Paua shell Zane gave us - note the size against the satellite remote control!
We had the best nights sleep last night with flat seas, the rain had eased and we were seeing patches of blue sky. We had a cooked breakfast of Mushrooms, eggs with bacon (for me - not Jo). After breakfast and a tidy up on board we decided to take the boat for a cruise around to Halfmoon Bay. Not having done a fast cruise for a while, we cruised around at 18 knots. We found a spot to anchor between the ‘no anchor zone’ and the beach, so we first dropped anchor then the tender to get to shore.
We dragged the dinghy ashore above the high tide mark, first going to ‘the craypot’ (South Sea Hotel) for coffee before going to check out the Information Centre once more. As we passed the Stewart Island scenic fightsbus depot we bumped into Arkwright who was heading into the post office there. We stopped and chatted a while following on from our first meeting in the Pub. He was his usual fun and chatty self, we felt like a couple of locals in the community now - we were accepted warmly by all our past acquaintances! It felt really good! Outside the Four Square we bumped into Zane our helicopter pilot who we spent a few hours with on Sunday. We also had a long chat outside, I think the locals enjoy chatting with new comers to the Island as much as we do with them. We saw his newly purchased home on the slopes of Halfmoon Bay, it looked like a great house in a great spot - all day sun (when the sun comes out) it was also sheltered from the prevailing winds. Add $1M -$1.5M for an Auckland price! Apparently there are sections available in a long since completed sub-division (roads in sewerage and storm water connections completed. These have the same fabulous views as those of Zane - asking price around $250k.
We went to the theatre to check out the next screening which is to be on Saturday. This is a short film on Stewart Island, it seems it is well worth a watch, judging by the reviews.
We went to the museum and spent an hour or so there (it is very small) but lots of photos of interest and artefacts showing the industry of sawmilling timber. Stewart Island was a destination for the whalers to visit while working the southern oceans. There was never an actual whaling industry here. The museum highlighted the early settlers of the Island, particularly the personalities who forged new lives here. The school teachers, the church leaders, the business people, both men and women. There names often seen around the Island with streets and bays named after these settlers.
We both loved the colours in this jade Paua shell hand carved by Dave Goodin
Once we departed the Museum we made our way to Rakiura Jade where we met Dave and Bean who carved and created from Whalebone, Jade, Timber and Oamaru Stone. They were a very talented duo who had created some amazing pieces. We stayed there for some time and had a great chat about their work. Dave had worked for Weka Workshops on the sets for movies such as King Kong. He had crafted the trees used for the movie complete with joints for the branches to allow what would appear like natural movement when shaken. Apparently nothing was greater than 3M high!!! we purchased a small Jade Paua shell he had made from stone which had iron coloured inclusions giving it beautiful transparent colours, especially if put anywhere near the light. On leaving Rakiura Jade we returned to H3 with the dinghy. We had decided to stay here for the night to have easy access to road in the morning as we were going to take the Brompton bikes for a ride out to the lighthouse visiting an old stone home on the way. The bromptons will get some strange looks for sure. They probably wont have seen any of them around here!
We cooked another Blue Cod dinner with a yummy salad. Blue Cod lightly dusted with flour and pan fried is amazing! We watched another movie and then Jo got into another book while I caught up with my blog. All in all a good day. I have set up the night rope to soften the impact of the wind and keep the chain quiet as the boat swings in the wind out there tonight. The rain seems to have set in for the evening. Sadly the forecast is no better for the next three days.