Another South Island Fossicking Trip, February/ March 2021 – Days 13 and 14 (Gemstone Beach, The Beach Past the Back Beach at Riverton)

The first Post in this Series is here.

Day 13, Monday 1 March – 7th visit to Gemstone Beach. This visit lasted 4 1/2 hours, the sky was cloudy but the temperature was warm, and there was little wind. Today’s top four finds:

Not sure whether this might be fossil coral or not.

Other side of previous stone.

Probably banded argillite.

Other side of previous stone.

Another of those purple stones, with interesting inclusions.

Outstanding detail.

I think this is a quartzite. A small stone.

I went onto the beach this morning when the tide was low but starting to come in. Decided to walk westwards further than I normally do. However after two hours I decided to turn back as the waves were starting to get high on the beach. I made it back to the car park just in time. The waves were lapping the cliffs in places, and it wasn’t even fully high tide. Much care needs to be taken at Gemstone Beach as the waves are powerful and the banks of stones can be steep, and the cliffs are right at the back of much of the beach.

Gemstone Beach early on in my visit.

Later, Gemstone Beach with high powerful waves sprinting up the banks of stones. The beach near the car park is more benign though care is always required.

Here are five more of today’s finds:

Today’s “pinkie”.

Banded ignimbrite.

Quite a small stone.

I don’t know what this is.

Probably iron-stained quartz of some sort.

Day 14, Tuesday 2 March – The Beach Past the Back Beach, Riverton – I spent just over an hour at this beach this morning, at low tide, the best time to get around the rocks. (Two years ago I did a Post on some stones from this beach which included a location map.) I walked over a hill to get there, then once on the beach walked back towards the Back Beach, eventually prevented from getting right back to it by high rocks, stopping only 100 to 150 metres from the Back Beach.

The western half of the Beach Past the Back Beach. Tihaka Beach and Colac Bay are a few kilometres further on. Most of this morning’s fossicking was behind me, to the east, amongst the rocks there.

Looking back over the hill I had just come over to get to this beach. The Back Beach is on the other side of the hill.

Stones on the Beach Past the Back Beach.

The start of the rocks at the eastern end of the sweep of the Beach Past the Back Beach.

This was as far as I could go this morning. The small cove that is part of the Back Beach is just around the first large rock on the left.

Lots of patches of stones among the rocks. At high tide, this is under about a metre of water.

Lots of stones can be found in these nooks and crannies. See next photo.

This rock is about 5 to 6 metres high.

There are lots of stones on the Beach Past the Back Beach, many similar to Gemstone Beach but not usually of the same bright colours.

Quartzite, probably.

A different coloured quartzite.

This is a small white hydrogrossular garnet. Not usually found this far east along the coast. I have been told of the rare one turning up here, and have found a couple of lower-quality ones in the past two years.

A thulite stone but not as pink as the ones I have found on Gemstone Beach and at McCracken’s Rest. The pink is due to manganese.

Trace fossil stones (argillite) can be found here (and on other Riverton beaches).

An interesting stone due to its band.

An interesting green.

A complex construction.

Interesting hue of blue.

Returning over the hill to my car, I saw a surfer at the Back Beach and took some photos of him. Looking at one of the photos later, I realised there was a dolphin out there as well. On the way back to where I was staying, I passed a spot where I had seen a foiling wind surfer two days previously. Driving past Henderson’s Bay, a stand up paddle boarder could be seen. Later at the crib at Taramea Bay, a man flew a kite in the stiff wind.

Circled in this photo of the Back Beach surfer is a dolphin.

The dolphin.

The surfer, having caught a wave.

The Henderson’s Bay stand up paddle boarder.

A foiling wind surfer near the Back Beach.

Soneone flying a kite at Taramea Bay, Riverton.

The next Post in this Series can be found here, including a trip to Slope Point.

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