Jade and Blade

Feb. 20 - On our way north from the glaciers, we passed through a little town called Whataroa which was advertising, on big, home-made billboards, that the local A & P Fair was on today. So of course we had to find out what this was! Turned out to be an old-fashioned country fair (Agricultural and Pastoral Fair, we discovered) with all the wonderful side-shows like throw the ball into the moving clown head to win a doll. There was the smallest (and fastest) ferris wheel I’ve ever seen and an old guy with a guitar singing things like The House of the Rising Sun and other 3-chord favourites! And of course there were animals - cows, sheep and horses. I spent quite a lot of time watching one little boy who must have been about 10 with the calf that he was showing. It was obvious that he loved that calf from the way he handled it, but then he wasn’t going to put up with any nonsense from it either! I waited until he and 3 other kids had walked their calves around the ring to be judged and - hurray! he won!! We bought some fudge and home-made jam (rather a lot - we’ll have to eat a lot of toast in the next few weeks) and John talked to the tractor guys and then on we went.
We stopped at a place called Pukekura where there is a very unusual pub which used to serve possum pie until the government told them they couldn’t sell unregulated meat (the owners of the pub are hunters). So now you can donate $4 (the price of a pie) to the local ambulance fund and they will give you a free possum pie! Luckily they were all out of possum when we were there, so we had venison instead. Possums are a real pest here (imported for sport and then went crazy) and lots of the sweaters you can buy are a mixture of merino wool and possum which makes them very soft. We saw a whole bunch more vintage cars so John was happy!
Our next stop was Hokitika which is the jade capital of the south island. It’s a bit ridiculous actually, every other store in town sells jade. Necklaces make up the huge proportion of the things for sale and some of then were quite beautiful. There are about 4 main patterns which the carvers use, most of them involving intricate twists and twirls. There were also some amazing jade carvings, but it’s a very heavy stone so we were looking for something a little more manageable! I found a really pretty piece which looks just like the sail of a sailboat so we bought that as our New Zealand “thing” to bring home. John’s contribution to Hokitika’s economy was to buy a 2-CD set of old songs - things like How Much is that Doggie in the Window and Rose Marie - so we’ve been singing loudly ever since!
Feb. 21 - Drove on up the coast to Punakaiki where the pancake rocks are (weathered limestone stacks - more later). The coast road is amazing (Lonely Planet reckons it’s one of the 10 great drives in the world). There are long stretches of beach with crashing waves and huge outcrops of rock which reminded us very much of the 12 Apostles in Australia but without all the hype and tourists. Punakaiki is tiny and we decided to nest here for a couple of days. In fact, we did absolutely nothing on Feb 22 - just read, snoozed and ate! We sat on the beach to watch the sunset (see picture). We haven’t had a row - John was trying for effect - sun setting between us!
Feb. 23 - His ‘n’ hers day. John went off to make a knife. I think he was ready to do some serious metal bashing! I went for a walk along the Porarari Gorge which is just by our campsite. Again, huge walls of rock covered with trees and ferns which somehow manage to anchor themselves to sheer rock. I kept expecting hobbits to appear from behind the rocks. It reminded me of a large sinkhole in Florida where I used to take Andy and Zoe sometimes. It was very deep and you could go all the way to the bottom where it was cool and quiet and there were enormous butterflies (do you remember?) There aren’t the butterflies here, but certainly tons of insects which click and screech as background noise. There are some birds, but the foliage is so thick that it’s hard to see them. I wondered as I walked what the difference is between tramping, hiking and walking. “Tramping” is very big here and there are tons of sports stores that must make a killing selling all the gear. Somehow in my head, tramping involves very heavy boots, a huge backpack and mud! Also I think it is mandatory for trampers to carry stout staves, have beards and wear (preferably red) flannel plaid shirts. It just sounds very serious. Hiking sounds a little lighter in tone, but still involves some strenuous activity. Walking is what I do - water bottle stuck in my pocket along with my hat and rain jacket tied round my waist.
The pancake rocks are so-called because the limestone cliffs have been weathered into the most incredible shapes, mostly looking like huge stacks of pancakes (see picture). The experts aren’t able to explain why they have done that in just this one place. There are lots of blowholes in the area, but the tide wasn’t high enough and the wind not strong enough to make them blow with any enthusiasm when we were there.
This next part is John’s!! To say that Ginnie has done a lot of research over her 2 years of planning for our trip is a tremendous understatement. One of the things she came up with was Barrytown Knifemaking. The ad said “Forge your own unique knife”. It continued “A full day activity 9:30 start finish around 4pm”
As some of you may know I do a little Blacksmithing and have tried my hand at making a knife under the tutoring of Eldon Bakke. Eldon’s course takes 2 days. Eldon was invited to come to New Zealand on a paid trip by Blacksmiths to demonstrate here. I have also attended a class on knife making put on by Murray Cook who is a very well known Bladesmith. Anyone who has knives which are highly cherished posession all over North America and abroad is not just a knife maker,he is an Artist which he is very adverse to you calling him, although he is! If you ever had a look at his shop you would know. The course Murray did was at CanIron VII and covered about 3 days.
After almost 4 months on the road with no shop or tools and only reading or Ginnie’s insistence on “walks” as diversions, I finally succumbed to her suggestion, (make that nagging), that I do something. I thought I might just drop in and see what was happening. Finally I relented and signed up for the course.
Barrytown Knifemaking is actually the home of Steven and Robyn Martin. The setup they have has produced over 2000 student made knives. If you followed what I said above you might have noted a touch of skepticism in my approach to this, “one day quickie“. There is a lot to be done in one day!
Steven who describes himself as “an escapee from the corporate world”, went way beyond my expectations. He shattered my skepticism and more. The class, max of 12, is taken from a raw rough cut piece of mild steel, brass and wood (see photo) to a finished knife of your design by 4pm. I didn’t think this would be possible. This also included a lunch break and lots of amusing, “patter”, from the instructor. The patter is describing what happens when mild steel is taken through the process of being made into a knife and other aspects of knife making at a level almost everyone can understand.
Throughout a high level of safety is stressed and followed.
Everything is provided, golves, protective shirt, safety glasses, etc.

Robyn and Steven have teamed up to provide a well oiled experience anyone can share and enjoy. When I say this I am including husbands and wives! Women are very welcome in his class and enjoy it.
Perhaps what is most amazing is that Steven is able to accomplish this process while everyone feels totally within their comfort level. He is able to step in and redirect things in an easy manner which insures a completed knife the owner (maker) will be well pleased with.
All in all, well worth the time, effort and money.
You will end up with a finished product you can be proud of.
Thank you Steven and Robyn