Time for a little Stitching

I’ve finally found time to start my holiday stitching, after several days on the road at the beginning of our South Island adventure.  We arrived in Christchurch yesterday, and after this city had experienced two weeks of unbelievably high temperatures in the 30s, yesterday afternoon was wet, wet, wet.  Just as well, as the region is very dry indeed.  So what better to while away an hour or so starting my holiday projects.  With several projects packed, it was a matter of deciding what to choose.

With nine blocks traced of New Zealand tree and blossom designs, I decided to start with Puriri Wreath.  Although these patterns are designed for applique, I’ll be doing my blocks as stitcheries.  They won’t look quite the same, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy stitching them. 

I’ll back track a little and give you some highlights of our trip down from the North Island.  Cook Strait separates the North and South Islands of New Zealand, so the only way to travel with a vehicle is to board one of the roll-on roll off ferries.  Our trip was lovely and smooth aboard the Kaitaki.  Cook Strait can be notorious for rough weather and high swells, but our trip down was great – just as well as Robin is a rather poor sailor.

We crossed on board the Kaitaki

Windblown selfie taken on the trip

Disembarking the ferry, we left the busy port of Picton, and drove through the Wairau Valley.  Grape vines have been planted in this part of the country, as far as the eye can see, together with their respective wine making establishments.   Big money and big business indeed, fortunes must be tied up in all these thousands of acres of wine plantings and the specialized people and equipment needed to develop world famous wine.

Grape vines as far as the eye can see

We stayed the first night at the NZMCA park in Murchison, and right next door was a lovely old historic Commercial Stables building, now a 2nd Hand Shop.  I bet this building would have have interesting tales to tell from years gone by.

I love this old building

On the road again the next morning we saw one of the results of that massive 1929 earthquake when we stopped at Maruia Falls, on SH65.  There was a nice large car-park set away from the busy road, plenty of room for our 4WD and caravan.  And what’s this we saw poking around in the bushes – it’s a weka, one of our native flightless birds.

Weka foraging in the bushes

A landslide in the Maruia Valley, a result of the 1929 earthquake, diverted the course of the Maruia River further west, forcing it to cut a new channel over an old river bank. Once the river had eroded the gravels, the bank became the Maruia Falls.

Maruia Falls

We are currently staying in Christchurch for three nights, to catch up with son Michael.  It’s been a while since we last got together, so it was lovely to have some time together.  After a good chat, and a home made coffee courtesy of his fancy coffee machine, we took him out for lunch.

Michael and his Mum

There will be more adventures to follow, I’m sure, and hopefully a little more stitching time too.

Christmas Trees and Carols

The “Avenue of Trees” returned to Levin after a break of a couple of years.  This year, businessman Harvey Bowler joined up with the Salvation Army to ensure that the popular event went ahead.  Businesses and organisations were invited to decorate a supplied tree, and 50 or so groups took up the challenge.  

Somewhere in the forest was the tree decorated by my quilt club.  And there it was,  “Handmade Fabric Art”, decorated by the Town and Country Quilters.

“Handmade Fabric Art” decorated by Town and Country Quilters

Nearby was a tree decorated by the Horowhenua Embroiderers Guild – some of our quilters belong to this group as well.  It was hung with all sorts of lovely hand made items.

“Embroidered Christmas Tree”, by Horowhenua Embroiderers Guild

There was such a happy angel on top of the tree decorated by the Levin Square and Round Dance Club.  Believe it or not - Robin and I did square dancing many years ago!  Although we didn’t enter competitions, we could allemande left, circle left or right, and square thru  with the best of them, all dressed up in our square dance finery.

Decorated by Levin Square and Round Dance Club 

There were trees decorated by our Vet practise, the local plumbing business, schools and kindergartens and a lovely Anzac themed tree covered with poppies and topped with an angel dressed in red from the Levin Home for War Veterans.

“Anzac”, decorated by Levin Home for War Veterans

With 50 trees or so to stop and admire, it took us quite some time to make our way around the hall.  We stopped at the Memorial Tree on the way out, wrote names on tags and hung them on the tree.  One for Robin’s Mum, and one for our next door neighbour who recently passed away.  Such a nice touch, we felt.  And we were kindly given a couple of packets of wild flower seeds, which will be planted in a pot sometime soon.

Then it was time for “Carols in the Car Park”.  Seats were set up and the crowds soon filled them, with lots of family groups arriving for an evening of Christmas Carols.  Song sheets were handed out and we sung along to all the old favourites, such as “Away in the Manger”, and “Silent Night”, to the music played by the Salvation Army Band. 

As well as enjoying the carols, we were entertained by several young performers.  Come and see them before they are famous, the programme said.  One young lad, aged 13, who had coloured his hair dark purple, had the most wonderful voice, and will be a heart throb to many young girls, I’m sure.  And this young lady, with her powerful voice, had me enthralled with her version of Leonard Cohen’s wonderful composition “Hallelujah”.

It was a wonderful pre-Christmas evening and so nice to see so many people joining in the fun.  Many thanks to the Salvation Army for organising the Christmas Carols, and providing hot drinks and home baked shortbread for the crowd.

My little boy is HOW old?

Do all Mums have this thought at a time like this – how could I possibly have a son who is turning 50?   He was probably wondering how on earth this happened to him, too.  I think it sort of sneaked up on him. Our trip down to Christchurch was to join in son Michael’s 50th birthday celebrations.  And celebrate he did, with a dinner for 30 at one of his local haunts.  Together with his friends, and his Dad and his wife, we all enjoyed a tasty meal.  His good friend Fiona had baked him a birthday cake, decorated Star Trek style.  “Captain Groovy”  seems to be Michael’s knick name, we were told.

Fiona with Michael and the birthday cake

After the meal, some of the guests danced the rest of the night away.  Michael and his friends attend Ceroc dance lessons, and I watched as he whirled Fiona around the floor.  He never used to be much of a dancer, but these days has taken to it with a vengeance.  And so he should – years ago, both his Dad and I very pretty good at Rock’n’Roll, if I do say so myself!  Our son should have picked up a few dancing genes from the pair of us.

Dancing after the meal

Many of his friends came up to chat and several told us what a lovely son I had, so kind and well mannered, and what a great job I had done in bringing him up!  And they weren’t joking either.  Well, I was speechless, and didn’t mention those tiresome teenage years.  I’m glad he has matured well, and has such a nice bunch of loyal friends.  Moving down to Christchurch from Auckland several years ago has been a great move for him. 

He had an informal “at home” the day after his birthday dinner, and we chatted to even more of his group of friends.  It turned out to be a very busy afternoon.  Michael’s Dad and his wife came calling.  So did a whole swag of friends bearing plates of food and gifts,   Michael was kept busy at the coffee machine whipping up lattes and cappuccinos as required.

Michael and his Mum

As well as the family celebrations part of our week away, we fitted in some sight seeing as well.  We looked through the wire fence surrounding the Christchurch Cathedral, sadly partly demolished now after the terrible 2011 earthquake.  We can remember looking through this wonderful building on earlier trips to this city.

The Christchurch Cathedral

The city centre is now full of empty sections where large buildings have been demolished, and many other buildings shored up with steel framing while their fate is being decided.  We were keen to see the “Cardboard Cathedral”, the transitional cathedral which was quite quickly built and gives the churchgoers somewhere to gather and worship.  Designed by Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, it is constructed of cardboard tubes, timber and steel, with a polished concrete floor and polycarbonate roof.  Although we had seen pictures of this building, wasn’t quite sure what I expected as we walked inside.  It was so light and airy – and although there are no windows, the light filters through strips of the polycarbonate roof showing between the cardboard covered steel girders.  It is a very peaceful place indeed, and we were happy to finally get to see it. 

The Cardboard Cathedral

We joined the overseas tourists and jumped aboard the Christchurch Tram for a guided tour around the city centre.  These beautifully restored  trams certainly brought back memories of the Wellington Trams from long ago.  Our driver gave us a running commentary of all the interesting buildings we passed, some damaged by the earthquake which wrecked such havoc, some still standing, and lots of empty areas where large buildings had once stood.  This vintage  tram was obviously purchased from Invercargill in the deep south.

Christchurch Tram

Another little adventure was a trip to the seaside town of New Brighton and the stunning pier.  At 300m in length,  6m wide and standing 7m high it is certainly a sight to see as it stretches out into the sea. We walked along the pier, watching as family groups tried their luck fishing with rods and lines.  Some lowered their crab nets over the side into the water, baited with fish heads, and pulled them up again with paddle crabs trapped inside.   A meal at the New Brighton Club was another highlight.  A three course Sunday Roast for only $20 each was a real bargain.  Seated at a window seat, we watched over the pier as the lights twinkled in the darkness.

 Our two ferry trips across Cook Strait couldn’t have been more different.  We experienced rough  windy conditions coming down, and the return trip was nice and calm.  Mind you, our original afternoon booking for the return voyage was cancelled, and we were rebooked on an evening trip.  By the time we docked in Wellington at 10.00pm, we still had quite a long drive home, arriving just before midnight!  No wonder we were tired.

It was a great week away, and today we collected Muffy from her stint in the cattery.  My goodness, did she tell us off!  The poor old girl is starting to feel quite insecure these days, and likes to keep us in view.  As long as she can see us, and has a handy lap to curl up on, she is happy.

Ninja Knitting at Latimer Square

“Stop the car”  I cried as we drove around Latimer Square during our Christchurch trip.  There was something decidedly strange that I wanted to check out.  Standing on the corner were two colourful woolley sheep.  Not real sheep, but brightly knitted ones, it seemed.  The first one was made of of knitting and crotchet, lots of different colours and textures all stitched together.  That little sheep face was looking straight at me while I snapped the photo.

Sheep number one with a coat of many colours

Colourful pom poms covered the other sheep, who also sported a fine set of horns.  This one must be a merino, I think.  Another cute little sheep face looking straight at the camera.

Sheep no 2 is covered in pom poms

It seems the sheep have only recently arrived in Latimer Square.  “The Press” newspaper reported that the animal sculptures, covered in a crochet and knitted patchwork and accompanied by a bundle of knitted flowers, were a random act of kindness from a group called the "Ninja Knitters".  The makers shied away from publicity, but the group said it aimed to put a smile on people's faces. The pom-poms adorning one sheep were knitted by many Cantabrians.  The sheep are an expression of guerrilla art known as yarn bombing, whereby crafts adorn public areas, or sculptures.

What a lovely gesture, it certainly made me smile.  Three cheers for the Ninja Knitters of Christchurch!

Holiday in Christchurch

Occasionally we do go away on holiday without towing the caravan behind us.  This is one of those occasions, a six day visit down to Christchurch.  Much too short a time for the expense of taking the caravan across Cook Strait on the ferry, so we loaded up the little car, and booked accommodation in the city instead.  But…….. not taking the caravan means that Muffy could not come.  So it was off to the cattery for her the night before we left.

Muffy is having a holiday in the cattery

The trip across Cook Strait was a little worrying, with strong winds blowing and heavy seas.   Our worries were made worse when an announcement came over the loudspeaker.  The seas would be rough, we were warned,  and be very careful if we walked around, better to remain seated.  And that sick bags were there for our use.  Oh dear – will we be in trouble?  It certainly seemed like it as big waves hit the front windows with force, and as the bow ploughed up and down through the open sea.  Robin is not a good sailor at the best of times, and decided that he would try and and sleep through the worst of the trip.  My way is to immerse myself in a good book, so I don’t have to worry about what is happening outside. 

. We travelled down on the Arahura

We made it safely across the open seas, and enjoyed the trip more when the ship glided through the beautiful Marlborough Sounds.  It was still very windy out on deck, but that awful up and down motion through the waves had been left behind.

Cruising through the Marlborough Sounds

On the trip down the Kaikoura Coast we decided to stop and walk up to the Ohau Stream Rookery.  Baby seal pups come up the stream to a pretty pool to play while their mums are out feeding at sea.  In the peak of the season there can be 100 or more little pups frolicking around.   By the time we arrived it was late afternoon and the stream and pool looked empty.

No seal pups in sight

We presumed that the pups had travelled back down to the beach to await the return of their mums.  But then we spotted two babies playing in the stream.  As we stood quietly on the path, they were having fun in the water, swimming together and rolling over and over.  How lovely to see them in natural surroundings. 

  Seal pups at play in the stream

Our accommodation is close to the city centre - not 5 star by any means, but then we are not paying 5 star prices.  It is very comfortable, and cosy and warm, with everything we need, including a large TV at the foot of the bed.

Our room

There is a well appointed kitchen, dining room, and balcony up the hall, and we have been using the dining table to set up the lap tops and do some blogging. 

It’s blogging time

And best of all, for a laundry fanatic like me, there is a laundry too.  I know that on such a short trip we have enough clothes to last us, but there is no way I could ever pass by a laundry if it is available.  And at only $2 a load, it would be silly not to use it, don’t you think?

Keeping me happy, doing the laundry

Our trip to Christchurch is to share in son Michael's 50th Birthday Bash.  And I’ve told him I want to say a few words after the dinner, to spill a few family secrets.  He looked a bit worried when he heard that!