We were moving accommodation, just a few streets away to the airbnb originally booked but not until 1pm. Everything went in the car and we were back to carving jade.
Once all the excess jade was removed there was a whole system of different grades of sandpaper to go through and then a polishing machine. Then each piece was oiled and we chose the colour of cord it would hang on.
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| Almost finished removing jade around the fern fronds ( kuru) |
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| 3 different grades on outside curves |
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| Polishing |
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| Different machine also for fine finishing |
Jono finished way before I did. It was past 1 o clock before mine was ready and I could easily have spent another couple of hours on it, I know where the mistakes are!
We dropped off our stuff at the new place, grabbed a hasty sandwich and put some washing on and then drove off to find the Hokitika Gorge. This is quite a way from the town, about 40 minutes of driving but it was worth it. There's a small car park and overflow car park both of which were very busy. We found a corner to tuck in to and set out on the short walk. It's billed as a 30 minute round trip and I'm not sure it even takes that long but you need plenty of time to take photos.
It's just a 4 minute stroll to a viewing platform looking over the gorge with surreal milky blue water.
The path leads on through tree ferns and native podocarp forest to a swing bridge another 6 minutes further on.- no more than 6 people at a time allowed on the bridge.
Great views from the swing bridge, we could see people on the rock which was our destination. Another 5 minutes through the forest again to reach the rock which had clear warnings that your safety and that of your family were in your hands.
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| Still love seeing tree ferns |
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| No handrails or roped off areas; you are expected to take responsibility for yourself. |
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| This boy did not want to obey his parents who were frantically trying to get him to return to the shore. |
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| Looking towards the swingbridge |
The water was icy cold and it got deep very fast. The pictures don't show it but the water was moving very fast and it would be easy to be swept downstream. It didn't stop one intrepid family from jumping off the rocks into the water though!
Walking back we bumped into the German couple who had been carving jade at the same time as us. We had a mutual admiring session of our finished works of art!
Driving back to town we took a detour past the northern end of Lake Karriere. This meant driving on an unsealed gravel road (again) to get to the Dorothy falls. Our car insurance says we shouldn't do this but a lot of interesting things here are on gravel roads! The falls are just a few metres from the road and easy to get to.
Herw we met another couple out sightseeing. They worked in the wine industry in Blenheim and were down for the weekend. We did some mutual photo taking.there was another walk leading off the clearing down to the lake. It was only 5 minutes but it lead through very mossy greenery to the lakeside, the forest and air were very damp.
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| At the lake |
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| One last view of the waterfall from the road bridge |
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