DAY 16

Today is the big day - Wilma is paragliding! The sun is shining but there is a bit of wind, so the original plan to jump from the site above us at the top of the Gondola is not going ahead.  They have offered her the option of Coronet Peak, where the main ski fields are (no snow at present!) - it is better in many ways as it is a longer jump and you get a cd record of the experience.  We've talked her into it, so she's heading out there this afternoon.

In the meantime Maureen and I are jet boating in Skippers Canyon, heading out to Coronet Peak, but turning off before going too far up.  
The drive is pretty interesting, up and down a steep cliff, dirt road barely one vehicle wide with little passing alcoves.  Maureen travels with her eyes shut, but the scenery is fabulous, so she peeks every now and then.  

 After an exciting jet boat ride we go up to look at (in Maureen's case) and walk part-way along (Elaine - can you believe that?) the pipeline suspension bridge where they did the first bungy jumping in Queenstown.  It was high, swinging and spectacular (but no bungy jumping there nowadays  - they have bigger and better places).
 Back into town after the ride, Maureen was so relaxed and comfortable with the scary goat track that she went off to sleep.


Wilma reported on her parachute ride, but that will be her job to write up.  Needless to say, she came back in one piece and definitely smiling.
 

DAY 13 CONTINUES

Another set of new classes for most of us – Wilma and I are with Jane Sassaman, Maureen is with Anne Jolley again and Buffy is continuing with Cynthia. and Maree is doing a herb cushion with Gail Lawther. We also went to a lunchtime lecture by Marie Roper looking at using the computer for design. It was interesting....

Some of us needed to do some last minute shopping, so headed up to the primary school, unfortunately, both of us had keys, and the two who went home had none. Wilma decided to try entry by window, successful if amusing, and unfortunately no photograph. We had guests from Canberra for dinner, and the evening was very pleasant.

DAY 14

Easter Saturday and the final day of symposium. Unfortunately no rest for the wicked and Wilma and I were doing last minute shopping first thing in the morning, before class. Weather has still held well, so we are finding the mornings cool, but the days quite okay.

After classes Maureen and I went to happy hour, Wilma joined us later, and Maree. We had no luck at the raffles until Wilma had a last fling and won a basket of gourmet food. Fantastic – we have almost no chance of eating everything before we leave, but will do our best!!! We hastened the process by dropping the organic lemon cordial on the way home, but there are several other tasty morsels in there that we can eat!

As a farewell dinner with Maree we finally went out and had fush and chups. (Well Wilma had seafood chowder, but she's always got to be different!). It was delicious, and worth waiting for. Queenstown has a great range of restaurants in all price ranges, and we really enjoyed this meal at Chico's. Table was a bit small though, but looked out onto the mall.

DAY 15

Easter Sunday – day of rest. We don't have to get up for anything, except for those who are going to Mass – and so enjoyed a slow morning. I had a walk downtown and through the lovely Queenstown Gardens – beautiful, set on a hill overlooking the lake. Did some leisurely shopping and strolling through galleries. 

 

DAY 10

DAY 10

Today classes start for four of us, only Wilma has a day off. Classes are shared between the High School and the primary school, with the lunchtime lectures at the high school, but the shopping based at the primary school. There is a little walk between the two but nothing outrageous, and for those of us who are tired already the little shuttle bus will take us between the two for a gold coin.

Anyone at the primary school is treated to the occasional paraglider landing on the sports field in front of them, and I can't imagine how distracting it must be for the kids when school is in!

After classes and Hollis Chatelain's lunchtime lecture, we go home to a Wilma-cooked meal and a quiet night in.

DAY 11

Wilma is an Angel, or volunteer, today, while the rest of us have classes. Tonight is the gala dinner. We have to go up in the Gondola (up a steep mountain) to the Skyline restaurant. The view is magnificent, but it is a long way down. Maureen and I try not to look. Dinner is a very drawn out affair, as it would be with 350 – odd guests, but there is very memorable entertainment in the form of the Swinging Maitre D's who are dressed to look like the waiting staff, but who are in fact a trio of singers doing Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jnr songs. Despite a very late finish (dessert at 11pm), it was enjoyable and the meal was very nice.

DAY 12

New classes for everybody today, and we can't believe that the week is disappearing fast. The tutor's exhibition at the primary school is very good – each tutor has one work on display. Gail Lawther has a set of four panels about England and one just happens to be a Bayeux Tapestry – like representation of the cricket, with Strauss victorious and Ponting vanquished, at Castle Lords – very funny. There are many lovely works here though, and both Wilma and I have some photos to show when we get back. We can't publish these on the blog, of course.

I am going to do some handstitching with Kiwi Allie Snow, Wilma is making vessels with Larkin van Horn, Buffy is designing with Cynthia Corbin, Maureen is working with Ann Jolley and Maree is doing wool/felt embroidery with another Kiwi teacher.

DAY 13

It is Good Friday, so Maree, the energetic one headed down to the Bakery for Hot Cross Buns last night, ready for breakfast today. I am betting there will be hot cross buns for morning tea, so restrict myself to one.

DAY 9

QUEENSTOWN

Our hotel in Queenstown is on Gorge Road. It is just a short walk to town, only slightly uphill on the way back (except for the driveway which is pretty steep). Across the road and through a sports field is the primary school (the main headquarters for the Symposium and where many classes will be held), up the road and through a sports field is the High School, where the remaining classes are going to be. We also get a birdseye view of the paragliders coming in to land across the road, and the gondola to the top of the mountain is also within view. The supermarket is also very close, plus a popular Italian deli/market. We, that is Wilma, picked a great spot.

DAY 9 

 

SNOW ON THE MOUNTAINS. VERY COLD. We are using all our layers. Maree is particularly cold!!

We are braving the cold morning and heading into town to see a couple of exhibitions associated with the Symposium, before heading up to the primary school to register and get our bearings for the week. The exhibitions are firstly the Silk Road and also the main Symposium Exhibition. The Silk Road was located jointly with work by Canadian quilters and also lovely works by Gail Lawther and others. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photographs in this space. The main Symposium exhibition also had some very lovely quilts, and we were allowed to photograph them, but they also have a DVD available. The town is certainly buzzing with many quilters, and there is a lot of activity – we also took the opportunity to have a look around the shops before our classes start in earnest, and free time will be at a minimum.

Registration was relatively painless if slow for some, we received goody bags, and headed for the shopping, the Peddlar's Patch. Naturally nobody bought anything, well very little, anyway. The opening and awards do was on in the evening, consisting of a glass of wine, a box of nibblies, and lots of speeches and slides of the winning quilts., all in a very cool High School gymnasium. We finished the evening with a brisk walk home down Gorge Road.

Day 8 - a day trip to Arrowtown

Today Maree and Maureen headed off to Arrowtown, Wilma and Buffy went to Milford Sound and Elaine stayed home to do an assignment (I know who had the better time). We left around 10 and walked into Queenstown and popped onto one of their bright yellow buses which took us to the Remarkables shopping Centre where we had to change buses. There we met a gaggle of quilters who were heading the same way. On the way to Arrowtown we followed the beautiful Remarkable Alps covered in Autumn Trees amongst the pine plantations. On arrival to the quaint town which had the most beautiful preserved buildings we went to the museum where we learnt about the history of the town and the gold mining industry. Did you know that they did not have banks in the early part of the gold rush and the police officer “minded” the gold in his tent along with his duties of cooking. It was discovered that he had $100,000 worth of gold under his bed. Soon a bank was built. We then went to a cosy tea house and had a lovely Devonshire tea. We then decided to do something totally different and went shopping!!!!! Such lovely shops in amazingly beautiful buildings. Looking down the main street to the residential area were golden trees aligning the streets – it was as though the streets were paved with gold. I bought these lovely sweets for the girls – they were marshmallow on a stick covered in chocolate fudge and rolled in 100's and 1000's. So decadent. It soon became time to head home so we went to the bus stop and there were many people there hoping for a seat on the bus. We were lucky. We then talked non stop with our new friends and shared our experiences. We found out that there is a Mary McKillop house in Arrowtown – she was there for a month and set up a school in Arrowtown. Apparently she visited New Zealand 4 times in her life. It rained on the way home and we saw the most beautiful and perfect rainbow – what a lovely ending to a great day.

Days 6 & 7

The road to Wanaka is very scenic – changes from rainforest to river flats with the wide rocky/pebbly river beds and fast flowing, very cold looking water. We had lunch at a place called Makarora, where there is a cafe, an airstrip and not much else. Onward to Wanaka, we literally came round a bend to see the stunning Lake Wanaka before us. It is a huge body of water which is very blue and very still, with great reflections of the trees and mountains on its edges, and the autumn foliage is stunning. There are a great many deciduous trees as well as the ubiquitous pines, and the colours are many and varied. The road took us from the eastern side of Lake Wanaka to the western edge of Lake Hawea, another very beautiful lake. We followed this all the way to the town of Wanaka where they are in the middle of the Festival of Autumn Colour. There is at least one textile art event to see, a patchwork shop (of course) and the dentist for me. The girls went shopping while I visited the dentist (now fancy that) and more lovely wool and beads were bought.

DAY 7 WANAKA TO QUEENSTOWN

Well we are on the final leg of our road trip, which has seen lots of laughter and good humour and a well thought out fitness regime for us all as we re-pack the van each morning. We are now very good at fitting 5 people, luggage and shopping into the back of a Toyota Previa, sort of like an Avensis. We had one more hour in Wanaka before setting off to take in the textile art exhibition on the route that we were taking to Queenstown. The exhibition was well worth the stop – very innovative work and a good variety of techniques.

The drive to Queenstown was interesting to say the least – only 70 kms or so, but a steep climb followed by, you guessed it, a very steep descent. The views were breathtaking from the top of the mountain which we travelled across, with the valley so far down. Still, it took no time at all, and some very strong smelling brakes, before we were down to Arrowtown, a hop, skip and a jump from Queenstown, and soon we were rolling into our final destination. Queenstown is located on Lake Wakatipu, and is surrounded on all sides by mountains – magnificent!

First stop was the arts and crafts market on the lake front, and some lunch. We then checked into our lovely apartment and got some grocery essentials before returning our transport. All were glad to unpack suitcases and happy at the thought of being in a place for more than one night. Still a quiet night in was chosen, as Buffy and Wilma have a trip to Milford Sound organised for tomorrow. Maureen and Maree are off to Arrowtown, and Elaine gets a quiet day at home to catch up on the blog, some study and do a few necessary chores.

Day 5 an 6 Punakaiki to Wanaka

Another view of the Punakaiki House

DAY 5 PUNAKAIKI TO FOX GLACIER

Maureen cooked a delicious breakfast of bacon, scrambled eggs and roast cherry tomatoes – we wouldn't have eaten better in a restaurant. The activities of the morning included a walk along the road behind the house, which was part grey sand beach, and packing up the luggage into the van (our morning gym session). We were all sorry to leave the lovely Beach House. Another stop up at the Pancake Rocks site to visit the gift shop and get some daylight photographs, then we were on our way again. The coastal scenery was again spectacular, not much white sand, but plenty of rocks in interesting formations and wild water. There were also plenty of rivers with river flats covered in boulders, rocks, pebbles of all shapes and sizes, and as we headed inland the river beds became more and more interesting.

We lunched at Hokitika, which is a tourist town famous for the NZ Greenstone or Jade. There were greenstone factories/shops of every shape and size, and other crafts such as wood, glass blowing and photography were also featured. We also visited the antique sock knitting machine museum and shop – very interesting although none of the machines were working. The socks were beautiful, and some of us could not resist them. Others spied offcuts from the machines in a basket, and chatted the proprietor up so that she willingly gave away a bag of these brightly coloured offcuts for our textile art projects.

We said goodbye to Hokitika, just as it started to rain and continued south to Glacier country. The clouds and rain obscured any view of the glaciers which were at the tail end of our drive. The temperature was also getting quite cool, and although our night's accommodation included a spa and sauna, as oldies in a backpackers, we didn't bother to use those facilities!

Our first evening meal out, which was a lovely meal at the Fox Glacier pub - we all had a delicious dinner, although losing a  tooth filling at the end was a bit of a nuisance for Elaine.  

DAY 6 - FOX GLACIER TO WANAKA

Rain has cleared away, so we thought we might get a view of the Glacier, but no luck as the road up was closed off perhaps due to water or rock falls. We have a long-ish drive ahead, so kept going – got to get to Wanaka by 4 pm for E to visit the dentist to replace a filling which went missing during last night's dinner! The scenery is spectacular around here, as ever. We are following the coast for a little while, past Bruce Bay, and then head inland again after Haast Village where we stopped briefly for morning tea. We continued on, stopping to look at Thunder Creek Falls on the way. The autumn colours are very impressive, but these falls are in deep green rainforest.

Thunder Creek Falls