This is the second significant New Zealand book published on rock tumbling (after the Coopers’ book), though its scope is broader, “rockhounding” in New Zealand in general. I ordered this book through Amazon and they sourced it from Bookhaven, a second hand bookstore in Wellington.
“The New Zealand Rockhound” by Natalie Fernandez was published in 1981 by Boughtwood Printing and Publishing House, Auckland. The book measures 14 cm by 21.5 cm and has 191 pages. Beach stones, my prime interest, are only one form of rocks – they are very useful for stone polishers because they are already relatively smooth and rounded, already the subject of hundreds of years of “tumble polishing” in rivers and ocean. Rockhounds need to be able to identify rough and dirty rocks in the field – all I have to do is wet a beach stone and decide if I like the result.
“The New Zealand Rockhound” covers rockhounding in New Zealand in general. Chapter Six, “The art of the lapidary”, starts off with five pages on rock tumbling before going on to discuss cutting and grinding and other means of working with rocks and stones. Chapter Four on “Rocks and minerals” provides an introduction to the topic in the context of New Zealand’s geology, and Chapter Five, “Locations”, provides an annotated list of NZ places to find interesting rocks.
Fernandez’s book also has a delightful frontispiece of stamps with rocks and fossils on them:
I’m a rock lover, 70yrs old and now disabled. My dad’s favorite place on earth was New Zealand, WWII. I would LOVE to get a rock from your neck of the woods. Thank you, Karen Riley
113 E 11st
Mounds OK 74047
575-590-2912
Hi Karen, Great to hear from you. I will find something to send you in the next few days. All the best, John
Hi again, Karen. I have selected seven stones and will put them in the post to you tomorrow. I will also write a Blog Post about them, what kind of stones they are, and where in New Zealand they come from. Best wishes, John
https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2022/04/28/seven-tumblestones-from-new-zealand-to-oklahoma/
Hi, my name is Desmond Keven, I am from New Zealand my uncle was Des Crawford. He was a rock hound most of his life living in New Zealand. I live in the USA and was wondering if you might know of him and if there are any Books or Articles he may have been featured in . I would like to find something on Des Crawford that I could pass on to my grandchildren.
Thank you so much.
Desmond Keven
Hi Desmond. I am sorry, I don’t know of a rockhound called Des Crawford. If you know what region of New Zealand he lived in, maybe you could contact the local rock and mineral club to see if they know. See https://sites.google.com/a/voicewise.co.nz/tnanzrmc/affiliated-clubs. Best wishes, John