Reservations 877·97·CRAFT  (877·972·7238)

14-Day ~ Australia & New Zealand Knitting Cruise (Oct 2018)

Holland America Line


Start Date:

   

October 25, 2018

   

End Date:

   

November 8, 2018

Australia & New Zealand Knitting Cruise (Oct 2018) ~ Knitting Cruises Description

14-Day Australia and New Zealand Knitting Cruise w/ Anne Berk

 

Join Craft Cruises and Anne Berk on a knitting cruise adventure Downunder! Cruise from Sydney to Auckland visiting some of the most popular ports including Melbourne, Hobart, Fiordland National Park, Dunedin, Akaroa (Christchurch), Picton, Wellington, Napier and Tauranga (Rotorua).  Cruise from the stunning port of Sydney to Melbourne and Tasmania before heading to New Zealand.  With so much to see, New Zealand is best seen from a cruise ship since you only need to unpack and pack once. Explore Sydney and its surrounding areas including the stunning Blue Mountains, sample local wines, and shop at Sydney's newest yarn shop, Skein Sisters.  Visit the National Wool Museum and a working sheep farm just outside of Melbourne and explore Tasmania, one of the hardest destinations to reach within Australia.  Australia and New Zealand offer an amazing and welcoming mixture of cultures, cuisines and people making it one of our most popular knitting trips.

 

In addition to the action-packed fiber-adventures ashore Anne Berk will be teaching an onboard knitting program designed especially for this itinerary.  On this cruise, you will learn how to knit intarsia flat or in the round with the queen of Annetarsia as well as how to knit argyle socks, block and care for hand-knits, create perfect edgings, necklines and collars, get the right gauge and make finishing fun.

 

2018 Australia & New Zealand Knitting Cruise - Highlights

 

  • Visit Jane Slicer-Smith's studio where you'll enjoy a trunk show of Jane's popular knitwear designs

  • Have breakfast with koalas at the Featherdale Wildlife Park on a Blue Mountain adventure just outside of Sydney

  • Visit the National Wool Museum in Geelong where you'll also have the chance to shop for locally produced yarns

  • Learn all about sheep farming in the Outback at the Tarndie Homestead working sheep farm

  • Enjoy a farm-fresh lunch of rustic pies made with lamb and sweet potato and fresh baked scones topped with clotted cream and homemade jam

  • Take a Hobart yarn crawl featuring shops specializing in locally dyed yarn, hear a talk on local sheep and take a tour giving an overview of the Hobart area

  • Meet the friendliest fiber artists in Australia in Hobart while shopping for Tasmanian wool

  • Food lovers can delight in cool-climate wines, handmade cheeses and the freshest seafood in the world in Tasmania

  • Experience dense rainforest, crystal clear waters, towering peaks, wilderness scenery and marine wildlife in Fiordland National Park

  • Visit the Larnach Castle on your way to the Albatross Visitor Center and Penguin Beach outside of Dunedin

  • Take an entertaining and informative tour of the Speight's Brewery in Dunedin

  • Indulge your senses in taste, sight and smell at Cadbury World while touring the Dunedin Cadbury chocolate factory

  • Spend the day at the Ashford Wheels & Looms with a tour of the mill and factory plus yarn shopping at the Ashford Craft Village

  • Visit the Stransborough Mill & Gallery in Petone and learn how a tiny sheep station evolved into one of the top fiber producers for such famous movies as 'Lord of the Rings', 'Narnia' and 'The Hobbit'

  • Shop for Knitsch Yarns made out of 100% New Zealand Merino and the luxurious Spinning a Yarn hand-dyed yarns at Hollande Road in Wellington

  • Visit Te Papa Museum, New Zealand's best museum, featuring Māori artifacts, the National Art Collection and the Earthquake House where you can literally feel the earth move

  • In Rotorua go to the Agrodome, a working farm, where visitors learn about New Zealand's 19 sheep breeds while watching shearing, carding and herding demonstrations

  • Experience New Zealand's geothermal attractions and the indigenous Maori culture at Whakarewarewa where visitors learn about local arts and crafts at the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute

  • Extend your stay in Auckland to visit Gumtree Gully Alpacas located on the Matakana Coast famous for its stunning beaches, artist communities, wineries and markets

  • Take a walk on one of New Zealand's wild black-sand beaches fringed by rainforest and the Waitakere Ranges where the surf of the Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea collide