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The journey to Christchurch was an experience in itself. I expected the plane trip to be exhausting and uncomfortable and it was. It certainly could have been worse, tho, so I'm not complaining too loudly. <G> The seats in economy were about 2" narrower than my seat and about 6" narrower than my upper body. I had an aisle seat so I got smacked on the arm every time anyone walked down the aisle. Lucky for me, there was an empty seat in the row of 4 I was in, so the guy next to me sort of curled up in the two middle seats and slept most of the time. The flight took a bit over 12 hours and was pretty uneventful. I was able to get my nylon knitting needles on the plane with no problems at all, but there was not enough room for me to use them on the flight. Mostly I read the book I had brought along. I managed to miss my flight from Auckland to Christchurch because I didn't realize I had to retrieve my baggage and carry it myself thru customs. Wouldn't you think they would tell you something that important? <G> Arrival in Christchurch was pretty uneventful till I got my rental car. Yeah, they drive on the left here. No big deal, right? Riiight! I only drove onto one curb and turned the wrong way onto one one-way street before finding my room (at the YMCA) and finding a parking lot. Whew! This room at the Y is one of the deluxe ones - I have my own bathroom, TV and telephone. The cost of this palatial accommodation? $65NZ per night. My balcony overlooks a lovely park and the Christchurch Hospital. I'm right across the street from the Arts Center, home of the Christchurch Spinning & Weaving Guild (and guild shop) and Anne Field's Studio. There's lots of other stuff over there, too, but those are the important places. I've spent lovely hours spinning in the guild shop and chatting with other spinners, knitters and weavers. I brought a few books and mags that I thought may not have made it down here yet and everyone has enjoyed looking thru them. Today, Friday, I drove down to Ashburton for the day. Asford has its shop down there and I expected great things. They did have some lovely yarns and all the usual Ashford wheels and looms. I bought a spare drive band for my Joy and a bit of yarn. On the way back to Christchurch I stopped at an alpaca stud. There were lots of alapaca there and the folks were very nice. VERY nice - I came away with a more than generous sample of alpaca fiber - already carded! I also took a few snaps of the alpaca. Next stop on the way home was a gift shop - in an old church - in Dunsandel. I bought lots of gifts for the folks back home. I think I'll mail most of it back next week - I sure don't have enough room in my luggage for it! |