Another South Island Fossicking Trip, February/ March 2021 – Days 7 and 8 (Riverton’s Back Beach, Gemstone Beach)

Previous Posts have dealt with Days 1 to 4 and Days 5 and 6.

Day Seven, Tuesday 23 February – Visit to the Back Beach, Riverton (at Howell’s Point). I woke this morning with sore leg muscles from my long walks recently at Gemstone Beach so I didn’t go far today. The Back Beach is less than five minutes drive from my base in Taramea Bay and it’s a relatively small beach.

The Back Beach is at the end of the road at Howell’s Point, Riverton.

The Back Beach.

The small cove at the western end of the Back Beach.

Looking over Foveaux Strait to Stewart Island Rakiura.

The waves here are powerful, coming off Foveaux Strait, the stretch of water between the South Island and Stewart Island. There’s lots of stones here.

The stones of the small cove.

At the western end of the small cove, stones are thrown up against the rocks.

Back Beach stones – the first stone I found is in this photo.

The first stone I found.

The first stone I found, characterised by banding.

In the 90 minutes I spent here, I found a number of interesting stones at both the small cove and along the sweep of the Back Beach.

Today’s favourite, a nice wee quartzite.

This one will polish well.

Gorgeous bright stone, with interesting patches of light purple..

Iron-stained quartz.

Small argillite, with trace fossils at the bottom.

Another trace fossil stone, different colours.

Some great little stones, although not quite the diversity and colour compared to Gemstone Beach, 30 kilometres to the west.

In the 90 minutes I was here, some Hector’s dolphins arrived (at least four) and cavorted in the waves just off the beach. A small crowd of delighted people gathered on the rocks and road and watched and photographed them. One man defied the powerful swell and swam out towards them. Just as well he was a strong swimmer – the only swimmer I have ever seen at this dangerous beach.

A small pod of Hector’s dolphins.

About 20 to 30 people stopped to watch.

Stewart Island Rakiura in the background.

Dolphins in the wave.

A strong swimmer!

Dolphin at left, at bottom of wave, swimmer to right.

Other Tumblestone Posts about the Back Beach include “A Batch of Polished Stones from Riverton’s Back Beach“, “South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Days Six to Ten“, “This place is endless thin…Proterra”, “Alert Level Two, Saturday 16 May – Stone 2, “Marble-Type” from Riverton“ and “TumbleStone Calendar 2019 – February, March, April and May“.

Day Eight, Wednesday 24 February – Back to Gemstone Beach. I spent two hours at Gemstone Beach in the rain today, but the wind was light and the temperature was not too cold (15 degrees). There were a handful of other stone hunters there, including a couple of oceanography students from Waikato University with whom I spoke. The rain turned all the stones on the surface of the beach wet and colourful.

Two other stone fossickers.

The oceanography students.

Helicopter over a rainy and misty Gemstone Beach.

The rain made every stone on the surface wet across all of the beach.

Even the stones at the top of the beach, near the cliffs, were wet and colourful.

Rain-wet Gemstone Beach stones.

More rain-wet Gemstone Beach stones.

At the start today, I moved along the top of the stones, near the cliffs, as usually the stones this far up the beach are dry and dull-looking and it is hard to see their colours and patterns. The rain makes all the difference! However, I kept at least a couple of metres away from the cliffs as they are dangerous, being prone to slumping. Here are the first five of today’s best ten finds:

Interesting veins, some interrupted and offset.

Breccia stone, made up of small stone fragments.

Small but noticeable due to the colourful bands.

Trace fossils in argillite. Good sized chevron traces.

Small and very pink.

And here are the last five of today’s top ten:

The delicate dark veins caught my attention.

Complex red quartzite.

A type of quartz.

Some subtle trace fossils here.

A stone dominated by a large vein.

The next Post in this Series deals with Day 9 (Gemstone Beach again) and Day 10 (visits to Tihaka Beach, Garden Bay and Gemstone Beach).

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