It looked as though it was going to be a lovely sunny day as we packed our gear into the car in the Franz Josef carpark. Snowy mountains intermittently broke through the cloud which was changing from grey to white and beginning to lift.
After a couple of damp days, this is how we began 'Bonus week' which came into being because of our initial miscalculations of the itinery on the New Zealand leg of the trip. We soon left Franz Josef behind and sped up the coast to Hokitika - the Greenstone capital of the west coast. Many years ago, the Mauris would make special expiditions into the region as they knew it was plentiful in Nephrite Jade, known as Pounamu, which they used for tools, jewellery and weapons.
The Bonus week allowed a single day in Hokitika and we planned to stay with Gordon, The Mad Kiwi, and his wife at the Just Jade experience backpackers so that we'd get to craft our own pendants. When I'd originally phoned, Gordon informed me that he worked to a sliding timescale where everything happened on an as and when basis. True to his word, we found that we wouldn't be able to start working on our pieces until 'around' lunchtime!
Not wanting to hang around, we went into town and had a stroll on the beach which resembled a huge sculpture park. The beach was composed of large, rounded pebbles and dotted around were giant pieces of driftwood, their smooth and twisted forms arranged by persons unknown into strange, skeletal shapes. A small, unattended campfire gave the impression that a lone, beach dwelling artist had gone beachcombing and would soon return to create another statue. We scanned the beach too, alert for interesting stones. I came across a fist sized piece that looked like hardened washing up liquid which had crystalised at the edges. It looked interesting so Alex bagged it and we set off back to the backpackers, eager to start work.
Gordon had other plans. The sliding timescale had slipped and we sat around reading magazines waiting for the master's call.
The call duely came around 3pm, about five hours later than expected and we were disappointed to find that we'd only be responsible for the the initial design and final sanding, not the entire process as we'd envisaged. Alex was so miffed that she decided not to continue. I carried on and presented my drawing to Gordn who quickly crafted a neatly cut piece, ready for sanding - by hand.
Working through half a dozen grades of emery cloth, the stone eventually became smooth as glass and after a steady five hours of constant rubbing (no tittering at the back!), all that was required was a final buffing and the addition of a cord.
To while away the hours and get a little more involved with the small group that sat around furiously polishing, Alex started to work the piece of stone we'd found on the beach. Gordon came in and nabbed her and we thought we were for the high jump for using the precious emery cloth on a worthless rock. He eyed it suspiciously. 'Gimme that a second' he said, and enquired, 'Where did you get this?'. We told him that we'd found it on the beach and he said 'Good on ya, that's a piece of Hokitika Jade' - result!
After we'd said our goodbyes to everyone at the backpackers, which we'd enjoyed despite not being able to totally create our own pieces, we backtracked down the road for an hour - to check out a giant sandfly we'd seen on the road from Franz Josef.
Hanging outside the store opposite the Puke Pub (really), was an enormous fibreglass sandfly, one bite from this sucker and you'd look like an albino raisin in a second! For Alex, the hour's drive was well worth it for the photo. Apparently, a lot of people thought the same as no sooner had we arrived than three tourist packed coaches arrived - amazing!
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