New Zealand

Two days ago we arrived home after a fantastic holiday in New Zealand. Here are a few pics of some highlights: an early morning run in Auckland (above).
A visit to Hobbiton:



Walking in an ancient forest:



Sightseeing in Napier, a city full of art deco buildings and street art - what more could you wish for? (they also have jacarandas!)





And last but not least, spending a few days near majestic Mount Ruapehu, hiking and moutainbiking in Tongariro National Park:



I brought my Happy Whirl shawl and got quite a few rows done. This project is nearing its end!



We also did two parkruns in New Zealand, which brought my total this year to 30, and overall to 40!



With only two hours to go here in Queensland until the start of 2019, I would like to wish you a happy and healthy New Year!

Melbourne

Last weekend I was in Melbourne, where my youngest son and his partner competed at the Australian Dancesport Championship. They did very well and came home with two trophies and lots of medals. A great end of their first year of dancing together!



On my way to parkrun in Albert Park on Saturday morning I spotted some brilliant street art in Yarra Place (more pics on the photo blog):



At the park the view over the lake with the city in the background was beautiful:



I brought the Happy Whirl project with me to Melbourne and even managed to crochet a few rows. The purple is starting to appear now:



Back at home I've also been working on the Sea Breeze Cover Up:



School holidays have started here in Queensland, and on Wednesday we are flying to New Zealand for a holiday on the North Island. Very exciting! There will be one more post on the blog before the end of the year, so stay tuned...

Scheveningen

Last week I had to make a quick trip to the seaside town of Scheveningen in the Netherlands, where a family member was admitted to hospital. Sadly he won't be going home again, so I had to clean out his apartment and organise lots of things.
Needless to say it was a stressful week, although thankfully some good friends came to help and it was lovely to see them again, even under these sad circumstances.
I brought my current crochet project (the Happy Whirl shawl) but didn't crochet a single stitch - during the day I was too busy and at night too tired (jet lag...)
I did go for an early morning run three times (not difficult since I was awake at 5am most days). It was cold (around 4 degrees centigrade), colder than it ever gets in Queensland, but invigorating! (and so good for my mental health)



I had to stop a few times to take photos of the gorgeous sunrises and the stunning sky:




(more pics on the photo blog)

Of course I bought some Dutch delicacies to take home to my boys (liquorice, spiced cookies, Saint Nicholas treats, syrup waffles). I also got some crochet books and bookazines:



The top right book, Haken met Joep (Crochet with Joep), is written by a 17-year-old boy called Joep who learned to crochet when he was six and now sells handmade beanies in his online shop. How cool is that! (I showed it to my boys, but sadly it hasn't inspired them to take up crochet).
The amigurumi book was a belated birthday gift from my sister-in-law. It's written by Dendennis, a Dutch guy who designs very original amigurumi.
And I'm sure the Scheepjes Yarn bookazines need no introduction, they are just chock-full of gorgeous projects.



Now I'm home again, exhausted and once more suffering from jet lag... I still haven't picked up my crochet hook but will do that soon - have to finish my middle son's amiguruME doll!

Melbourne

Last week youngest son and I travelled to Melbourne to watch his eldest brother compete in the Australian Gymnastics Championships. Unfortunately Hugo injured his knee on the fourth apparatus during the first competition and was pulled out. His team won gold on the day and thankfully he could join them on the podium, crutches and all!



He had an MRI the next day which showed that his ACL was torn. Bad news, as this means he will need surgical reconstruction followed by 9-12 months of recovery. He's taken it in his stride however, and has signed up for a judging course, so he can still go with his clubmates to the State Club Championships at the end of June, and judge instead of compete. He also hopes to do some coaching this year. The brilliant photo below was taken by one of the photographers of WinkiPop Media minutes before his injury, high-fiving his coach after a succesfull rings routine:



Hugo's injury understandably put a damper on our stay in Melbourne, but Robert and I did get to do some sightseeing and met our Dutch friends for dinner, which was lovely. It was Robert's first time in Melbourne and he loved seeing the autum colours - something we don't have here in Queensland! (more Melbourne pics on my photo blog here)



I took him to Hosier Lane to see the street art, but he wasn't very impressed - he called it Stinky Street!



We did like this painting (more street art photos on the photo blog here):



Here is another kind of street art - an art deco mosaic constructed in 1933 by Napier Waller on the facade of Newspaper House in Collins Street (more art deco photos on the photo blog here, and some art nouveau photos here):



We really liked the cubes in Flinders Street:



There was even a crocheted one!



I had brought a ball of yarn and a hook but didn't do any crocheting. We did visit my favourite shop in Melbourne, Morris and Sons:



I bought some yarn as a souvenir ;-)



Love the warning on the label!!



All in all we did have a good time, but were happy to go home on Sunday (Hugo flew home on the same day with the Queensland team). Robert hopes to go back to Melbourne in December for the ballroom dancing championships!

Urchins

This morning I hopped on my bike and rode to Surfers Paradise to check out the Urchins.



The Urchins are two large crocheted sculptures, designed by Choi+Shine Architects and made by 80 Australian crocheters. They are part of the Festival 2018 that is currently held at the Gold Coast as part of the 21st Commonwealth Games.



I first heard about the Urchins when a crochet blogger that I follow, Snakewood and Grace, announced on her Facebook page that she had been asked to contribute to this project and shared the process of making parts of the Urchins. They are made of 3mm nylon cord - it's called extreme crochet!





The installation can be viewed in Appel Park in Surfers Paradise until Sunday 15 April.



I was very impressed and can recommend a visit if you are in the area!



Meanwhile my own crochet project, the Lone Star Blanket, is slowly growing:



I am crocheting a lot while watching the gymnastics at the Games - mostly on tv, but I also made two diamonds at the Coomera Indoor Sports Centre, where oldest son and I watched the men's qualifications and team final on Thursday:



(This was during the break between subdivision 1 and 2 - there was no arm room to crochet when the competition was on!)

Easter

How was your Easter weekend? Mine was perfect - my yarn arrived on Thursday, so I spent a lot of time crocheting diamonds, while listening to an audiobook or watching Netflix (got through series 1 of Victoria over the weekend!)



I made twenty-three background diamonds - only 157 to go! (or more if I want the blanket to be rectangular instad of square...)



It was wonderful to have a break after the hectic first term of the year, settling in our new home. We are very happy here on the Gold Coast but it has been exhausting; new jobs, new schools, new clubs, finding our way around, making new friends. Especially doing all that for the second time in just over a year...

However, we didn't just stay at home and relax - we decided to explore some of the beautiful Gold Coast Hinterland and went to Mount Tambourine on Sunday and to Springwood National Park on Monday. There we did the 4k hike to the bottom of the Purling Brook Falls - it was very muddy and slippery after all the rain we've had, but well worth the effort!



You can find some more pics on my photo blog.
My youngest son has taken possession of my old DSLR and brought it along as well. Love this photo my husband took of the two photographers in the family :-)

Road trip to Brisbane

Last week, when the boys had school holidays, we drove down to Brisbane. We met up with old friends and visited our favourite places, such as New Farm Park (photo above), where the jacarandas were blooming. It was so good to be back!



In New Farm I took a few pics of some gorgeous art deco buildings (more pics on my photo blog):



We also spent some time in South Bank. I love the bougainvillea there:



A typical Queensland thunderstorm rolled in while we walked past the Streets Beach. I'm very pleased with this photo!



I did a lot of crocheting both in the car and in our B&B at night...



... and came home with this pile of granny squares. Only a few more to go and then I can start to assemble the Sea Colours blanket!