Marlborough Sound

I can't resist showing you some more pictures of Marlborough Sound before I continue with my account of our journey. It is difficult to convey through individual pictures just how striking and how beautiful the scenery is, because it just looks as though I am showing the same picture over and over again.


Imagine that you are on the deck of a slow-moving ship, in the warm sunshine, and that you are leaning on the rail and looking out across the water. For an hour and a half, the images you can see in these photographs are gliding past you, each dramatic, rocky inlet giving way to another, just as dramatic; and all around you the intensely, astonishingly blue waters of the Sound. Catbert, in addition, was looking out for dolphins, which are sometimes seen in the Sound, although sadly we did not see any this time.

At last we arrived at the little seaside town of Picton, where the ferry slowly turned and then reversed into its berth.

Here we disembarked and collected our luggage, and then proceeded to the Avis counter to pick up our second hire car. Apart from camper vans, hire companies in New Zealand generally do not allow you to take your hired vehicle on the ferry from one island to the other. Instead, you drop your vehicle at the ferry port, cross over as foot passengers, and then collect a new car on the other side. I thought that this would be rather complicated, but it worked very smoothly, and the other benefit was that our new car, in other respects identical to the previous one, had been recently valeted, whereas the one we had left...well, enough said.

From Picton we took the scenic route east to Havelock (where we had a delicious lunch) and then to Nelson, where we stayed for four days and visited the Abel Tasman Park. The scenic route climbs up and winds along the Sound and in this photo we have stopped at a scenic lookout point at the top. Here's what I could see:

You couldn't really ask for more in life than a view like that, could you?

Walking with Ents

This Kauri tree is called Te Matua Ngahere, and is believed to be 2000 years old. Doesn’t he look just like Treebeard the Ent? It is hard to explain the sense of awe and respect that I felt on seeing these giant, venerable trees. The forest is called Waipoua Forest and is a sub-tropical rainforest on the west coast of the Northlands of New Zealand’s North Island.


As a Lord of the Rings fan, I think that walking through this forest felt just how I imagine that walking in Fangorn Forest felt to the hobbits. I have tried in these photos to show how dense the forest is, with one clear path winding through it, which was put in place very carefully so as not to harm the trees. Waipoua forest is a conservation area which is full of Kauri trees and where you can see the two oldest and largest Kauris still alive today.

This one is called Tane Mahuta, and is thought to be about 1500 years old.


These four Kauri trees are growing all together and are called the Four Sisters, you can see how small and insignificant I am beside them! You can read more about the forest here.

After seeing the forest, we drove on back to Auckland and stopped at the Kauri museum. Here we saw how the Kauris were processed into timber during the period when they were being felled; we saw many lovely items of furniture which had been made of Kauri wood in the past, and we also found out that there were until recently (the 1970s) two even older and larger Kauri trees in the forest. Kauri trees become hollow in the centre as they become older, and eventually the wood which is left of the trunk cannot support the canopy any more and the tree collapses. At the museum we also saw many carved and polished pieces of Kauri gum, which is a resin very similar to amber.


We reached Auckland on Friday evening and on Saturday morning Catbert and DSoK arrived safely from London, and here they are that afternoon on the Devonport to Auckland ferry. They are holding up well considering that they have only had five hours sleep!
And finally, a little knitting content. Here is my new sock bag, which I mentioned previously,


and my two socks on two circs - not, alas making very much progress!


I also visited a yarn shop in Devonport called Wild and Woolly Yarns and purchased these two skeins of Touch Yarns Kid Merino. Mr Knitbert kindly bought me and Catbert each one of these lovely hand carved wooden shawl pins.


Both Touch Yarns and an NZ company called Natural had a wide range of beautiful yarns available, which I would have loved to buy more of, but I just don't have the space to transport them home.

Today we are leaving Auckland and setting off to Rotorua, but we have spent a great few days here, and were lucky enough to go sailing in the beautiful Auckland Harbour, so my next post will show some of the lovely City of Sails which we have seen.

Bits and Pieces

After the excitement of Christmas we have had a very quiet week chez Knitbert. On Wednesday evening we were invited to join friends of mine from university, and their families, for the evening. It was lovely to catch up with everyone again, I only see these friends once a year at most, but somehow we seem to just drop back into a conversation which we have been carrying on now for thirty years or so.

Since then we have been eating simple, plain food, drinking a lot of water and I have been getting on with DSOK's second sock, which is now on the last four inches of the foot, hooray! I have also realised that I used one ball of sock yarn to make the socks, obtained a second in case I didn't have enough and also ordered an additional ball of Opal Lollipop, so I have used one ball of sock yarn and gained two more aaaaargh! That wasn't smart.

This afternoon it is grey and wet outside, indoors it seems to be Stargate Atlantis day, which is good for knitting to, and so I am knitting, DH is reading, Catbert is asleep on the sofa and DSOK is asleep upstairs. They have both just returned from a trip to visit their old schoolfriends, so after scoffing any food they could find in the kitchen they have collapsed. As they will be off tomorrow to celebrate the New Year with yet more dietary excess I suppose they need to recharge their batteries a bit.

I remembered that I have not yet published the third video in the gripping "Mitten Snippin'" series, so this seems like a good time to do so.


In this episode I knit around the thumb stitches, create the thumb and then fasten off.

And finally, I have been tagged (again!) by Bronte. After some thought I think I should try to list six more weird things about me, even though I'm NOT AT ALL WEIRD, so here goes:

1. I actually like to speak in public, for example to give presentations.
2. It isn't just Star Trek Voyager I like, I'm actually a bit of a science fiction nut, and I do think that sci fi is the best TV to knit to
3. After agonising about the decision for twenty years I finally got my nose pierced when I was 40, inspired because my daughter had hers done (at the age of 16) and I thought "if she can I can"
4. I learned to ski at 37 and to sail at 40, both sports terrified me at first! So it's never too late
5. My favourite cake is the Galette des Rois which you can get in France in January, if I have a meeting in France in that month I always ask my colleagues to get one for me (and this year I have....)
6. I really do enjoy cleaning...

In the first few days of the New Year I have signed up to a UFO Buster on the Crafty Threads and Yarns forum, so I'll be publishing some pictures of my UFOs, both knitting and sewing, and maybe asking for some advice on what to do about them. I'm also going to be starting an Ivy knitalong and a sockamonth challenge. Phew! I need a rest already.

A Family Affair

Probably the best part of Christmas for me is now, when the dinner is served and eaten, the presents are unwrapped and received and everyone falls asleep in the quiet of the afternoon. My responsibility is to get Christmas dinner on the table and once that is achieved I can relax.

I have hardly stopped since Friday. I drove for two hours in the fog to fetch Catbert home for Christmas, then another two hours in the fog and darkness to get us back. What are those motorway signs saying "Fog" all about, by the way? I can see there's fog, I don't need a flashing sign to tell me! Does the Highways Agency imagine that drivers are slapping their foreheads when they see this singularly unhelpful sign and crying, "oh, fog! So that's what it is. That's why I can't see anything more than five yards in front of me. What a relief. I'm glad someone told me what was going on".

I spent all day Saturday and Sunday cooking and wrapping presents with Catbert's and DSOK's help, as we had 12 family members coming around on Christmas Eve.

Catbert was amused that the idea I had of a buffet being easier and less effort to prepare than a sit down meal had resulted in two people cooking continuously for a day! It was well worth it though, as we had all the generations of the family represented from seventy years old down to 20 months, which doesn't happen often.
Today we have had a lovely, peaceful day, Christmas Dinner for four was easier to prepare than a buffet for twelve!

DSOK stayed up till 3.00 am to get Catbert's scarf finished, and doesn't it look gorgeous!
I'm afraid I didn't stay up till 3.00 am to finish the socks, and I have had much less time to knit than I expected. DSOK loves his sock anyway, here he is asleep on the sofa after dinner, and I'm knitting as fast as I can to get the second one done! Me feel guilty? Never!Ooh, and I forgot to mention that I got a Vogue Stitchionary, Marianne Kinzel's Lace Knitting part 1 and a pair of Lantern Moon needles amongst my gifts, so I have been lucky.

A happy, peaceful Christmas to you all.

Retrospective

As I am sending out the Christmas cards this weekend, I have put up a slideshow with some photos of us during 2006, for friends and family (and other readers of course) to have a look at.

Exciting news this afternoon - Mr Knitbert has completed a DIY project in the garden! He has replaced a down pipe on the garage, which was damaged when we had some building work done. And a very nice neat job he has made of it too. It has only taken him four years to get around to it.

It also appears that I have been "tagged" by another blogger (thanks Terri!), which means that I get to list six weird things about me. I should then pick six other bloggers to "tag", but as I am a very new blogger and don't know any others who haven't already been selected, I thought I would just do my own list of six and leave it at that.

Actually, I'm not at all weird, so I have been scratching my head a bit over this, but here goes:

1. I collect Barbie dolls (but I have probably the smallest collection in the world, consisting of precisely 5 dolls)

2. I speak fluent French

3. I wish there was a TV channel dedicated to "Star Trek - Voyager", I like to watch it while I knit

4. I can "carry a colour" - that is to say I can see a colour and remember it visually well enough to match it later

5. I love decorating (the painting a room type), I find it really relaxing to listen to music and watch the transformation of a space by applying colour to the walls.

6. When I was very little, my parents took me to the sea side for my first holiday and I refused to get off the beach mat and walk on the sand because I was afraid of the worm casts - I hated the way they felt on my feet.

An Unexpected Visitor

Yesterday evening I had an unexpected phone call from DSOK the intern. "I thought I'd crash at your place, if that's OK," he said. I said it was OK. "Erm, am I still on the car insurance?" he asked, nonchalantly. "You might be, " I said, equally nonchalantly.
"Oh, well, I'm going to this tournament, and I just wondered if I could borrow the car?" he confessed. "OK," I said.
"Great! I'll be there at about 8.00pm, any chance of a lift from the station?"
"No," I said, "none at all. You can walk, it'll do you good".
It's only a 30 minute walk from the station, by the way, in case you are appalled at my harsh treatment.
"OK," he said,"what's for dinner?"

And there you have it, life with the modern student.

Anyway, after dinner we were chatting of Christmas presents and DSOK got out the scarf he is knitting for his sister. I thought you might like to see this picture of him knitting it. The scarf is in Sirdar Foxy fur knitted together with a strand of black DK acrylic, following a suggestion from one of the Angel Yarns Forum members. It has worked really well, the scarf is very soft and fluffy and has a nice firm feel to it.

He's a bit short of time to get it finished though!

The Graduate

This summer my daughter graduated from university. We all went for the day, and a beautiful day it was too, nicely hot and sunny with a clear blue sky but not too humid. When we arrived Catbert was just getting dressed in the regulation outfit for wearing under her gown and having the hood pinned into place. As she had to have her arms covered she was wearing a shirt over her skirt, and with all that under a black gown she seemed a little warm.

She looked lovely though, I hope you will agree, and we all went off to have our photos taken in the lovely college garden.


Soon it was time for the graduands to process to the Senate House to be awarded their degrees. We waited with all the other parents as the graduands formed into a crocodile and set off, still of course wearing their heavy clothes in the now blistering heat, for a good 30 minute walk.


After a decent interval the parents followed. There were parents dressed in traditional costume from many countries, including a Japanese family all beautifully dressed in ceremonial kimonos, which gave an exotic international flavour to the proceedings.


Arriving at the Senate house, we were shown upstairs to sit on rather uncomfortable benches from which we could look down upon the ceremony.
Fierce ushers in traditional uniforms menaced people who defied the clearly visible signs saying "no photography" and "no cameras". The ceremony and the institution are over 700 years old so they were not about to have some Johnny-come-latelies with a bit of fancy technology interfering with the way things were done. We hastily put our camera back in its case and settled down to read the programme. The building is not air conditioned and so all the huge sash windows were open to allow some air to circulate. This was pretty much as effective as a fan oven.
The ceremony itself is interminably dull and in any case conducted entirely in Latin. The high spot is of course seeing your own offspring stepping forward and then kneeling to receive their degree.
I thought how strange it was that 28 years ago I had been standing in that very same spot, waiting for my turn to step forward, while my mother watched from the benches in the gallery above. I remember standing in rows waiting for my turn to step forward, and being afraid I would forget what to do.

Suddenly it was all over and we were able to file out of the building and onto the lawn to meet the newly created BAs.


After chatting to Catbert and all her friends it was time to walk back to the garden for a lovely garden party!


Here we managed to secure a table for the six of us in the shade, and there we relaxed and spent a delightful afternoon, feasting on the delicious buffet, listening to a jazz quartet and talking of this and that.
We did not leave until the quartet had packed up their instruments, the buffet had been dismantled and packed away and the sun had started to cast long shadows across the lawn. What a lovely, unforgettable day.