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.