Skeinspotting

New Zealand Adventures

I promise I have been doing some serious knitting. First of all I managed to sneak my circulars on to the plane but felt so naughty that every time a steward went by was flustered into making silly mistakes! After two attempts I made a standard K3 P2 ribbed hat for the little nephew which I won't show here. Here is me in our private spa bath in Kaikoura (NZ on the South Island), renamed The Spa of Doooooom! We seemed to pick up some unmentionable bugs in this lovely luxury hotel spa which has meant a lot of sleepless nights in separate beds. how romantic!

We spent our first week here in Wellie with my brother and his wife and kiddies. However, we headed off to the South Island mainly to experience the above creatures which Stevie snapped this morning on our amazing Dolphin Encounter trip in Kaikoura. With full wetsuit and hood and mask and snorkel we got into the sea on a beautifully calm day (freezing water though) and swam with a pod of about 500 dolphins. I cannot explain how wonderful this made me feel. They were not tamed in any way, totally wild and yet seemed to enjoy teasing and inviting us to play. You circle, they circle, you chase then turn and they chase you, occasionally bumping and brushing against you so gently at such a speed. Then they entertain you with the acrobatics you can see above. On a previous trip we saw the above Sperm whale and this morning as well as dolphins we came across seals lazing around on the rocks. There are strict rules here about observing marine mammals and not interfering etc so we were so lucky to be allowed into their world. I want to do it all over again! However, was a bit embarrassed about being rolled onto the boat afterwards like a big fat seal as I can't use my arms to grip to climb onto the boat.

Sorry for those of you wanting to read a knitting blog and finding cutesy animal travelling stories! Back to knitting, I have found it difficult to get normal decent stuff over here despite it being a sheepy place. I did manage to buy some cheap Merino, slightly felted and soft and cream but great for dyeing.

One other little bit of news, the Anticraft have a book coming out whoopee. I've had a few projects accepted for the book, double whoopee. however, can't really get the yarn I need to work on that here so no option but to wait until I return to London after my Big Adventure on The Land of The Long White Cloud.