Indra's 80th

We went to Kuala Lumpur to join the Pathmanathans celebration of Indra's 80th birthday on Oct 29. We only stayed for 5 days (and was on a plane for 2 days.)
We stayed at the Novotel Hotel where the party was held so we could inspect the party planner's progress.

 There was line dancing, speeches and good food.

The next morning we had breakfast in the restaurant as well.

Tamra and Pat

Grace, Rohini, Indra

KL has some pockets that look like it used to do but there are high rise office blocks and apartment buildings everywhere. I spent some time by the hotel pool trying to get my head around the difference in scale and practicing the online class, Liz Steel's Buildings that I have just done.

from pool side

A vacant block next door except for one tree on a mound. . .. .. . . as seen from the 7th floor

other direction from pool side

But night time was for eating out with friends. First we went out with Abu Bakar, Aziz and Victor to a very swish fish place.

Then with Rosalingand Ti at the restaurant next door to the hotel because the traffic was just too horrible to go further afield.

Finally with Pat and Indra at the Lake Club.

It was a nice break and I came across a vlog that recommends a 7 day sabbatical every 7 weeks. . . . sounds good to me.

Home again

We caught the morning bus off the mountain and got home without incident in time for dinner. The weather was warm as we left so the snow would have been soft by midday and rain was predicted for the next week. A perfect time to leave.
We had more skiing this year than we have had for quite a few. Good thing I was fit and that Jo lasted the distance.

Perfect skiing

The very best day for skiing was Saturday when there were heaps of people waiting at the bottom of the mountain. But the lousy lift loaders ensured that the slopes were almost empty. We skied until the last lift of the day then had a lovely evening with our lodge mates. And I did another row or two.

Friday

The wind moved to the north, clouds rode high and the snow stayed crisp so we had a good day's skiing.

Friday is the day of change when new guests come to stay for a weekend or longer. We have new dinner partners and another bouncy family of children to learn to . . . love.

On my many lift trips (you spend 8 minutes on the chair lift for every 60 seconds of glory pious skiing down to the chair lift queue) I designed my next beanie which will have vertical stripes. I think you should be able to:

Start with a provisional number of stitches the depth of the hat

Work so that you make more rows at the brim edge than the crown, eg tip to edge, back to forehead, down to edge, back to 2 ins below the tip

Back to edge

Up to a stitch before the previous tip stitch.

To make a hat to match my silk/mohair/wool cowl, I should knit it in a slip stitch so that it is less stretchy and thicker.

I also decided to cut up Lucinda's arctic fox collar into strips to wrap my steering wheel.

And the fox pelt can be a coat's collar.

Such productive chair lift trips.

Rare Breeches

The forecast lingering southerly did not spoil our day. It was snowing gently at breakfast time and by the time we hit the slopes we were just in light cloud with a breeze. By the afternoon, the clouds had risen and the sun shone perfectly. I didn't need the cashmere pants under my ski pants for warmth.

But they were good for inspiration. Funny the things that float through your mind on a chair lift. 

The Guild is currently enamoured with rare breeds of sheep. There is a huge effort to get 10 rare fleeces to share with one hundred members (with another 50 on a waiting list.) We will get 100gms of each fleece. What to do with them has been hovering in the back of my mind until today, when I realised that I need rare breeches. The fleece samples will spin up to different qualities of yarn that will lend themselves to a pair of longjohns that will cling to my ankles, skim my calves, swathe my thighs, envelop my hips (especially the bit sitting on the cold chair lift) and cling to my waist to encircle my ribs securely. And weigh a kilogram or less. What a plan!

Less cold

It wasn't as cold today because the southerly wind had moderated and moved a little to the east. But, the cold still penetrated through parka, cashmere pullover, three layers of thermals to my too tender skin. Two pairs of woollen socks and two sets of mittens didn't keep my extremities warm either. When my elbows and knees felt cold it was time to come in.

More time for knitting.

Jo chatting to James and David (hogging the fire, as usual)

An old member arrived today's. I don't recognise him although he recognises me. His wife is the President.

Smokey mountain

A ferocious wind blew up from the south. It blew the rain away but made it feel like minus 15 degrees outside.

We skied for a couple of hours in the morning and the afternoon but when it got so cold that I was colder after skiing down the hill than when I was after sitting on the chair lift for

7 minutes, I decided it was time to quit.

Skiing 2016

Day 1: rain with a little snow mixed in kept us indoors all day.

I started my Kaffe Fasset sample, three rimes. Intarsia makes round holes in the knitting. I hope they block out!

Day 6

We struck camp Fearless-ly and walked Ormiston Pound/Gorge. If asked which walk you should do if you only had one day in the area, this is the walk that I would recommend even though we had to wade through crotch high, freezing water towards the end of the trail.
My camera lost it's ability to focus not far into the walk but recovered by the time we were in the gorge. So I don't have any photos of the pound which is a huge area where tectonic plates meet to create a huge bowl.
The colours in the gorge were amazing as was the geology all around.

desert rose (NT's flower)

a rock wallaby

We drove back to Alice Springs after lunch. The family had dinner together in the Hotel Diplomat restaurant and dispersed the next day.

My flight to Adelaide was delayed 9 hours because the plane from Darwin had to be replaced. So I had to sleep in Adelaide. Virgin paid for the Crowne Plaza and a $50 voucher for dinner. It was a bit different to sleeping in a tent, on a swag and eating food cooked on an open fire (although that only happened a couple of times.) 

Being home a day later didn't matter as Jo is overseas until the end of the month.

Day 5

We left very early to be ready to start our walk up Mt Sonder at 2am. It was pitch black with an icy wind. By this stage, I had learned not to walk with the leaders who set off at a great pace, get hot and sweaty and then have to sit and wait, in the frigid wind, for the slower walkers to catch up. I stayed at the back where we kept up a steady pace and didn't get overheated. By the time we arrived at the top of the mountain around 7am it was obvious that there wasn't going to be a sunrise because the mountain top was covered in cloud. So we walked down the mountain the way we had walked up.
The walk down was amazing because we went from a 360degree view (as soon as we were below the cloud) for miles and miles to a closer and closer view.
The walking was fairly easy. In the night I imagined that I was walking on ancient Roman roads because it was mostly over slabs of rock like paving tiles. You really didn't have to watch every step (as was necessary on previous days) which, on the way down, left lots of time to marvel at the view.

The top of Mt Sonder was under the cloud when we got to the bottom. This is the only photo I took all day. The way down felt much longer than the way up although it took an hour less.

Fabulous day.

Day 4

We broke camp early then visited a dam that was built to supply a hotel that only lasted about 10 years but has stuffed up a gorge forever.

We then took the Inarlanga trail to the Ochre Pitts.

there are some weird mistletoes

and the earth moves

cycads grow for centuries

the other Robin, Fi and Harry

Then we drove to the Finke River (oldest river to run in the same banks in the world) for a chance to get a cup of coffee or an icecream. Harry and Laurie swam in the river.

We slept at camp Fearless (named for Sue Fearless a mountaineer.)

Day 3

We walked from camp up the Serpentine George then along the ridge to Coutts Point

Janey

Fergus

the red seems to dissolve out of the rocks

Mt Sonder way in the distance

where the teeth were cleaned

Day 2

We drove to Simpson's Gap which we walked.

 Then drove to Standley Chasm. Some of us climbed up to the lookout: so worthwhile.

lots of different fuschia type flowers

We ended at Charlie's camp where we slept for 2 nights.The first night was very cold with a heavy frost. We learned to go to bed with beanies and our canvas covers zipped up.