Changes for KIWG

This is to let you all know that from next term (term 4 2011) we will only meet twice a month, on the 1st and 3rd Fridays of the month.  We have decided to make this change due to the varying numbers which attend on Fridays - sometimes only 1 person.  

I have changed the 'Upcoming Events' on the blog http://kapitiinternationalwomen.blogspot.com so you can check there to see when we are meeting.  The buggy walks will still be the 1st Friday of the month.

We will see what attendance is like for Term 4 and then reassess what we are going to do next year.  In the back of the committee's mind though is the question of whether the group is needed in the community anymore. 

If you would like to give feedback we would be interested to hear what you have to say.

September Buggy Walk

It was a glorious spring day as we gathered at the bottom of the Raumati escarpment for our monthly buggy walk. The track to the top of the hill has been upgraded and is now wide enough for buggies, and sturdy enough for little feet. The ascent was quite steep though, and the mums with buggies had to work hard to push their way to the top. The children spotted some spring flowers, and shiny leaves on the way, and some keen eyes saw two alpacas in the distance.


We made it to the top of the escarpment, and enjoyed some beautiful views over the fields and sea to Kapiti Island, and stopped at a perfect picnic spot for some morning tea and more exploring. After the lookout point the path narrowed, we passed through a gate and the shrubs around us got denser. The sun was warm, and the trees provided some shade from the wind. It really felt like spring!


We re-traced our tracks to get back to our cars, and the descent went quickly with gravity helping pull the buggies down hill. This time on our walk you could definitely hear English (we are in NZ after all), but conversation between adults and children happened in French, German, Finnish, and Afrikaans. What a truly international buggy walk!

Crochet Night

Thanks so much to Jo for hosting us, it was a brilliant night.  After feeling so tired at home that I considered just going for an hour, at the most, we all ended up talking, laughing and crocheting for almost 4 hours.

With all hands busy - some creating hats, some flowers and others fluffing around between a few things (yes that was me) - the dessert was able to be savoured throughout the night.  Great to get to know people better while at the same time learning a skill and adding to our collection of goodies for Canterbury Neo-natal Trust.

Jo is in the process of putting some tutorials up on youtube for those you who were unable to join us.  Yumiko is also donating some more wool, thank you very much, so if you need more wool just let me know and we can arrange a drop off or meet up.

See you all next week at the buggy walk.

Yarn over and away we go

As I arrived today to the crochet workshop the hall was already buzzing with children in the crèche, woman in the kitchen sorting out morning tea and the crochet expert, 92 year old Chester, having friendly and warm conversation. New faces and others I've met before, we all brought our crochet hooks and much enthusiasm to learn to make some baby hats.

After hot drinks and something to eat we gathered around the table having a look at some examples of what we were about to make. Then it was time to watch the pro with how to make a chain, anyone who did not know how to crochet gathered behind Chester, we crowded around. There we where concentrating on the chain, the first of our crochet stitches. Soon after we broke up into smaller groups of 3. Looking around the room I could see clusters of teaching and learning and the beginnings of crochet hats! As for myself, well, I will need a bit more practice, despite the efforts of Yossarian who was teaching me.

After today I've got my head around how crochet works, now it's a matter of getting the wool around the hook and make a treble -easy right?! Others, I'm sure, in no time will have a completed hat, ready to send off to Christchurch. For those of you, Well Done! It was lovely to see everyone work together, a real feeling of community filled the room. We all left with balls of wool and a kit of patterns and how to crochet step by step, ....and talk of another crochet learn together :)

Step to it

This week is our Buggy walk which is planned for Queen Elizabeth Park on Friday however I just got an e-mail saying that Sport Wellington are having one on Thursday 4th Aug, along with free coffee (see information below).  I wondered if, just for this month, people wanted to change the day and go with the Sport Wellington one?  Can those who were intending to come on the walk let me know what they prefer: Thursday with Sport Wellington or Friday with our Group.


Next week will be the crochet workshop, to make some hats for premature babies in Christchurch, and I have already bought enough wool for all of us - I think ;)  If you could bring along your own crochet hook and any wool that you do have (4ply preferably) would be great. You will need a 3.5mm, 4mm or 4.5mm crochet hook. Second hand shops are usually a good place to get them cheap and I have a few extras. At the moment it looks like there will be 10-12 of us which means we can have wee groups of 2 or 3 to learn and work in.  Feel free to bring friends along especially if they know how to crochet - even a little.


Have a good week and see you soon

August Buggy Walk - Thursday 4th August Queen Elizabeth Park - Whareroa Stream Track
Get your friends, family or parent group together and come along to the August Buggy Walk. This will will take participants along the Whareroa Stream Track, which follows the wetlands and goes past the sand dunes. Dogs on leads welcome on this walk.

Start Time: 10.15am meet for a 10.30am start.

How to get there: Stay on SH1 through Paekakariki, enter Queen Elizabeth Park off SH1 at Mackays Crossing

Meet: Meet at the Rangers office

Track: Sand and sealed terrain, rolling terrain with a few inclines, mainly flat. 

Wonderful, windless winter days

On this windless, but crisp morning a good crowd gathered all wrapped in coats, hats and scarfs at MaClean Park for the monthly buggy walk. Yossarian opted for a mild mid-winter choice - the newly extended walkway along the beach.The 5 older kids were in the lead on their running bikes/bikes, with only a few buggies in attendance this time. The walkway is flat and easy to follow, so it made for a relaxed stroll. At the end of the path the decision was made to return via the beach.

The kids meandered and enjoyed picking up shells, stones and bits of driftwood and the mums had plenty of time to catch up. To everyone's great excitement we saw a helicopter flying out to Kapiti Island and on its return it landed on the beach. Unfortunately it flew off before the kids could reach it, still they had a great time watching and listening until it disappeared again.

On our return to the park we crossed the road and visited Ambience Cafe. Hot chocolate and muffins (and more chatting) were enjoyed by the ravenous crowd.

Thanks Yossarian for planning another enjoyable morning.

Night at the Movies

Thanks to Sally for the great talk on Denmark and the delicious pastries the other week.  I love hearing about other countries and cultures and this was no exception.  Learning things about Denmark (and other countries) that only a 'local' could tell you is the one of the best bits about our group, I think.   I learnt a bit about New Zealand too as my perceptions were completely different from how others saw it here.  Good to have your eyes opened for you once and a while. 

This week it was a night at the Movies and when they described as dry, they were not wrong.  Whiskey was an entertaining look at the duller, subtle side of life where most days are the same and not much happens!  It was a good film though and great to be in Eric's cinema again.  Great to follow up the movie with a few laughs and drinks down at the Water Front.  Hot topic of conversation being the Emperor penguin and other NZ animals ;)

If you haven't been to one of his movies you really should make the effort.  Only $5 per person and all the money goes to Air Ambulance so you can enjoy the movie knowing that you are also helping the local community.  They are fortnightly at 6 Michael Rd.