Explore a Vast Selection of
New Zealand Greenstone Ornaments or Design Your Own

The area around Hokitika, New Zealand, has long been renowned for a remarkable resource which goes by several different names. It’s often called New Zealand Greenstone, NZ jade, nephrite, or pounamu, and you’ll find an abundance of goods made from it in and around Hokitika.

New Zealand Greenstone can serve both practical and decorative purposes. On the one hand, it’s incredibly durable– on the level of steel– and has been used as material for weapons and tools by the Maori natives of New Zealand. On the other hand, it’s breathtakingly beautiful and can be put to use in jewelry and home ornaments.

Numerous skilled jade carvers have come to Hokitika to display their wares and sell them to tourists. Some make statuettes of New Zealand animals like whales and birds. Others create elaborate geometric or abstract designs that make great pendants. Tourists can find eggs, desk clocks, and even dice carved from New Zealand greenstone.These ornate and remarkable works will serve as excellent mementos of your New Zealand adventure.

A unique learning opportunity awaits tourists at The Just Jade Experience in Hokitika. This jade studio gives visitors the chance to study with a master carver for a day so as to learn to make New Zealand Greenstone ornaments of their own. You’ll have a chance to invent your own jade design and polish it by hand, all with the assistance of the renowned jade carver Gordon Wells. This experience lasts from five to ten hours, so expect to learn a lot and have a great time creating a personalized embodiment of your New Zealand memories.

Tourists who prefer to learn how to carve jade during the evening will find that The Just Jade Experience will accommodate their needs. At The Just Jade Experience Backpackers, visitors can spend the night at a beautiful seaside hostel after a fulfilling evening designing their own ornaments. These unique New Zealand accommodations are adjacent to a beachfront, where tourists can watch amazing New Zealand sunsets over the waters of the Tasman Sea.

Those who stay at The Just Jade Experience Backpackers will be treated to free tea, milk, and coffee and can even use the hostel’s bicycles for transportation at no charge. And the Hokitika town center is only seven minutes away from this calm, quiet, friendly, and scenic accommodation.

Visitors to Hokitika will find a vast selection of products made from New Zealand Greenstone, but they will also be treated to the unique opportunity of making their own. Come to Hokitika on your New Zealand vacation to exercise your creativity with New Zealand Greenstone while enjoying great lodgings, food, and outdoor recreation.