On our last day of touring our guide took us on a long drive, showing us limestone outcrops, pointing out historical battle sites, lamenting some recent history and taking us to a seaside town where the rich and tasteless holiday or retire to.

We saw the Bay of Plenty…

And this view toward Hamilton…

And we stumbled upon the Kaimai Woolshed, where I finally picked up a ball of yarn for the rug. There was even a rainbow to celebrate us finally finding a yarn store that was open…

I thought I was done with yarn shopping. The next day our friend insisted on taking me to the local stores in Hamilton – Knit World and the Knitting Warehouse – on the way to the airport, even though I assured him I didn’t need more yarn. I ended up with some ‘Red Heart’ yarn. Not the Red Heart from the US so mocked by knitters, it turned out, but a nice local yarn. Some Crucci, too. I hadn’t realised the company was local.

And some Taieri Plains tweedy 12ply, which my friend found and went all sentimental over because he grew up there, and when I found out it was only NZ$2.50 a ball I knew it was worth finding another corner of the suitcase to fit it into.

And some black 8ply cotton, which is SO hard to find in Australia.

And this nifty pen, which has a little internal ‘blind’ that you pull down, which has needle size conversions and dress sizes on it.

After stowing the yarn away, we headed to Auckland where we had the worst Japanese food ever, then on to the airport. We farewelled our friend and endured the usual non-knitting time on and off the plane. And then we were home, happy to have our own beds to sleep in, and wondering where I was going to store all this new yarn…

From Hamilton our New Zealand friend took on the role of tour guide. Being a geologist, he did a fine job of showing us around Rotarua. Instead of going to the most popular thermal area, he took us to his favourite one – a valley that was the end of a crack in the earth that split the distant mountain in this photo:

I was expecting the unbearable stink of rotten eggs that had been described to me, but instead it was a mild odour of sulpher which, strangely, made me feel hungry. There were boiling streams…

Lakes the fill and then surge up and empty themselves every 38 days or so…

Tiers of many-coloured deposits…

And hot water bubbling up from the ground…

The next day it rained, so we headed for attractions that, um, weren’t outside. First the Waitomo glow worm caves, which were sculptural and pretty (but perhaps a bit on the pricey side for such a short tour), and then a bird sanctuary where we saw some rather horny kiwi, and many other distinctively local species…

We kept stumbling upon yarn stores without meaning to – Woolbar in Morrinsville, Rowan Tree in Te Awamutu, Casual Touch in Cambridge, and a shop in Rotorua – but it being a long weekend, they were all closed. But I wasn’t too frustrated, because my suitcase was already half full of yarn and I didn’t think I wanted anything more than just one more ball for the knee rug.

Next: a road trip and one last slpurge.

Yesterday morning I headed to the local s’n’b again to hang out, eat, chat, knit and weave. I picked up the sock I’d left behind last week.

They’re the ones I knit as we travelled through New Zealand. The yarn is Dream In Colour Smooshy, in ‘gothic rose’, and the pattern is my own toe-up heel flap one. I’m calling them the Smooshy Socks.

I took along the loom for a quick demo, some socks and a sock pattern book for a girl who expressed an interest in sock knitting last week, and we were all encouraged to bring along some amusing patterns so I took a few I’d found in op shops. Ah, there were some doozies.

Andrea made us some cute calico WWKIP bags. Inside mine were chockies (already eaten by the time this photo was taken), perfume samples and a ball of yarn. Thankyou Andrea!

She issued a challenge for us to make the yarn into something by the next meeting, in a fortnight. I’m thinking something woven. That’ll give me an extra push to get my current weaving project off the loom faster.

A handful of us stuck around for lunch to celebrate World Wide Knit In Public Day. It was a great start for the day. But when I got home I felt utterly worn out and a bit dizzy. At first I thought “who’d have thunk knitting was so exhausting?” but by the evening I had a sore throat and a sense of impending doom.

I’m getting the beau’s cold. Darn. Trust that to happen when I cleared this week of as many appointments and distractions as I could so I’d get some work done and meet the deadline. Oh well. Soldier on…

It took a day or so before I worked out why there was a nagging sense of familiarity about Wellington. When we took the cable car up to gaze over the city it finally hit me. Weatherboard houses clinging to steep hill sides + cable car = San Francisco!

Once again I could not bear carrying around my heavy camera, and I really wished I’d taken my little digital one with me. I didn’t get a photo of Knit World, which proved to be just as big and well stocked as the Christchurch store. I decided to take the opportunity to buy some 10ply yarn for Starsky as well as yet another ball for my knee rug.

We also visited Te Papa, the big museum. Which was… a bit disappointing. Part seemed aimed at children, with the sort of spoon-feeding of easily digestible info that I dislike in modern museums. And much of the rest was the opposite, and seemed aimed too much at locals who already know their history rather than foreigners who might only know what they’d read in their guidebook.

After a day and a half in Wellington, we had another early morning start, catching the Overlander north.

I managed to get out into the viewing carriage and take some photos.

The train left at 7:25 am and arrived in Hamilton at 5:30 pm, so it was quite a long trip. But I managed to fit in knitting, reading, crosswords and even a nap. I imagine this trip would be fantastic with a group of knitters. It was possibly a bit long for just the two of us, and would best be broken up into two journeys.

At Hamilton our New Zealand friend picked us up and took us back to his house, where we stayed for the rest of the trip.

Next: thermal valleys, lots of closed knitting stores, and birds, birds, birds.

The next leg of our tour put us on a train – the TranzAlpine from Greymouth to Christchurch. I’m beginning to think train is the best way to travel, if you’re a knitter (so long as the actual train is comfortable). The weather was still lovely on the west coast, but as the train reached the mountains we entered cloudy, rainy conditions. The scenery was still beautiful, but in a muted way, and neither of us wanted to go out and freeze on the viewing carriage while taking photos that probably wouldn’t be that great.

Instead we put on our iPods and enjoyed watching the scenery go by, me knitting and the beau reading. I worked on Le Slouch for most of the journey, finishing it two nights later in Christchurch.

It was also overcast in Christchurch and this was the only photo I took – from the hotel window. The camera was too heavy to lug around.

The next day it rained occasionally but only lightly so we walked around town. I sought out Knit World on the edge of town, which I was expecting to be boring but was impressed by the size of the shop, with a sit-and-knit area, and the range of local yarn. There was a lot I wanted to buy, but my suitcase was starting to get heavy and I knew there were more Knit World shops in Wellington and Hamilton so I put off buying garment sized batches, settling on a ball for the rug and a ball of Rowan tapestry that I thought might work for Quant (but never got the time to make).

We then headed to the museum, and then to the Art Centre. I had a quick look around the Handweavers and Spinners Guild shop and bought some green/black handspun.

And wasn’t sure what to think when I saw that there were Colorimetrys for sale that didn’t even credit the designer, let alone have any ‘with permission’ noted on the label. I’m not comfortable with being too hard on little old ladies who don’t know better knitting stuff in a market to sell for a good cause. But I’m not comfortable with seeing designer’s work being sold without some consideration shown for copyright either. And I couldn’t help thinking, “this is the Handweavers and Spinner Guild. In a shop. They ought to know better.” and yet also couldn’t help wondering if I was being ignorant and if copyright law was different in New Zealand.

It left me feeling a bit disturbed, yet also aware that if there hadn’t been so much discussion on copyright in Ravelry of late I’d probably not even thought twice about it. It highlighted to me how the Ravelry forums make you more aware of issues, and sympathetic to those who don’t have access to information.

Anyway, back to the tour.

We left Christchurch the next day, catching the TranzCoastal train up to Picton. It was a VERY early start, having to get up at 5:30 am in order to shower, dress, have breakfast, catch a taxi to the station and check in my 6:40 am.

But it was well worth it, as it was another fabulous journey full of beautiful scenery – this time coastal – and the freedom to knit and read and listen to the iPod. I am so sold on train travel!

In Picton we stayed at the Americano Motor Inn, an old fashioned style inn with rooms entered from a wide concrete balcony, above shops. And guess what was right below our room? Yarn. Yes, we slept above yarn that night.

Unfortunately the shop was never open when we were able to get to it. As soon as we checked in we booked ourselves in to the Mail Run, a boat tour that is the actual mail run along Queen Charlotte Sound and a few other sounds branching off from it.

We saw seals…

… and dolphins. It was a lovely trip, with plenty of photo opportunites. I was amazed at all the little houses nestled in the creases of the steep slopes, each with a pier and many only accessible by boat.

The next morning we rose early again, though not as early as the day before, and fit in a quick visit to The Looking Glass, which we’d been told sold yarn. There I bought the handpainted Natural Wool in the above photo of yarn, as well as another ball for the knee rug.

Then we headed for the ferry.

(picture of ferry taken the day before, during the Mail Run)

And headed out of Queen Charlotte Sound toward Wellington, and the North Island.

Next: San FranciscoWellington, another train journey, and reaching our ‘base’ on the North Island, Hamilton.

From Queenstown we set off for an overnight tour of Milford Sound. I’d visited Doubtful Sound last time I was in NZ (18 years ago – gosh that makes me feel old) so this time I wanted to see the more famous one.

I got lots of knitting done on the bus, on both my travelling socks and the first few mitre squares of my knee rug. In Te Anau I found yarn in a tourist shop – Shepherd 12ply Lambswool – and bought two balls of blue, only to realise later they were different blues. At Milford we boarded a ship and headed out into the sound. When it grew too dark and cold the beau and I settled in the mess hall with a glass of wine and more sock knitting, which got some curious looks from other passengers.

The next day was appropriately wet. You really have to see the sounds when it’s pouring, as only then do you get all the waterfalls. But it does mean low light which makes it hard to get good photos.

More knitting on the trip home. We arrived back in Queenstown mid afternoon and I sought out the local source of yarn I’d found during my research. Called The Kiwi Gift Shop I’d assumed it was another souvenir shop selling yarn. But it was a yarn store, with plenty of interesting stock. I bought some Supreme Possum Merino in navy for the rug, and in black for Le Slouch and to knit a hat for the beau, who’d requested one after he found his $5 cheapie hat from Knit Works was horribly scratchy.

It was VERY cold in Queenstown the next day, with snow down to 400m. We drove a hire car north, stopping at the Perendale Wool Shop in Wanaka. I bought some royal blue yarn for my rug, and a ball of the Shepherd Lambswool in white to go with the blues.

We headed through the Haast Pass into lovely, clear weather. All the way I knit on the beau’s hat. I decided to copy the shaping of the one he’d bought, figuring there might have been something about the shape he liked. It was more like a fisherman’s hat, which is a shape that suits him better than the usual round beanie (which makes him look like he’s a crim in a Brit cop show). I finished it that night, in our hotel at Fox Glacier. I shifted from reverse stocking stitch to stocking stitch in a triangular pattern reminiscent of the Milford peaks, so I’m calling it the Milford Sound Hat.

The next day we rose at dawn to walk around Lake Matheson and take photos. Then we did a helicoptor flight up Fox Glacier…

… to Mount Cook. The weather was perfect. It was exhilarating.

Afterwards we did a quick walk to see the glacier from the ground, then picked up our bags and drove north again. A few hours later we arrived at Hokikita. The beau had booked a hotel offering a free bottle of wine, and they also upgraded us to a spa room. So after a hot bath to ease sore muscles from all the walking that day, we relaxed with a glass of wine and this view…

… and, of course, I knit.

Next we headed across the mountains to Christchurch, then up to Picton.

The first leg of our trip was a drive from Christchurch to Queenstown with a NZ friend. He knew I wanted to visit yarn stores, so when we passed this place on the way out of Christchurch he insisted we check it out.

The shop sold mostly knitwear, but there was yarn too. I bought some deliciously soft merino/possum yarn in a tweedy royal blue. I’m thinking a fitted, raglan-sleeve cardigan would work for this, possibly knit top down. It’s very warm yarn, so I’ll avoid cables or a bulky stitch pattern.

There was also some lovely yarn from coloured sheep. I chose three of the five or six colours available – they’re 200 gram hanks. I’m considering making either a fair isle garment or a crochet sampler blanket out of this.

Next my NZ friend dragged me to Ashford. Now, I didn’t want to go because I was worried I’d succumb to temptation and end up carting a loom around for the rest of the trip. But I did restrain myself, only buying a ball of yarn for the rug. The shop and complex looks like a great place for crafty day trips or weekends and there were the usual exotic yarns like Noro and Rowan among more familiar ACS and NZ brands.

The shop I wanted to go most out of all the NZ shops was Touch Yarns. This meant a side trip to Clyde. The shop was a little smaller than I expected, but full of beautiful quality yarn.

A woven scarf on display nudged me into buying this:

I’d barely given it a second look until then. But the yarns I’d never consider knitting often make great weft yarns. I also bought some more yarn for my rug here, before we headed on to Queenstown. Next: beautiful scenery and unexpected yarn finds.

I’m finding it a little hard to know what approach to take, when writing about my trip to New Zealand. How much should of the holiday part to put in, including photos of scenery, or should I stick to knitting related bits? Do I really want to put up silly mug shots of me standing in front of yarn shops? Is it going to look like I’m just showing off, posting all the pics of the yarn I bought? Is this post going to be useful for future travellers? Is Blogger going to freak at all the images? Should I cover preparations for the trip as well? Should I break it down into smaller posts – and do I divide them by subject or sections of the journey – or keep it as one big one?

Who’d have thought holiday reportage could be so complicated? It shouldn’t be, and this is just a blog, so I’m going to just dive in and see where it takes me.

Before I left I did a fair bit of research, searching the yellow pages website. I can tell you now this was much too limiting. I ran into craft and tourist shops selling yarn that never came up in a search on the site. The Ashford site has a list of stores selling their products that alerted me to more shopping options, and other yarn companies might do the same, which might be a better way to locate yarn.

I also consulted the Kiwi Crafting Ravely Group, which taught me something new about yarn shopping in foreign countries. Take such advice with a grain of salt. The stores the locals find boring may not be so to overseas visitors. The Knit World shops were referred to with some disdain on the forum, but I was impressed by them. Still, most yarn in them was New Zealand or Australian product, which was probably too familiar and unexciting to locals, who may be longing for something more exotic.

I packed just one project for the trip: plain socks in nice yarn that would be easy to knit while in transit. No other project would be necessary, I figured, because I also planned to knit a knee rug as I travelled, buying a ball of yarn for it every place I travelled to (and could find a yarn store). Just in case this wasn’t enough, I took three printed patterns and the required needles for small accessories: a hat and two headbands. I did end up knitting the hat, so I’m glad I did.

When packing I was ruthless, culling so I’d have lots of room for yarn. I have an expandable section on my suitcase, which I hoped to use – and did. I packed zip lock bags so I could squash air out of the yarn and my clothing to fit more in. I also planned to buy a carry bag if I needed more – and did, though I probably could have filled the gaps in the beau’s bag instead. Posting yarn home was a last resort, I decided. It had cost a fortune to post excess yarn from the UK and waiting three months for it had been excruciating!

When buying yarn, I kept my stash manifesto in mind, remembering to buy enough yarn for a project rather that one or two balls. I didn’t have to worry about the obligation to buy something once I entered a shop because I could buy one ball for the knee rug. I also avoided yarn I could get at home, sticking almost exclusively to local yarn manufacturers. Supporting locals and reducing carbon cost, and all that.

It didn’t take long before Holiday Yarn Magnetism, an effect we first noticed in the UK, started to take effect and we began to just stumble upon yarn or yarn stores without meaning to. The best example of this was realising the motel room in Picton we were staying in was right on top of a craft store selling yarn (but it was never open when we were there).

Overall I found New Zealand to be a great destination for yarn shopping. There were plenty of shops with good reputations that I never got to, and I could easily have bought a lot more at the ones I did reach!

More on where we went and what I bought next post.

I also finished the Charade socks before holidaying, too.

There are good things and bad things about these socks.

Bad: The yarn, as I mentioned before, is a bit on the thin side, so the socks are rather holey.

Good: I love this colour.

Bad: The toes are a bit square-ended, which looks wierd.

Good: I love the herringbone rib stitch. It never got old, even though it was a simple two row repeat. I want to knit another pair of socks using it.

Bad: They came out a bit short, but that’s my fault. I find it hard to estimate sock height when I knit top down.

Good: Despite everything I didn’t like, they fit and look good.

Just before I headed off to New Zealand I finally sat down and sewed the collar onto the Jo Sharp Ribbed Wrap Jacket. I was so glad I did. I liked it so much I took it with me, and even after alternating wearing it and another knitted jacket for two weeks it still hadn’t lost its charm.

It looks great from the front. My worries that not having any closures at the front would have me constantly tugging the fronts together were unfounded.

It looks great from the back.

And the seam line of the collar is so delightfully curvy and flattering. I don’t know why this isn’t shown in the pattern book, as it is one of the most appealing aspects of the garment.

A very successful knit. The yarn, Cleckheaton Country Silk, worked fine as a substitute – thick enough to sub for the aran, and fine for the dk collar too.