Trip North part 6

In Whitianga we went to bone carving place were we were able to carve our own necklaces. This filled up our morning as it took about three hours to finish one necklace pendant. Each necklace started out with a flat slice of bone on which we copied a Maori design of our choice. Then with a tool like a dentist drill we shaved off the excess. The next step was sanding to give the edges a smoother look and feel. There were three stages of sanding from coarser to smoother. After sanding we polished the bone with a piece of cloth. We were all quite happy with how our necklaces turned out. We then hit the road again. We hoped to stop at Cathedral Cove and make our way the down the rest of the Peninsula and back to Thames to pick up our car—with a newly built alternator. Outside of Hahei the town closest to Cathedral Cove Glenn said I think there maybe something wrong with the car, as it started to make a fun sound. We pulled over to the side of the road and popped the hood. The oil was low and it seemed the coolant was low as well. Instead of flagging down cars this time we thought we could make it to the nearest town Hahei. The car coasted into the first petrol station we saw. The guys there were not mechanics but thought it could have blown a head gasket. Again we called AA our car was ready and running so the AA guy, Frank said he would come get the rental car and bring us our car. It would take about an hour and a half. As we waited we went down and explored Hahei beach, and this was beautiful. The sand was pink from shells that had been tumbled by the ocean waves and the water was a turquoise blue that I had only seen in pictures. After playing on a rope swing and soaking our toes in the water we headed back to the car for lunch. Just as we arrived back to the car Frank drove up with our car on the back of his tow truck. We paid him for the work and said our goodbyes to the old rental car.


Beach at Hahei pink and blue.