Heading North

An artisan working the jade.

Some of the Pancake rocks

A NZ fur seal

She does get around doesn't she.

Lonely Planet gave us our agenda for today.  Our first stop, was in the town of Hokitika, where most businesses are involved with the arts of blowing glass, stone carving, or jewelry making.


It is from the river bottom that people use to get jade by the truck load.  Now it is only available to the Maori people.  We watched the intricate process of carving the pieces with electric dental tools, water attached, then sanding and buffing.  Their designs are formed from the Maori legends.  Punakaki is home to The Pancake Rocks and Blowholes.  It was a short walk out to the beach where the face of the rocks appeared to be piles of thin pancakes, perhaps crepes, stacked on top of each other.  The rocks were very tall and rugged, but all had the same characteristic stack of pancakes look to them. Knowing we were going to see a blowhole, I kept imagining the one at Depot Bay, on the Oregon Coast, where when it blows, the water sprays over the sidewalk and part of the street.  This path, took us past many strong surges of the ocean, and one blowhole, where Steve's patience payed off, and gained him a picture of the spray.