Spirit Bay and the Russians

Almost at the end of the peninsula we visited Spirit Bay, another quiet DOC camp site next to the surf. One morning whilst we were finishing our breakfast a minibus full of people, maybe 10 or 12, arrived. They looked like they had come to see something in the cliffs, they were looking and pointing and taking pictures. They were listening to what looked like their guide and then a few of them started to blow horns. We thought they might be some 'Lord of the Rings' fanatics. I(Ruth) couldn't resist enquiring so I had a wander over and chatted with their mini bus driver whilst the group were still having their photos taken and celebrating. He told me they were having their Greenstone blessed. I was still a little confused. He told me Greenstone is a precious gem stone, found only in New Zealand and is obviously green. He said it is believed that if you take the stone out of New Zealand without having it blessed you would be cursed with bad luck. I thanked him and returned to the van to report the news to John and to read up more about Greenstone in our Rough Guide. Whilst I was reading out the very long explanation the bus driver came over and said that the party had walked down to the beach and asked if we wanted to have a peek at the Greenstone. I was expecting to see a pendent or a small stone but inside the bag was a 40kg Rock! Apparently $300,000 worth! The insanely rich group of Russians had bought the stone on the south Island (where it naturally occurs) and then hired 2 helicopters and pilots to be flown over to the North island, then hired a bus and driver to take them up to spirit bay to bless the stone before returning back to the South. He wasn't sure why they chose this area to have it blessed but it must have made for a great day trip.