Watch Out! They're Sharp!

Another Day on the West Coast!

And it was Knife-Making Day!!!

But first: Pancake Rocks:

Just on the coastline, there is a spot where the water surges in between a bunch of cliffs, and those cliff are made of rocks that look like layers and layers of pancakes stacked on top of eachother. 

See the Layers?

It was a pretty cool spot

Erin checking out the place.

Those waves were really large. The scale doesn't translate well here.

More Pancake Rocks

This was cool and all, but our focus was elsewhere. We had knives to make!!!!

A quick trip down the road brough us to Barrytown Knifemaking, and the fun began.

First you put your steel strip in the forge.

Then you pound out the steel to the right thickness.

Saw off the excess handle.

Then you apply some brass for the handle.

And then your knife will look like this beautiful masterpiece:

After fashioning a handle out of Rimu wood for the rough handle, the knives were looking kind of like Lego knives:

Then you sculpt the handle a bit on the sanders:

And then it's time to take a little break, because your knife is really taking shape.

So as if the day weren't exciting enough already with all the knife-making going on, they had ninja stars and hatchets to throw at that wall!

Of course, everyone was really good at this..... NOT. we picked up more of them off the ground than out of the wall.  But we all did improve throughout the day. It was pretty satisfying to sink those ninja stars in there, imagining being in a crazy action movie.

Additionally, they had a really fun parrot to play with:

After applying other poxies, and a lot more handle-shaping, it was time for lunch, then a quick tour of the farm, complete with miniature-horse accompaniment.

This little fella would actually run and jump over obstacles. And by 'obstacles', I mean very low obstacles, such as a log. It was adorable.

Another grand attraction was the huge swing:

A bunch of people would grab the rope and run back to launch you backwards, then you'd swing until you came to a stop. We all took turns, and we all loved it.

Then it was time to get back to work on these knives. After a lot more sanding, polishing and shaping, we were all pretty proud of our creations:

Can you believe it?

It was so cool to see them take shape.

Mine is the one on the far left. Erin's is next to it.

The people that run this place were so great. They were really helpful, but let you do everything. and it was basically one long stand-up comedy routine from the guy there. 

She cut through that sugar packet with ease.

I was really proud of that knife!

I highly recommend this to anyone. It was such a fun day. Totally a highlight of the weekend.