From left: Ray (Helen’s husband), Petra, and Helen (picjing up a stone) on Gemstone Beach, 28 February 2020.
People on Gemstone Beach, just out from the carpark, 9 March 2020.
In February-March this year, I visited the beaches at Riverton and Orepuki to collect stones – this was just a few days before the Covid-19 Lockdown. I was often accompanied on my trips to the beaches by my sister Helen, sometimes also by my wife Petra and brother-in-law Ray. Petra and Helen also collected stones. Helen generously handed on to me most of the worm cast stones she found. She accumulated a number of interesting stones from Gemstone Beach for me to polish for her. I brought these home to Whanganui and put most of them into a 4 lb barrel. They spent seven days in a 320 grit tumble in late March, followed by a three hour tumble in Sunlight soap. They then tumbled in tin oxide Pre-polish for eight days in mid April, followed by a two hour soap tumble. Finally in late April they underwent ten days in tin oxide Pro-polish followed by one day in borax to complete the polishing process. Below are the 121 polished stones:
All 121 polished stones in a pile.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
Close-up of some of the 121 stones.
There are some stunning stones in this batch. Helen and I spent some time after each day’s stone collecting going though her stones, evaluating each pebble before deciding to keep it for polishing or to discard it (in the garden at Helen and Ray’s Riverton crib). Any stone that was kept was likely to be interesting.
The 72 larger stones, lying flat.
Large banded argillite.
Other side of large banded argillite.
Top view of large banded argillite.
Large brown hydrogrossular garnet.
Other side of large brown hydrogrossular garnet.
Other side of large brown and grey hydrogrossular garnet.
Large brown and grey hydrogrossular garnet.
Red-veined grey stone.
Pale quartzite.
Small button-shaped banded ignimbrite.
Other spectacular stones:
Spotted red argillite.
Detail of spotted red argillite.
Medium-sized white hydrogrossular garnet.
Holding medium-sized white hydrogrossular garnet up to sun.
Detail of small hematite jasper stone.
Small hematite jasper stone.
Some of the medium-sized stones, showing the range collected:
The 72 larger stones, lying flat.
The 49 smaller stones, along with two of the larger ones, lying flat.
Some of the medium-sized stones.
Some of the medium-sized stones.
Some of the medium-sized stones.
Some of the medium-sized stones.
Some of the medium-sized stones.
Some worm cast stones that Helen kept to polish for herself (shows good taste!):
Dark brown worm cast.
Red worm casts in grey stone – very unusual.
Other side of grey stone with red worm casts.
Brown worm casts.
Green stone with mica and very small worm casts.
Close up of green stone showing very small worm casts.
Close up of tiny mica pieces in green stone.
Medium-sized variegated green stone, with worm cast?
Other side of medium-sized variegated green stone.
At times, smaller stones can be the most colourful and interesting. Some of the smaller stones:
The 49 smaller stones, along with two of the larger ones, lying flat.
Some of the smaller stones.
Some of the smaller stones.
Some of the smaller stones.
Some of the smaller stones.
Some of the smaller stones.
All I have to do now is work out some way of getting the stones back to her, though restrictions are easing in New Zealand…
Author: tumblestoneblog
Retired Academic, male, living in the New Zealand countryside near Whanganui with his wife as well as Jasper the dog, Fluffy the cat, Dancer and Penny, the horses, and a shed half-full of stones. Email john.tumblestone@gmail.com.
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They are stunning. What a great collection. Lovely and colourful and full of interest. Just beautiful.(BTW I love that your wife is called Petra! Very fitting I’d say.)