March 21, 2016 Rest day Hokitika

It was a rest day today so we didn’t have to jump out of bed early and pull on all the riding gear.  Make decisions on too many clothes, not enough, leg warmers, arm warmers, vest or no, vest rain coat or not etc. etc.  Instead I rolled over and turned the electric bed warmer up.  Bed warmers here in New Zealand are the real deal.  They don’t have any central heating so they have these electric mattress heating pads which are so nice to cuddle into. 

Tom had volunteered to make breakfast so he cooked bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast which were absolutely wonderful.  After several cups of coffee and lots of toast we headed downtown to the jade shop.

Agnes wanted to find a pair of ear rings to match her jade piece she bought the other day. Tom and Amy also wanted to buy some jade pieces.  Mark the jade carver was in working today and gave us a tour of his shop.  It was very interesting seeing all the different saws, polishers and carving tools he uses to make the jewelry.   Most of the tools are very basic but it takes a lot of skill and artistic ability to make such beautiful jewelry.  Looking at the raw jade was also very interesting as it looks like ordinary rocks before it is worked. It is really nice to find some genuine articles and not something made in China.

After the jade shop Agnes and Amy headed off to the hair dresser and Tom, Jos and I went to the local museum.  There is a lot of history here in Hokitika as it was the epicenter of the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860-1880’s.  There were pictures of hundreds of sailing ships in the harbor unloading men and equipment.  After the gold rush was over the industry turned to Whitebait (Whitebait is a tiny little fish like a sardine) fishing, logging and finally agriculture.  Agriculture and tourism are now the main industries. 

I cooked chicken on the grill for supper and after supper the neighbor cat jumped on the grill to clean it off.  

Tomorrow we are riding up to Charleston which is on the coast.  I don’t think there is much there as the motel where we are staying, phoned to say the only café in town will be closed for the day. 

Terry