20 Polished Stones from Kakanui, Part One

In May and June this year, I visited a couple of beaches near Kakanui in the South Island of New Zealand (see here, for example). There were many colourful stones there, often the same types that can be found on the more well-known Birdlings Flat which lies to the north, outside of Christchurch. I will be visiting Kakanui again later this month, looking again for colourful and interesting stones.

Kakanui Beach.

Kakanui Beach late in the day.

Kakanui Beach.

The stones on Kakanui Beach.

Kakanui Beach polished stones from a 3lb barrel.

Over the past few weeks, I have been tumble polishing some of these Kakanui stones. In this Post, I will show photos of ten of them, with another ten shown in a further Post. The photos show both sides of a stone as well as a detail of each side.

Two of the stones are brecciated to varying degrees:

The white sections catch the eye of an otherwise plain gray stone.

Closer observation shows these bands to be part of a brecciation.

The other side of this stone is plainer than the previous side.

The next stone is probably petrified wood, and the fourth stone is a kind of jasper, also known as limonite prase:

Here are two stones that appear to have quartz within them, though they are very different in colour and composition:

The next two stones are quite striking in appearance though for different reasons, and both have silica lines running through them:

Finally in this Post, two further striking stones with silica lines:

The next Post highlights another ten stones from this batch from Kakanui.

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. View all posts by tumblestoneblog