Last time I wrote I had visions of mattress monster rodents in my head and was off to take a break from WWOOFing. Boy, did I ever make the right choice!!
Marty and his wife had offered me the spare room in the main house. I came very close to taking it, but just didn’t really want to. As much as I felt bad leaving them, I really was ready to go. Marty completely understood and gave me an open door invitation to come back anytime. I spent the morning prepping the shop (sweeping, checking fruit, etc) and then helping Marty wash oranges. Exactly a week before, I had met Marty to wash oranges and sort into good, bad, and juicing oranges. How funny that I was ending my stay exactly as I had started – and I wasn’t a bit faster at my sorting! After leaving Kerikeri organics, I dropped Thomas, the Frenchman, at his friends house in Paihia. It was slightly out of my way, but I enjoyed talking and laughing with him – particularly over the morning’s adventures.
After leaving Thomas I headed back the way I came, with Hokianga Harbor as my vague destination. As I drove, the weather went from blue skies and sun to its 3rd hard shower of the day. I still felt a bit guilty for ditching Marty and was starting to get a little lonely. I had really enjoyed sharing work and cabin life with Shin and Thomas and I was going to miss that camaraderie. As Marty said “everything’s okay as long as all the workers agree the boss is a bastard”! We didn’t think this off him, but we had our friendly gripes. I was also thinking about my family as I drove. They were probably well into their BBQ with my cousins and having a great 4th of July. I decided to turn on my phone (which had been off to save batteries) and text my sister. I would tell her to check my blog so everyone could have a good laugh at my morning. When I turned on my phone, I was told I had a voice mail. It was my dad. I bit the bullet, and opted for calling them (expensively) from my mobile, rather than calling very late (but cheap) from a hostel. I am SO VERY GLAD that I did. I talked to everyone (though my sister hadn’t yet arrived). It was really nice to hear everyone’s voices and chat for a bit. My prepaid minutes gave out eventually, but I had already made the full rounds. I drove west with a smile on my face.
Having slept for only 3 hours that night, I opted to drive straight to a hostel and forgo getting caught in the rain on a forest trail. The first hostel I pulled into (with great views of the harbor) had a “no vacancy” sign. :( So, I kept going south. What looked like, on the map, a good ½ hour drive to the next town turned into a 5 minutes. Soon I was at the next hostel. No signs, plenty of parking. The guy was super nice and laid back; showed me around the place, gave me options of beds, and told me there was plenty of room if I decided to stay longer. I loved the place, Globetrekkers Lodge, as soon as I arrived – granted I wouldn’t be using he hammocks or sitting on the picnic table, but it was clean and WARM. I fell in love with the town too, just driving in. Omapere is such a small town, just off the beach in front of the mouth of the harbor. It just dares you to try not to relax. There are no chain grocery stores around, and the only ATM in town doesn’t yet take my banks card (it’s a trial machine!). Fortunately, I can get a cash advance at the small food store.
My first night in Omapere, I walked from the hostel into town. I found the gas station and the wharf with a great view of South head (on the right (south)of the harbor entrance) and the sand dunes of North Head (on the left (north) side of the harbor entrance). The sand dunes are really funny. After spending so much time in the green mountains and valleys of New Zealand, it is so bizarre to see these large hills of BROWN! The color reminds me of Idaho! I had seen the dunes of Cape Reinga, but I was on them at the time. It is very different to see the dunes from across the water. I walked back up to the hostel and called my family again. I remember feeling like I really need to get hold of them when I was on the beach, but when I was calling I couldn’t remember what it was I had to say. I got the answering machine, so tried again. When I got the machine again I left a message. I wasn’t disappointed though. I really couldn’t remember what I so very much needed to tell them. At least with a message they knew I had driven safely through the various storms and found a good place to stay.
I walked back down to the harbor and watched the sunset. Nothing spectacular, big black clouds to the south east, big white clouds with some gold lining to the north west, the sun getting ready to set behind the dunes the dunes. Back at the hostel I had a PBJ sandwich and killed some time. A little after 7, I walked back to town to the Copthorne hotel (looks pretty swanky – great place for a summer beach holiday). I ordered a beer and some dinner in the pub and settled in to watch the All Blacks play South Africa. The pub wasn’t as full as I expected, and the people weren’t as loud as I thought they would be – but everyone there was definitely into the game, with collective groans and cheers and the occasional shouts of “come on ref”. I talked with an old NZ marine merchant for the first part of the game (he left after the half time) and got a few clues on who was being penalized for what. After the game, I went home and slept very hard.
I had set my alarm for 8, to be sure I didn’t get a late start to my morning – I had a 9am pick up. I woke up before my alarm (which I always appreciate – alarms are horrid things). Charlotte arrived right on time to take me, and a German couple, to her house to meet her husband. He is a local Maori carver and we were going to spend the day making our own bone carvings!! It was one of the best days I’ve had here in NZ! While I had briefly seen the flyer on the wall of the hostel, it was talking with a girl that was wearing her carving that sold me on the idea. I wanted to wear something so cool too! So, the hour and half between sunset and rugby I doodled. I am a terrible artist, so most of my drawings consisted of spirals or flowers. I attempted to do the turtle that I have on my back – it came out alright, but really, I don’t need to wear an image that I already have permanently etched on my body – even if it is pretty cool. I considered carving something for Kristi – a cat or even the turtle. I came up with a couple of symbolic doodles representing family. I tried to decide if I was going to gift this carving or wear it myself. I decided I’d probably wear it for while and then give it away.
When we met James we were all anxious about our ideas and how they would actually come out in bone – and if we could really make them look professional. I showed him my ideas and pointed to one that had a flower and a bunch of curlicue spirals. James said it would make a great piece. He then told me to think about the size I wanted. The German couple showed their ideas. They were great. So well drawn, pieces that were more iconic of NZ – a kiwi bird, the figure 8 (can’t remember the Maori term), etc. I felt kind of bad about my skills. Nina, told James she was thinking about the figure 8 carving. He told her he hated to see people do something that could be purchased at a souvenir shop. So, he suggested adding a couple of details to make it uniquely hers. Since the figure 8 represents life – it’s continuation and constant upsides and downsides – he suggested adding a couple of dashes to represent her parents (as she is an only child). She also added the iconic NZ silverfern leaf.
When James turned his attention back to me and the question of size I had already started to reconsider my carving. I wanted something symbolic too. I was looking at my family of curlicues. Again, he asked about size. When I told him I had no idea, he asked who it was for – myself or a gift. I told him my idea of wearing it until my decision. He told me that in Maori culture bone carvings are highly regarded as heirlooms. A piece will be carved, worn, and then passed down in the family. After being worn against the skin (even for a short period, but especially over the long term) the bone absorbs the oils of the wearer. The color changes as to oil seeps into the pores. So when it is passed down to the next generation, the previous generations spirit is passed down too!!!
Well, that did it. I was making a piece for my dad! I had never heard of that tradition and it just hits me in the heart to think about. James said that very few people have heard about it, it is one of the reasons why bone carvings are so highly regarded by Maoris.
The whole process, from choosing the bone the piece would come from to polishing the finished product, was done by me in one day! It was an amazing experience. I used a dremel to cut the piece out of the bone and smooth it down to a consistent thickness. Sandpaper was used for the initial smoothing and then the design was drawn on the piece using pencil (though I actually did this step before cutting my pendant out! – I had to be careful not to rub the design out during the above work, and obviously I didn’t sand that surface either). Then we used the dremel to cut the design (after which I sanded the surface). The only part of the process James did for us was to fill in the design with his super secret inlay powder. He uses superglue and shavings to give the design a beautiful gold filling. Then I got to use a file to scrape/sand the superglue off. Wow, that was a long process. After a couple more fillings of powder (which was way easier to file off than the initial filling) I was ready to polish my pendant. Using water and super fine sandpaper, I rubbed the piece to a shine. Using a rag with silver polish on it (which had to dry for a day and be shaken out to remove grit that would actually scratch the piece) I rubbed my final piece to a glow! I must say – I was REALLY impressed. It definitely has its flaws, but considering I MADE it – it’s pretty darn good? What do you think?
The designs represent dad and mom - creating the figure 8 of life with each other and giving life to my sister and I. The design is close to, but also quite different, than my original design. So, do I need to make one for mom now? I actually came up with a design I like for her (last night), but I’m afraid it would be too long to be worn by a woman. I’m also not sure that she would want to wear it all the time – though I don’t expect dad to wear his ALL the time either, but I hope he likes it enough to wear it a lot. I figure Kristi will just have to come over and make her own! The other conflict I have, is the sign posted on the walk I was on today use a similar design – two curlicues creating a figure 8. While I know that I didn’t copy their design and they didn’t copy mine, it makes me want to come up with something more original. What else would one use to symbolize life? I would love to talk with Kristi about it – man, she would make some great pieces with her artistic talent!
The whole day was just fantastic. We worked in James and Charlotte’s home. Charlotte made a fantastic chicken pie for lunch. James’ mum was up from Auckland for a visit. We chatted, laughed, and watched rugby (followed by the national geographic channel) while we worked. It was fun. All of our pieces came out well: Nina’s silverfern figure 8 looked perfect for her and Mike’s kiwi bird as so realistic. Nina and Mike had a camera, so we all took pictures throughout the day. I am very grateful for them sharing their pictures with me – I have wonderful pictures of the entire process!!
Tonight – in just an hour, I will continue my native experience with a night time walk through the Kauri forest! A maori guide will take us to the largest living Kauri tree (Tane Mahuta) and tell us stories and legends from the culture. I’m pretty excited about it. While I’ve already heard a kiwi bird, I haven’t been outside when hearing it. It is highly unlikely, but somewhat possible, that I’ll see a kiwi bird. Those things are so darn elusive! Most New Zealanders I’ve talked with have only seen one in captivity!
As for today – I spent the morning writing half this blog, then I chatted with people until they went to their bone carving day (I look forward to seeing how their ideas came out). I then took my car and backtracked a bit and went to Wairere boulders. It’s private land where massive boulders have fallen into a gully. These boulders are unique in that they have been “fluted” (rutted) by acidic rains from long long long ago (the acid coming from the kauri leaves). It cost some money, but $10 was well worth the walk this couple have created. It was so fun walking under and between massive rocks. It’s the first time I’ve really missed my camera. However - being the well loved, and lucky, gal I am – I do actually have a second camera! My friend Dave, of Robin fame, gave me his underwater/land camera during my last visit to WA!! I expected to use it during my dives/snorkels, but I hadn’t really planned to do much land photography with it – but, I pulled it out more than a couple of times today. Although, now I have to wait until I finish the roll so I can develop it. I’m so used to instant gratification of digital!!! I want to see how my timed self-portraits came out!!!
right now - I am staying with a couple in Whangarai (I'm sitting here on a full belly with a glass of wine, a cup of hot chocolate, and a hunk of chocolate bar! Life isn't to bad!). Hopefully I will arrange diving tomorrow!! Barring in complications with my ear canals (from the cold I am recovering from). Spent last night looking for Kiwi in the dark - no luck, but lots of fun.
1 comment:
Your carving is incredible! What a great souvenir.
Post a Comment