Bus Drama and Embroidery Exhibition

 It was another  big day out yesterday, when I boarded the "free for seniors bus" and traveled to Palmerston North. The weather was a nice sunny winter's day, and I hopped aboard with about a dozen others.  I noticed that most of the other passengers were all wearing winter jackets, I had decided not to as I would be spending most of my time indoors.  But I did wonder if I had made the right decision - Palmerston North is well known for it's wind, but I didn't really want to be lugging a coat about with me all day, if the weather stayed as mild as I hoped it would be.  

On our way

The bus ride took us through plenty of farmland, and after a while we could hear an alarm buzzing intermittently, mmm, I wondered what that's all about?  Then the alarm was going non stop, and the bus driver started looking for somewhere safe to pull over.  He really didn't want to drive the bus anymore, so put a call through to the supervisor.  A replacement bus for the passengers another driver and a mechanic were on their way, and we all sat tight for half an hour while we waited.  Then at last a new bus and a car pulled up behind us, we could finally get on our way again.

On our way -  again

The remainder of the trip was drama free and we all went our separate ways at the bus depot.  My first port of call was to a nearby cafe, to have a coffee and relax.  I don't remember being on a bus breakdown before.  Robin certainly had, he spent several years as a bus driver after being made redundant from his corporate job, driving in Wellington, Wairarapa and the Hutt Valley, and often came home with interesting tales to tell.  Like the time he ran over a metal tool left behind by the roading crew which pierced the fuel tank, and the diesel flowed all over the road!

I was making this trip to Palmy especially to see an embroidery exhibition I had read about.  "Threads of Connection", a national exhibition by the Association of NZ Embroiderers Guilds was showing at Square Edge Arts Centre during the month of July.

This is the place

It certainly was very interesting, comprising of three sections.  Stitched Art, both modern and traditional, created by members, Challenge entries, and works by young embroiders 18 years and younger.  I certainly don't consider myself a "proper embroider" as I only do very simple stitcheries, so it was nice to see these beautiful works of art up close.  Let me show you what took my fancy.

First glimpse of the entries

I enjoyed looking at the entries in Te Wero Tuia - The Stitch Challenge.  Embroiders had the choice of depicting the given rose design exactly, in whatever technique or colours they chose.  Or - be creative, using the design as a starting point, and creating their own work.

This rose in red

And this one in gold

I liked this creative one, with stitched borders

There was such a variety in the Stitched Art section.  This one was lovely, showing the flora and fauna in the life of an "English Kiwi", with the beauty of butterflies, birds,  plants, and flags  from both countries.  

Two halves of a whole

And what is more Kiwi than a Kowhai tree in bloom

"I stitch, therefore I am",  we can all relate to that

How about a pair of embroidered boots?

There was a local club member, Robyn,  on duty so I stopped and chatted for a wee while.  I told her I do quilting, and  that the only embroidery I do is with the thicker number 5 Perle thread.  Look at this, she said, showing me what she was working on.  Robyn had found a length of damask type fabric in the  Op Shop, and she was embroidering over the design.  How clever, I would never have thought of that.

Robyn and her embroidery project

I really enjoyed the exhibition, admiring all that gorgeous tiny stitching.  And entry was free, so that was certainly a bonus.  From there I went and had some lunch, then pottered around the shops till it was time to board the bus.  And you wouldn't believe it, there was drama on  the homeward journey too.  A very large young man got the bus, and part way through the journey, the driver braked heavily, and the young man fell on the floor!  Not only that, but his seat was  twisted from the fittings and completely broken! He wasn't hurt, but I wondered if he had not been sitting straight, grabbed the seat, and wrenched it off when he started slipping off?

Matariki Day Out

 Matariki is celebrated as the Maori New Year, a time of remembrance, celebrating the present and looking to the future.  I joined in the "Matariki Kaumatua (respected elder) Day Out"  bus trip yesterday with several friends.  This was organised by our local library for older people in the community, and two buses took us out to Foxton Beach Estuary to celebrate the spirit of the season.

I was having morning tea in the library cafe with this group of friends from the Cancer Society some weeks ago when staff member Henry stopped at our table to tell us about this (free) trip to see if we were interested.  Of course we were, it sounded very interesting indeed, so we booked our places.  And yesterday was the big day.  Quite a crowd were gathered in the library, we boarded our respective buses and off we went.  The weather didn't look too promising as we started on the journey, I could hardly see out the window as we drove along.

It looks rather damp and misty out there

The weather cleared and we arrived at the Manawatu Marine Boating Club in fine but overcast weather.  Those that could climbed the stairs to the restaurant, and the less able and those with walkers were assisted in and out of the lift.  

Boating Club

There were lovely views from upstairs looking out over the estuary.

There were about 100 people attending, and our morning started with a warm Maori welcome.  Then we   had two different speakers telling us about the Manawatu Estuary, a very special ecological place indeed.  This is a Ramsar site, a wetland designated as being of international importance under the Ramsar Convention of Wetlands.  This area is a well known birding place, with 93 species being identified.  The most well known are the godwits, which fly to and from Alaska and Siberia each year.  This takes an incredible 7-9 days of non stop flying, parent birds together with the youngsters born in the Alaskan summer.

Godwit

A light lunch followed, sandwiches, hot savouries and a selection of sweet slices (I tried a very tasty lemon slice).  If I jump up quickly, I thought, I could take a photo of one of the tables before the hungry hordes descended.

Lunch is served

Of course, there was plenty of food to go around, so no one went hungry.  A cup of coffee was next, and was so welcome and warming.  After lunch we settled down to be entertained by the Maori musical group in attendance.   After the music was finished I asked one of the staff to take a photo for us.

Enjoying our day out, Betty, Elaine, Margaret, Jenny and Ruth

As it was a rather chilly day, I decided to wear my thick cream jumper with an embroidered Scotch Thistle that I had purchased in Scotland.  A couple of ladies came up to me and asked if I was from Scotland.  No, I told them, but my grandfather came from Glasgow, so I do have Scottish blood in my veins.  And I had traveled throughout Scotland.  

Then it was time to reboard the bus for our trip home.  We all had a lovely time, it was a great day out indeed.  Henry was chatting away on the bus about making plans for next years Mataraki trip, so we will be sure  to keep an eye out for that one too.

Time to head home

A Probus Day out

 Recently Dot and I went on a bus trip organised by our Probus Club.  The day was cold and wet and we waited in the cold car park wrapped up in our rain jackets and scarves, together with the rest of the group  for the bus to arrive.  Once onboard, we were soon on our way.

Our bus for the day

One of the highlights  of the trip for me was to travel across the newly opened "Te Ahu a Turanga", the new 11.5km piece of State Highway 3, between Ashhurst and Woodville.  This replaces the old Manawatu Gorge Road which closed in 2017 after slips.  I used to hate driving on the Manawatu Gorge road, narrow and winding, with heavy netting doing it's best to keep the rocks from falling onto the road.  And on the other side of the gorge we could see the single track railway line clinging on as it wound around this corner and that.   Only freight trains and excursion trains now travel through the gorge, not any scheduled passenger services.  And far below the Manawatu River flowed on.   A train fell into the river back in 1946, with two engineers losing their lives.  And two trucks have crashed into the gorge in 2010 and 2016 with loss of lives.  No wonder I always felt apprehensive traveling this dangerous stretch of road.

The new highway took us across the Parahaki Bridge, then over the Eco-Viaduct which crosses an ecologically sensitive wetland.  Our poor old bus struggled on the climb up the Ruahine Range, making us wonder if it would really make it.  "Of course I can, of course I can"  the wheels told us and we were soon up the top by the wind turbines.  There was a path off top the side for walkers and cyclists and it was lovely to see so many native plants alongside the road.  A staggering 1.8million trees, shrubs and flaxes have been planted in this project.

The new road, up amongst the wind turbines

Our first stop was at the Woodville Organ Museum, which has a collection of over 150 reed organs.  Some huge, some quite small, and all very interesting.  We wandered around, checking them out, there were so many we had to squeeze around to see them.  It was interesting to hear other Probus members saying that their parents and/or grandparents used to have an organ at home.  

Then we had a recital of church hymns, with the owner and her daughter playing several different organs to show the variation in the sounds.  Hymn books had been handed around and many joined in with the singing.

Lunch was at Masterton Club, which started life as an exclusive club for men in 1877 as a Gentlemen's Club, but now admits women members.  The club rooms certainly have that exclusive men only feel, with large leather sofas in the reading room, several pool tables and mounted stag heads in the timber framed and  paneled pool/billiards room.  Very masculine indeed.  

We enjoyed a delicious buffet roast meal, with roast beef and hot roast ham, followed by dessert.   The bar was open for those who wanted a drink, but sadly, tea or coffee was not part of the meal.  That was a shame. as I'm sure many of us would happily have paid for a nice hot coffee.

Lunch is ready to be served

Fully replete, we all climbed back in the bus and headed out to visit Stonehenge Aotearoa.  Their brochure says "Stonehenge Aotearoa, like the ancient stone circles around the world, is a complete and working structure designed for it's precise location on the Earth.  It is a window into the past"  When we arrived the weather was awful, so we were happy to go into the theatrette and sit down for the slide show.  This was very interesting and told about the history, and the reasoning and precise location of the structure.  Our guide for the day was very enthusiastic and then invited us outside.  But it was freezing cold and raining so no one wanted to linger too long.

This plaque was in the centre

Stonehenge Aotearoa

Yes, it was interesting enough, but I have to say nothing like the ancient stone circles.  Robin and I have seen Stonehenge and Avebury stone circles in England and they really have an atmosphere of wonder, mystery and ancient secrets.

Our group was happy to climb back onboard to get out of the freezing weather and start our journey back home.  We drove south down the Wairarapa, over the Remutaka Hill, then back up the motorway to Levin.  I'm sure a few of the group nodded off as the bus trundled back to Levin.  It was great to have my first ride over that part of the new motorway, and I had not been to the Organ Museum before.  Yes, I had been to Stonehenge Aotearoa quite some years ago, on a brilliantly sunny Wairarapa day, and had a leisurely look around back then.    It had been a long day out, but very interesting indeed.

Off to the Quilt Show

I had to make sure I was up bright and early on Sunday morning, because I was going to a quilt show, how exciting!  My quilt club had hired a mini bus  and 11 of us climbed aboard, settled down, and we headed south to Otaihanga to Southward Car Museum.  The morning started off well when the bag of lollies was passed around.  "Lollies at this time of the morning?", someone asked.  And why not!

We've arrived, and that's our little bus in front

The ladies taking our entry fee warmly welcomed us, and then we checked out the raffles.  I do love those gift baskets full of quilting goodies, maybe I'll win one of these, that would be so nice.  We admired all the Community quilts that the Kapiti Coast Quilters make, and then headed inside to the adjacent hall to see the exhibition.  Where to start?  I wandered up one way and back the other.  Here are a few quilts which took my fancy.

"Lulu the Elephant" was stitched and beautifully machine quilted by Sue Elliot.  Such a beauty and I loved the intricate machine quilting, this is not something I am capable of doing myself.

Lulu the Elephant

I do love big, beautiful bed quilts.  "Bedroom Garden" was made in Kaffe's World class by Belinda Nixon and Felicity Neate, and quilted by Bobby Duncan.  Just look at all those lovely fabrics.

Bedroom Garden

I rather liked this quilt, titled "No Dogs on the Bed", possibly because I've stitched something similar.  But then, who doesn't love cats?  This was made by Pat Webster, using Kaffe Fassett fabrics, and quilted by Suzanne Sage.

No Dogs on the Bed

After wandering around a while, I took myself upstairs to the cafe for morning tea.  The cafe looked down onto the car collection in the museum.  We had visited the museum in earlier years and there are lots of interesting cars on display.

Bright and shiny cars on display

Downstairs again, and I checked out some of the many vendors.  Although there was lots of lovely fabric on display, I only like to purchase for particular projects these days.  

Ladies checking out some of the vendors

So I was very restrained but fell in love with this gorgeous  printed panel full of native wildlife.  I have plans for this.

My only purchase of the day

We all met up again upstairs in the cafe at lunch time and I was thrilled to win one of the raffles from our little group.  There were some pretty floral fat quarters, and two lovely hand made greetings cards, many thanks to Sandra and Lois for organising this.  I've yet to hear if I won one of those lovely quilters gift baskets from the show, so I guess I haven't.

My raffle prize.

Downstairs again, and one last look around the quilts.  There were several ladies gathered around this gorgeous wall hanging, so I stopped to have a look too.  "Bygone Era" was Di Barnden's way of show casing her collection of doilies set between Kaffe Fassett fabrics.  Such a beautiful setting and this was my favourite quilt in the show.

Bygone Era

Thanks so much for the friendly blog reader who approached me to say hello, so nice to meet you.  And I also caught up with several members of my former quilt club, Pinestream Quilters, of Upper Hutt.  Seems that  several of these ladies have moved north from Upper Hutt, and have joined the  Kapiti  Coast Quilters. 

We were all getting a little weary by this stage so agreed to leave a little earlier than planned.  But first the friendly bus driver had a very important job to do, we asked him to take a photo of us all.

A happy bunch of quilters

I have to say that some of the ladies had more shopping than others.  We climbed aboard the bus, the bags of shopping were tucked away safely, and we traveled north back to Levin.  It was a lovely day, and thankfully my back wasn't too bad after all that standing around.  Thanks so much to the committee for organising our day out for the members.

Out and About

 I've been out and about lately.  The other day I traveled down to Waikanae to visit my friend Trish who had recently moved from the Hutt Valley to her new home.  Rather than drive I took the bus down, which is free for oldies like me.  This bus route only travels on Tuesdays and Thursdays, departing from my home town at 9.00am then leaving Waikanae Railway Station  at 3.00pm.  Many locals take this trip down to Waikanae to then get the train into Wellington.

Trish collected me from the station and drove me back to her  new home.  Being brand new, everything is fresh, bright and airy, it was lovely indeed.  After a look around, we had coffee outside on the patio.  The day was glorious, fine, warm and sunny, a very pleasant  Autumn day indeed.  The village Trish has moved to is still under construction, and we watched as builders were climbing up and down the scaffolding with ease, obviously all fit young men with good balance, well used to working at heights.

New Summerset Village

Trish was keen to take us out to lunch at the cutest little pink bakery/cafe I've ever seen.  You could tell it was very popular with the locals as there was a steady stream of workers coming in to get their pies, bread rolls, sweet treats and coffees to take away.  This business was close by the beach so I could imagine workers sitting in their work trucks enjoying their lunch watching the waves roll it.  

Olde Beach Bakery

We sat in the courtyard to enjoy our lunch.  I was going to have a bread roll but they were huge, big man sized rolls for a hungry workman to devour but I didn't think I could manage one at all.  So we both ordered a French pastry and a nice hot coffee, chatting away under the shade outside.  Several customers had their dogs with them in the courtyard, the animals were well behaved sitting quietly at their owners feet and no bother at all.

Al Fresco lunch on a lovely sunny day

Then we drove down to Paraparaumu to the Mall to have a look around the shops.  Goodness me, a nice light jacket jumped into my bag and came home with me!  This is the same shopping mall I got lost in and couldn't find the correct exit last month when I took the coach tour trip to overnight in Wellington for dinner and a show.  Luckily Trish has a better sense of direction than me and we made it safely back to her car, and then drove back to Waikanae for me to get the bus home again.  I had a lovely time out and will certainly use the bus again in the future.  I may even hop on the train for an adventure, next time, that would be exciting!

The previous week I booked a seat on the Health Shuttle to Palmerston North -  it was time for my annual mammogram.  I was a little early so I sat and did  some knitting to pass the time.  These thick wooly socks hadn't seen the light of day for quite some time, so I was pleased to progress them a little further.  

Cozy socks for winter

Once the mammogram was done, I just sat and waited a short time till the shuttle collected me to take me back.  This is a wonderful service to get to health appointments, most people go to the hospital, but drop offs are made to other health venues as well.  All for the price of a donation.  Robin used to have a regular slot on the Heath Shuttle timetable and really enjoyed his time there.  

Cruising about

Something ticked off the Bucket List, and what an adventure we had.  We are currently in Te Anau (which means place of swirling waters) and recently enjoyed a Coach/Cruise/Underwater Observatory combo to Milford Sound and through the Homer Tunnel.  Our adventure started in Te Anau when we boarded the big red coach – with several photo stops along the way.  The scenery here is spectacular. The very pretty Mirror Lakes were just off the roadside, and it was a nice easy 5 minute  boardwalk there and back.  People everywhere, we certainly weren’t the only bus in the car park.

Us and the big red coach, and the Mirror Lakes

I was looking forward to going through Homer Tunnel.  It is 1.2 km (0.75 miles) long, and was  opened in 1953.   William Homer and George Barber discovered the Homer Saddle in 1889, and Homer suggested that a tunnel through the saddle would provide access to the Milford area.  But work didn’t start till 1935  The tunnel and the associated Milford Road were built by relief workers during the Depression.  The men had to live in tents in a mountainous area where there might be no direct sunlight for half of the year.   Progress was slow, with difficult conditions, and work was also interrupted by World War II and a avalanche.  These problems delayed the tunnel's completion and it was finally opened in 1953.   So there we were, waiting at the red traffic  signal to start our trip through the single lane  tunnel.  And out the other side where we drove under an avalanche shelter, certainly a danger on parts of this road.

Homer Tunnel

Here we went onboard The Lady Bowen  for the afternoon cruise.  Most people had rushed upstairs to sit on the outside deck, but we secured a table downstairs under cover.

The Lady Bowen

First things first, we redeemed the ticket for our picnic lunch.  Wonder what was in them?  We were pleasantly surprised – sandwiches, two pieces of fruit, cheese and crackers, two Anzac biscuits, small bag of chippies and a chocolate bar.  There was plenty of help yourself tea and coffee available too.  We ate the sandwiches, cheese and crackers and a mandarin each, and took the rest back to the van for later.

Our picnic lunch each

Nothing says Milford Sound more than the iconic 1683m high Mitre Peak, named by Captain John  Stokes of HMS Acheron in 1851, who found it’s shape reminiscent of the headwear worn by Christian bishops.  Our Captain pointed out places of interest and wildlife  as we cruised along, as we gazed at awe at the shear granite cliffs, then taking us right out to the entrance of Tasman Sea. 

Views from the stern

There were several waterfalls tumbling down, and in the rains many more appear.  The Captain nosed into Stirling Falls, giving those on the bow quite a splashing.  Never mind, getting drenched is meant to make you look 10 years younger, we were told.

Stirling Falls

On the way back we stopped at Underwater Observatory, one of the highlights of the trip.  The Underwater Observatory was built in 1995. The construction project involved building the viewing chamber in 3 sections in Invercargill and assembling them in Bluff. This unique floating underwater observatory is the only one of it’s kind in New Zealand.   After an interesting talk about the facility and wildlife we descended the spiral staircase to 10m beneath the water – 50 steps down.  There were lots of viewing windows, and we all moved around, checking out the marine life.  And to see the black coral, which is actually white.  The fish swimming nearby are not fed, they are just going about their business, and no doubt looking in the windows at all these strange creatures looking out.

The Underwater Observatory

After climbing back up those 50 steps, it was time to climb aboard the boat, cruise back to the dock, where we all disembarked and made our way to the correct bus for the ride back to Te Anau.  Everyone was quiet, no doubt reflecting on our trip, and I’m sure several nodded off as we drove along.  And why not, it had certainly been a big day out, from 10.30am to 6.30pm with lots of lovely sights along the way.  It was a great trip indeed, we would certainly recommend it.

We booked another short cruise (two hour duration) a day or two later, to visit the Te Anau Glowworm Caves.  Way back in the mists of time (about 35 years ago) we did this same cruise after the completion of our four day Milford Track walk, we were much younger and fitter then, of course.

 

All Aboard

The trip took us for a 30 minute cruise to the western shores of Lake Te Anau.  On arrival we walked up to the Visitor’s Centre. There was a full contingent of 72 people, and we were split into groups of 12, and away we went into the cave for a guided tour.  No photos are allowed in the caves, and when in the boat, we must be silent, we were told, otherwise the glowworms take fright and their lights go out!

Photos from the brochure

Luckily there were handrails to help us walk through the cave, and in some parts we had to bend our head and shoulders to get under the low ceiling!  That was a bit tricky.  What I had forgotten was just how loud the rushing water was in the cave, it was so noisy the guide had to shout to get her messages across.  The rushing water exited the caves, and our boat ride thankfully took us across still waters deep inside the caves.  With just a torch to guide us as we clambered into the small boat and then we moved slowly along in silence and complete darkness.  And there they were, tiny dots of light on the roof of the cave, certainly a sight to behold.  The boats have no motors and our guide told us later that she moves the boat along, standing in the front and  pulling on a chain, all in complete darkness.   What a woman!

After our cave experience we walked back through the wet cave, drip, drip, drip, to return to the Visitors Centre where we helped ourselves to a hot cuppa and listened to a presentation on the life of a glowworm.

Back on the boat for our return trip to Te Anau, and we decided to take ourselves out for diner after our wonderful trip.  The meals were huge, neither of us could finish them.

Dinner for two, please

The weather here has been exceptionally hot, up to 30s some days.  Gemma found an ideal way to cool off.  After snoozing away  on the cool grass  under the caravan, safely on her lead, she came inside and we wondered where she was.  Believe it or not, she had curled up inside the hand basin in the bathroom, just her size and obviously nice and cool! 

Gemma put herself in the hand basin

My knitting is coming along slowly, a few rows here and there as I feel like it.  There is no rush for this, and it is slowly growing.