Holiday Handwork

While packing for our South Island caravan holiday I had to make sure I had plenty of hand work to do.  First, some knitting.  I quite enjoy knitting on car journeys, so I cast on a double knit cardigan/jacket for myself.    I bought the big cone of pure New Zealand navy  8ply, double knit wool at a good price so I’m very pleased with that.  The design is reasonably plain so should be fine for car knitting.

A cardigan for me

And just in case I feel like a change, I gathered up some part balls of yarn to made two toddlers jumpers.  One for a boy, and one for a girl.  Any leftovers can be used for baby beanies.  I had some of this yarn given to me so it will be good to use it up.

Extra projects, just in case

I really need a stitchery project too  so decided to do Noah’s Ark. This had been on my mind to do for some time.  Bur first I had to get the pattern enlarged – it was designed for stranded cotton and I like to do my stitcheries in Perle no 5.  Gemma jumped up to help me with when I got the light box out to start tracing. 

She is such a big help

It’s nice to have some hand work to do in case the weather turns bad and we decide not to get out and about exploring.   Or sitting out side after dinner in the cool of the evening.   But if not much gets done, it doesn't really matter – if will be available if I need it.

Let me tell you about our journey down to the South Island, there was certainly a speed bump involved.  Tuesday was a lovely day, nice and sunny, just right for a trip across Cook Strait.  But it wasn’t to be.  We left Plimmerton in good time for check in, and arrived at the terminal.  There the staff told us that the 1.00pm sailing was cancelled, due to Covid wrecking havoc on staff numbers, and it was unable to sail!   Turn around and go home we were told, keep your phone turned on, and wait for an update. So we headed back to Plimmerton camp.    As the day wore on, a message came through to advise that we had been booked on the 2.00am sailing on Wednesday morning.  It was a long day waiting, and we sensibly indulged in a Nana nap in the afternoon.

Back to Wellington we drove at 11.30pm, lined up in the queue at the booking office.  Here we were given our boarding pass and various large coloured tags to display on the dashboard.  I thought the “old folks label” was very apt!  We also had to fill in a declaration for Gemma – she was taking her journey inside the caravan. 

Our various tags

Waiting

For a treat, we had decided to book into the Premium Lounge, a first for us.  A little pricey, but very comfy indeed, and no children allowed. As it turned out there were only about ten of us in the lounge, but we were told that sometimes it is at full capacity, so it made for a nice quiet sailing, as we all tried to get a little shut-eye as  the trip continued.  As we arrived we were presented with a glass of orange juice.  It was  breakfast service  on this trip, so we enjoyed bacon, eggs, and other delights from the self service counter.  Pastries were available, hot tea and coffee, and a trolley of sushi was on offer later in the evening, or should I say, very early morning.  It certainly was a nice experience, and I would like to sample it again during a day time sailing.

Breakfast at 2.00am

The ferry arrived in Picton at 5.30am, the break of dawn, and we were soon off and away to Koromiko.  We were so pleased that this camp had a policy of “arrive anytime, settle in, then make payment by direct debit”.  So we did,  settled down and climbed into bed for a couple of hours, catching up on that missing sleep.  It had been a very  long day and night!