An experience all right.....

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Sunday night I stayed in Hokitika. I had booked the Just Jade Experience backpackers hostel. The idea is that you can choose a design, or have one of your own designs, made by the expert and then you do the finishing. I turned up to a completely empty house, with a sign saying "Be back tonight, grab a bed and make yourself at home". It was cool that he could just leave the entire house unlocked and open quite happily. Felt very bizarre though. I went for a walk up through the garden and found the beach, then for a walk in the town. Lovely place. Like Greymouth, it has an old (US) western look. This is Jade country, so there are loads of shops selling Jade jewellery or all sorts. I picked up a few things I like (girls (and boys?) I'll show you when I get home). Back at the hostel the guy had turned up. Seemed friendly at first, made me a coffee. I went out and got my dinner, than came back and got to work on the heart shape pendant I had chosen. He has his own garage/workshop and I got to see him get the piece of jade, cut out the shape, grind it down and fine-tune it. It was when were chatting over the jade that I started to get the measure of the bloke. What I thought at first was a bit of innuendo and perhaps a more liberal attitude towards conversation than us Europeans, soon turned out to be just downright crude and obscene. A German girl stayed there that night too and commented on how sexual his conversations were. Made me uncomfortable and I really didn't like him at all. Anyhow. I spent the ENTIRE evening hand polishing the jade. This started out on the beach and watching the sunset, whilst sharing a beer with the guy and the German girl. Then when it got too cold we moved into the hostel where there was a coal stove fire to warm us. I eventually finished polishing about midnight and finally escaped the guy and went to bed. Bed wasn't best comfortable, but I slept. I couldn't wait to leave the next morning. The guy buffed the pendant and even when he was putting the twine on it and still talking about sex I just thought "hurry up" and rushed him along. He was a craftsman, very arty, which was obvious in the hostel, but he made my skin crawl! Still, I have a lovely unique jade pendant now 😊 And I got a little red in the face and on the nose from the sun. It's true what they say, you do need to wear the sun cream even when it's not very warm!

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Photos

Sanding my pendant
It took hours to sand this down. My arm hurt at the end (no jokes, thank you). This was Hokitika beach.

Sunset
Sunset at Hokitika

Comments

[Mike]

Scary bloke, dog?
That bloke really did sound a bit dodgy, lucky someone else turned up. Dog looks nice, what is it's name?