, and visits to interesting attractions.  And of course sampling all those delicious Southern Cheese Rolls at stops along the way.

Slow Stitching and Knitting

Well, we certainly can't complain about the weather today.  It was warm and sunny enough to get the washing dry outside.  And pleasant enough for me to sit outside on the patio, under our Arch-gola.  It's hard to believe it's almost the end of May, and it makes me wonder just what Winter will have in store for us all.  Just have to wait and see, I guess.

So, this afternoon, I took my New Zealand panel outside for a couple of hours to do some more big stitch quilting.  Today, I was working on a heron, slowly stitching away with a cuppa and biscuit to help me along.  This is such a soothing a meditative pastime.  and I thought about this and that.  Gemma was curled up inside on a dining chair, with the sunshine coming in the window.  You know what cats are like, sleeping is their number one hobby!

Hello heron

I need some more colours of Perle no. 5, in particular a couple of shades of teal/turquiose and some blues.  Although my favourite quilt shop has a good range of colours available, I couldn't get everything I needed last time.  Guess another trip is in order to see if they have restocked again.

This is the state of the bag I keep my threads in.  I tend to rummage around, looking for something in particular, and I suppose that is why it is so messy.  Oh dear, I think it could do with a good tidy up.  I'm sure most of you wouldn't put up with this!  I cut and plait my threads, that was always a job Robin helped with.  He would happily hold them for me while I got busy plaiting.  

It's a bit of a mess

After been put into time-out for a while, I retrieved my cotton summer top which I'm knitting.  I'm up to the front neck and had to figure out what to do, as the actual pattern is a cardigan, not a jumper.  With the help of a notebook and a pen, I made a few notes and luckily my calculations worked out fine.  I'm pleased about that, as it had been worrying me for a while.  So that is the back and the front now finished.

The front is finished at last

So now I'm ready to cast on the short sleeves, I'll knit both of them at the same time.  

Sleeves are next

I've just finished reading another book.  This one was about the secretive Bletchley Park and the important work taking place there.  It tells the story of three young women from quite different backgrounds who were recruited because of their knowledge of the German language, decoding intercepted Luftwaffe messages.   This novel was quite a different read for me, and I really enjoyed it.

RSC - Just a Touch of Orange

 Orange is the colour of the month for RSC stitching, not my favourite colour by any means.  I'm not too keen on bright red either, wonder what that says about me?  I'm still working on my baby quilt and found a scrap of yellow with orangey coloured flowers - just enough for a corner block.  I was looking for something more apricot, but nothing was to be found.

That will do

I laid the blocks out on my design bed, to see what else I needed.  Yes, there were a couple of spaces that needed filling, so I stitched up some three purple blocks, and a teal for the other corner.  

On the design bed

The blocks were then webbed together and I contemplated what to use as a border.  And finally settled on a pale blue.  There, that's the top done and dusted.  Plus I made the binding, I always like to get this done early.   The next step is to get it layered and pinned.  Perhaps next week.

Finished the top

A local charity had put the call out for warm winter things recently.  I hadn't heard of this charity before, but thought I would like to donate a couple of things for local children. 

Donations needed

 You may remember the crate of knitted items I retrieved from the loft recently, full of things for future great-grandchildren?  I could pass two jumpers on, I decided.  Two boys jumpers, one about age 4-5, and the blue hooded one for a toddler.  Seems like there won't be any family babies for a while, I'm told.

Two jumpers for little boys

And I always seem to have a couple of donation quilts waiting to be passed on, so delivered these as well.   Both of these were RSC quilts finished last year.  And they both have a touch of orange too.

Off to keep some local children warm

And speaking of warm, we have been enjoying some lovely, sunny, Autumn days lately, beautiful and calm.  Not today though, it's cloudy,  cool, and getting colder.  The heat pump is on, luckily it doesn't take too long to warm things up.  Guess winter will show it's teeth here soon enough.

Just Me and the Sheep

 Yesterday was such a foggy morning, when I looked out the window at 7.00am.  I don't recall this happening here before at all.  You could hardly see a thing looking down the road in our village.

A very foggy morning

Once the sun came up it chased all that fog away.  It reminded me of Kathy wandering around the foggy moors, calling to Heathcliff!  It turned out to be a beautiful sunny Autumn day in the end.

Later that morning I took myself off to the movies, I was keen to see The Sheep Detectives.  I wasn't sure what to expect, I'd either enjoy it or hate it.  But there was only one way to find out.

I was the only one in the theatre, (there are three picture theatres in this complex) so I could sit anywhere.  So it was just me, the sheep, and Hugh Jackman.  It was a gentle story, albeit being a murder mystery, set in a picturesque English Village.  When the shepherd was found dead, the sheep, remembering all the murder mystery books he would read to the flock each evening, did their best to solve the crime, leaving clues for the rather bumbling  local constable.  I must admit, I didn't guess which one did the deed, which probably means that those sheep are smarter than me.  The film was light, and enjoyable, and who doesn't like Hugh Jackman, and Mr Google told me he is an Australian, I didn't know that.

Since I was in town, I went to the local quilt shop and found a few things I was after.  A refill cartridge for my Clover chalk pen, and a couple of hanks of Perle no.5 cotton.  Not every shop stocks the no.5 so it can be  difficult to find.  I had an appointment as well, it is good to combine what's on the shopping list these days, with the fuel prices being so high.

Sew Wot Tuesday

 It was Sew Wot Tuesday today, I had missed  the previous get together.   Mary was the hostess today, we hadn't seen her for a while with several appointments scheduled on  Sew Wot Tuesdays in a row, so it was lovely to catch up with her again.

Mary may well have been missing in action for a while, but she had plenty of show and tell for us.  The first one was a lovely colourwash scrappy quilt made by Mary's daughter for her own daughter's birthday.  Mary was keeping it under wraps till the big day.

Made by Mary's daughter - who loves working with little scraps

Mary had two pretty little bags to show us.  This one is a pretty stitching bag, you can't have too many of those for your various projects.

Embroidered sewing bag

And this beautiful blue satin one was made by her grand-daughter using scraps from the school ball gown Mary had stitched for her last year.  Such a lovely idea.

"M" for Mary

Mary loves embroidery and rescued this pretty tablecloth from an Op Shop a while ago.  She finished off the embroidery, and added a crochet border.

Embroidered tablecloth

But wait - there's more.  Mary had also knitted all these socks!

Carol had knitting to show as well, two sets of tops and hats, very cozy in double knit wool.  These will be donated, very timely this time of year, to keep some little ones warm.

Carol's knitting

And Helen had finished a pair of socks too, and was busy knitting yet another pair.  There's nothing nicer than hand knitted socks!

Helen's socks

"I'm wearing my Show and Tell", Heather announced.  She looked really fetching in a lovely warm vest made with her own hand spun wool, and knitted in a lacy pattern.  

Heather in her hand spun, hand knitted vest

As usual, there was a lot to chat about, and before we knew it, morning tea was served.  Delicious, and we all loved the toasted asparagus rolls with cheese on top, I thinks we will all be making this tasty idea at home  when visitors arrive.

The Eat-a-Lots morning tea

It was Mother's Day here recently, and Mary showed her bouquets, a gorgeous one with beautiful blooms, still lasting well.  Plus this one, quite different, a bouquet made from tiny balls of wool.  How clever is that!

That's a clever idea

Many thanks to Mary for hosting a wonderful morning, it was so nice to catch with everyone again.  

Slow Stitching a Sea Bird

 My quilting club had a "Stitching Day" and I tool along this big bag of slow stitching to do.  I made this bag in a class  many years ago when we lived in Upper Hutt, and I think it might be called a pumpkin bag.  I can't manage my heavy sewing machine these days, it's much too heavy for me to unplug, put in the case, carry it to and from the car, then the return trip home.  So I always take some hand stitching along instead.  Plus a packed lunch - that's most important too.

  Mmmm, what's in here

After quite a long time I decided to work on my Land and Sea Panel, which I am big stitching.  I really like this panel, and plan to hang it above the sofa in the sitting room, where I rotate seasonal quilts.  It really doesn't matter how long it takes me to stitch, I'm enjoying the process.

Land and Sea panel

There was plenty going on during the stitching day.  Two of the ladies were finishing up their table runner tops from a recent club class.  Another was hand stitching a Sue Spargo design bird using wool, so pretty.    Hexagons were tacked up ready to stitch, and as usual there was plenty to chat about.  

I finished stitching the sea bird, he might be a gull, I think, then stitched some of the surrounding background.  It certainly was slow stitching,  but peaceful and enjoyable.  The gecko will be next, I think.

Big stitch quilting

It was a lovely day indeed.  One of the ladies brought along some freshly baked muffins to share at morning tea, and another had a big bucket of feijoas to give away.  How kind.  As for my hand quilting project, I'll have to make sure that it is not tucked away, out of sight - out of mind, again.

Donation Time and Mother's Day

 It was time to send a few more items off to new homes.  You may remember the crate of knitting my granddaughter got down from the loft for me, it contained knitted jumpers I had done for future great grand children.  It was time to let two of them go, plus a several knitted hats I had finished recently.

Off to new homes

The pink jumper was knitted recently with yarn I had purchased from an Op Shop, and the navy one is a reknit of a pattern I made for my first baby Michael many years ago.  He is now 61 years old!  And the little hats were made from ends of yarn I wanted to use up.

What else?  I sent along this little blue and yellow cot quilt too.  I think it is so pretty, cot quilts are quick to stitch and enjoyable to make.

Cot quilt

I took these along to show the ladies in my monthly knitting group.  Not everyone knits, some have hand issues and come along for the company and a chat, which is nice.  We meet in a local church, which collects donations for The Nest Collective, who distribute items for new mothers and their babies, a New Zealand wide organization.  A very worthy cause and one I'm happy to support.  

Today is Mother's Day here in New Zealand, and I met my daughter for lunch.  I drove up to Foxton and she drove down from Kiwitea.  It was just as well that she had booked us a table as the cafe was really busy.  Mind you, that cafe is always busy, the food and service is great, but today it was especially busy with families out celebrating with their Mums.

Out to lunch

Nicky had brought me a gift.  What's in here, I wonder

It was some pretty sock yarn, self striping in pink.  "Breast Cancer Awareness Special Edition".  I had only just thought of starting a new pair of socks for myself, so this is very timely indeed.

Sock yarn from Nicky

After a delicious lunch, and coffee each, plenty of chatter, we went back to the cars.  As usual, there was a bit of swapping to do.  I had two good quality travel bags found in the loft which Nicky was taking off my hands, so they went home with her.  These had only been used a couple of times, and as  I mentioned to her, we purchased these for overseas travel as cabin bags, before we realised that pull along small cabin sized suitcases were so much easier to cope with.  And I had found a pair of hedge clippers in the shed which I was donating to granddaughter Megan to use in her  garden.

Nicky had things in her boot (trunk) to pass over to me as well.  A bag of lemons from her tree, and a big bag of feijoas, much appreciated.  The two granddaughters had sent along a little something - one of Megan's butternut pumpkins from her first crop, and a pumpkin pie from Emma.  Didn't I do well.

Pumpkin and pie

So I had a lovely day.  And I've had a phone call from my son Michael too, so that was lovely.   Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful ladies too.