This was by far the best activity I did on the South Island. Steve was great. I didn't think I could carve anything let a lone a Jade necklace. My friends were also a little scared but Steve was very understanding and taught us a lot of history and symbolism about the jade. He also helped make my piece look much better at the end of the day. Bonz 'n Stonz is a must for anybody travelling on the South Island of New Zealand.

We visited Steve's workshop for the day recently as a family activity - parents carved jade for the day and out daughters (10 and 11) carved bone jewellery. From the outset, Steve made us feel welcome and had us and the kids working with the carving tools almost immediately; he was attentive and was able to impart the necessary understanding in minimum time. The results were spectacular (more to do with Steve's input than our ability) and it was a pleasure to spend time creating memories in his well equipped workshop. A particular strength was his ability to keep the kids occupied and focussed on their project, but also the extent to which he gave them freedom to use the equipment.

At the end of the day, Steve made sure that we left with well presented and made jade and bone pendants, which will be a quality reminder of an excellent day. The other pleasant surprise was the delivery of a banana cake for morning tea by Kerry from Birdsong, the lodge at which we stayed.

Overall the day turned out to be excellent value for money and we are grateful to Steve for sharing his talent with us.

Went up the West Coast in August of 2007 and got rained off at the glaciers, so we headed for Hokitika. We found the number of Bonz N Stonz in the tourist information booklet and rang up to book for a day of jade carving as the bleak NZ winter blew.
The owner, Steve was great. So laid back but so helpful too. I was a little nervous about using all of the power tools (and managed to grind down my fingernails!) but me and my 2 friends had a brilliant time and came out with some really nice jade necklaces and ornaments. In terms of value for money, we had a great fun day and a very reasonable cost (can't remember the exact amount, but about £30 if I recall).

My daughter and I walked into Bonz and Stonz looking for a Jade keychain for my beloved BMW motorcycle. Now this was after checking out other countless Jade stores in Hokitika. My daughter was getting slightly perturbed with me, rolling eyes, etc... I was ready to settle for about anything at this point. This being my last resort til certain death via teenage girl overtook me, I asked Steve, the owner, if he could make a keychain for me. He said, "No, but you can." I told him I didn't have much time while eyeballing my daughter. Steve put her at ease and told her she could use his computer while I did a little work in back. So, all was good. I picked out a cool piece of rough jade and Steve showed me how to carve it, smooth it down, polish it and drill a hole into it for a key ring. I am not kidding, I had a BLAST. My jade keychain on the BMW is awesome.

If you are looking for something to do, go to Bonz & Stonz. Steve will get you going on creating something special. He also has an excellent collection of handcarved pieces avavailabe. This would especially be great if you had kids that were interested in carving there own jade creation.