A What?

The postman had left the key for us to unlock the parcel cubicle located at the bottom of the community-style post-box station. Out came a flat, heavy oblong package, wrapped as only our younger son is capable of doing. It's come a long way, from New Zealand to Canada. Although we weren't expecting it, we realized as soon as my husband withdrew it from the cubicle what it represented. And when we unleashed it from its protective casing it virtually leaped at us. An inanimate object it may be, but a startlingly beautiful piece of craftsmanship.

Its finely molded and burnished steel gleamed above the brass that separated the steel from the wood haft, with three small brass divots holding the handle in place, over the full length of tempered steel, tip of the knife edge to the bottom of the handle. It's hefty in the hand, smooth and comfortable, its shape well designed to comfortably fit into curved fingers and elongated pad of thumb. As knives go, this exemplifies perfection of workmanship and beauty of design.

When he had emailed us en route from the south end of New Zealand driving toward the north and all points in between, his message detailed his itinerary and experiences as much as possible, and even included a few photographs to give us a better idea of what he was looking at throughout his forays along the trails and trips he had undertaken. Electronic mail, what a fantastic innovation. And when, two weeks ago, he telephoned us from Australia, it was great to hear his voice.

He had budgeted, he said, three days for the sale of his car. Planning to display it at one of the many used-car lots for travellers through New Zealand - to dispose of the vehicles they'd purchased in the very same manner in which they bought the vehicle to begin with. He soon discovered that the daily fee of $30 garnered him a sale the very first morning the car was on the lot. There must have been at least a thousand cars at the lot, yet his sold the very first morning.

We'd imagined he would encounter delays selling the car which would translate into his having to hang around longer than he'd anticipated, but that's not what happened. And the reason was that the car was a sporty model, attractive to the local youth. He sold it for $200 less than he'd bought it for a month earlier. In the interim, he'd had a slight accident where a someone had side-swiped him on a narrow road, and since the fellow hadn't any insurance he was out of pocket another few hundred to fix the car.

No regrets though, for the convenience of having the car at his disposal to take him over narrow, bumpy roads in his travels to access one fabulous trail after another. As his predecessors had done, previous owners of the car, resulting in a car whose shocks weren't in top condition. But it was in top mechanical condition, just what those on the prowl were looking for, and soon out of his hands.

On arrival in Australia, he spent three days bunking with a colleague, someone he knew from Vancouver, another biologist, originally himself from New Zealand but now settled in Australia. They went off on a number of day excursions, and one night-time event. His friend was doing some bat census work. Right at dusk a few fruit bats showed up, and as night began to fall in earnest, their numbers increased until thousands were flapping about the area. These are large bats with a wingspan like that of a jay.

Eucalyptus trees everywhere, he said. There are, evidently, some 300 distinct species, some with colourful bark somewhat like sycamores. And in those trees he saw quite a few koala bears. Some of which grow to a respectable size, about 10 kilograms, quite capable of looking after themselves. Neat; small furry balls up in the trees. Their diet is eucalyptus, so little wonder they're to be seen there. The experience of being there, seeing them, quite unlike the flora and fauna we're accustomed to in our northern hemisphere location.

He did some snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, saw far more varied and colourful species of marine life than he had snorkeling off Hawaii. The coral reef he described to us was incredible, and beyond healthy. It was an odd sensation to be swimming beside a coral reef and just below him an odd looking fish taking bites out of the reef, crunching audibly. He couldn't figure how a fish could have that kind of strength in its jaws to crunch through such a rigid structure; obviously geared by nature to do just that.

He had telephoned us at 5:30 p.m. Australia time, and was on his way to the fish market, preparatory to making his own dinner at the hostel he was then staying at. He misses the car he just sold; it was convenient for hauling his stuff around. He discovered a big difference in social culture between the people in New Zealand and Australia. The former relatively relaxed in attitude, the latter far more like their North American counterparts - more acquisitive also than New Zealanders. The pace of life far different; in Australia everyone is busy, in a hurry, no time to stand around and talk as New Zealanders are wont to do.

Just a lot different. At little New Zealand towns the hostels invariably posted local places of interest to poke around. There was one place where he discovered a purveyor of discarded treasures, and came across a metal wood-plane while rummaging around a box of old tools. Sans wood handle, it was in perfect condition, and he bought it. At home he'll have no trouble fashioning a replacement handle. At another hostel he saw an advertisement for a local knifemaking workshop.

He signed up, attended the one-day workshop and produced a knife that turned out to be a dead ringer for the one appearing on a colourful business card that he included with the knife he sent along to us; his own finished product. Although he's made his own wooden block and moulding planes in the past, hardening the steel himself, he learned some excellent techniques at the workshop, which he plans to expand on and add to his own itinerary of workmanship.

What he learned at the experienced hands of the owner of Barrytown Knifemaking in Barrytown, Westland, N.Z., (rob.steve@xtra.co.nz) will be an invaluable addition to his existing skills in all manner of other creatively functional interests like furniture-making, and pottery, and tool-making.