Carve your own piece

"I made a stone for my daughter, which given my limited creative skills is no small feat. Stephan helped me quite a bit along the way and Steve (the owner) was there to cap off a great experience. Steve is the nicest guy you'll meet. The conversation and smiles were great and the fact that he decided to treat all his customers and employees to some beers and snacks at closing time made it all the more great. An unexpected gem that really helped turned my crappy day around! (my Franz Joseph hike had been cancelled that morning). Thanks Steve!"

It was rainy in Hokitika, so I decided to come to Bonz 'N Stonz and do a jade-carving workshop. It was definitely a day well spent! I got to design my own jade pendant, pick out my specific stone from locally-sourced jade, and then carve and polish my own jade. The staff there is really friendly and provides a ton of guidance, while also giving you plenty of hands-on time working with your piece. I came out of this experience with a beautiful jade pendant necklace and a wonderful memory of a day well spent.

"I stumbled upon this place by complete accident while waiting for another activity. I had a day to kill and I'm so grateful for this find! In a place filled with jade stores this offers a serious point of difference; carve your own! And I did exactly that! With help from the friendly crew I used their machines and buffers and tools to create a pendant of my own design (with local influences) I was told that my design was by no means "easy" but with direction & help I was able to make it a reality! Such a highlight for my trip to NZ and a souvenir I can keep forever! This should be a must do on everyone's NZ travels. Set aside a day & open your mind to learning - you never know what you might achieve! Made some great friends along the way! Was a great time filler before my knife making class down the road at Barrytown Knifemaking. Love the west coast! (West coast best coast) highly recommend- Steve and his crew are amazing & helpful! Enjoyed thoroughly!"

"We were two Kiwis over from Christchurch for the day. We wanted our own pounamu pendants and as Hokitika is the source of the stone it seemed the place to buy. We didn’t want cheap, machine processed pieces of Chinese jade like some souvenir stores sell, so we came to Bonz n Stonz and hoped we might be able to carve something more personal to us. It turned out to be a great decision. Steve and Katene were brilliant and you will get a good genuine Kiwi welcome (thanks Steve for the excellent fruit cake ) at Bonz n Stonz. Their relaxed and friendly style is just right. They talked us through every step from concept, design, cutting, carving, and polishing. The end result after four hours was two nicely finished pendants from a piece of local pounamu that look really great and have real meaning for us. We already plan a return visit to make something to give to friends. Don’t be scared to try it. Neither of us is particularly artsy or handy with tools but Katene was very patient and good at helping and advising to get a good result. I would rate today’s carving session at Bonz n Stonz as the best activity I’ve done in my travels anywhere. I’d highly recommend it to any visitor from overseas or Kiwi locals."

"My adult son and myself recently had a very good experience here. I carved a pounamu and my son carved a bone. It was thoroughly enjoyable and we both felt it was good value for money. Highly recommended for an activity for the west coast especially for a wet day!"