One for the boys

This was one of those "Ice Cold In Alex" moments. Like a man coming in from the desert I turned the corner in the supermarket and lo n behold, a vision appeared before me. My eyes flitted from label to label , blimey makes you proud to be English.

Like a fine summer rain after a drought, cheers lads :)

Weta

Well I could not wait to visit the Weta Cave in Wellington. We couldn't tour the workshops for legal reasons. New films are being created there all the time and the producers like to keep everything under wraps. Instead they created the Weta Cave with stuff we can see and explained how the whole thing came together. Just brilliant, so good I went twice !

For those who don't know - Weta Caves is the Lord of the Rings studio.

Me and my mate Alan, only jokin buddy I know you don't eat raw fish :) Anyways I've got some new Manuka honey moisturiser for you to try; good for the complexion !!:)

This is my other buddy Graham apparently he just fitted a boiler for someone and they had the temerity to say he was a messy worker, no patience whatsoever bud.

Ay Ay Cap'n

This is the Bluebridge ferry trip from the South island to the North island. It goes through the Marlborough Sounds with some stunning scenery and flat, calm water.....

then it gets closer to the open sea of the Cook Strait and the forecast was not too rosy.....

so the waves started crashing and the ferry started rolling.....

and Jonny started turning white and then green which was a real shame as we had been invited up to the bridge by the Captain. We met Peter (a real nice Kiwi chap) on a bus in India heading to Nepal. We'd hoped to visit him in Nelson where he lives but his shift pattern meant he was at sea so we caught up with him on the ferry instead.

It was great as he explained all the equipment to us.

and I loved it when I got the chance to steer the ferry.

Nelson and Picton

Here's a picture of a nice car for Gray. You won't find this one on Forza 2 bud.

Gorgeous scenery enjoyed best with a brew.

Another pukka campsite for the night.

Cold weather and beardy Miners

Climbing out of the van on a cold frosty morning we were heading to a mining town called Reefton. Wanted to meet a pair of crusty old chaps, self styled as "The Hairy Miners" they were hairy alright, looked like the pair of them hadn't seen a bath for months :)

We found them in their road side shack. If you all got on like best buddies you could make a donation in their box. It wasn't long before I had cracked the proverbial ice and they were singing like birds :) Showed them the knife I made in Barrytown and that was it. Here my new buddy is showing me his collection of rocks and gems

Warming my hands it was bloody freezing

Even managed to get a smile, almost as elusive as the gold in the river. They were great and knew a thing or two about gold mining, guess they just lucked out on the Mother Lode :) Still I dobbed them $20 for their time.

Knife Making in Barrytown

This has got to be one of the best days out ever, making your own knife from scratch. Diane went off to Greymouth and left me to it. The Host for the day was knife maker Steve. He was a funny guy. Hobbling with Arthritis, clearly in pain but god he had a joke for everything. I had tears rolling down my cheeks within 10 minutes of being there. Well this was the real deal. Start with a piece of mild steel, a roaring fire and some good instruction and you would be amazed at the result.





Steve wielding the hammer and giving us a demo

Shot of the Anvil and forge. We each had our own anvil and all the gear.

Starting to take shape, apparently the heating and hammering puts carbon into the metal and the quenching in coolant hardens the blade. I just loved it.

Once the basic shape is achieved different grades of abrasive are used to hone and polish the blade

Brass and wooden handle being cut and riveted into place

Handle in place ready to be shaped on the belt sanders

Bit more shaping on the belts

Applying resin around the joints, thats mine with J.P on it; strange that!

Not bad heh

Finished by hand polishing and waxing the handle

Good work fellas

Pancake Rocks and seals

Nice sunset heading up the west coast towards Westport. Really nice ride through pretty much a wilderness road for a couple of hundred K's.

An interesting formation of sedimentary limestone forms the pancake rocks. The layering process is not fully understood but the result is a really interesting bit of coastline.

Yes very pancake like i must say !

Seal colony at a place called "Cape Foulwind" I'm not sure whether it's the weather or the seals that are blowing the foul wind or both :)

Not too far from home !

Getting ready for another night camped by the sea