In August 2020, at the end of a fossick on Gemstone Beach with my sister Helen, I met a woman who was there with her dog and a friend. She was interested in the fact that I was collecting stones. She and I were both members of the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. I showed her a few of the stones I had gathered and a few polished ones I had in my pocket. I gave her a nice pendant-shaped green hydrogrossular garnet. Her name was Kat, she lived in Riverton, and one of the things she did in her busy life was run a small vintage recycled shop on the main street. As I was starting the drive north back to Whanganui a few days later, it crossed my mind that maybe Kat might be interested in stocking some of my Gemstone Beach polished stones for sale. She responded positively and on 31 August I posted just over 200 stones to her, along with copies of two of my photo-books. (See here for an introduction to Gemstone Beach.)
I also sent Kat four information pamphlets on different types of stones to give customers a bit of background and context about them. First of all, there were what I simply called “Gemstone Beach Stones”, “tumble-polished naturally-occurring stones from Gemstone Beach…Each stone is unique but carries within it a significant part of New Zealand’s geological history”.
I also sent Kat a number of hydrogrossular garnet stones, a type of stone that draws many people to Gemstone Beach.
Another type of TumbleStone from Gemstone Beach which I sent to Kat was banded ignimbrite, a volcanic stone.
Finally, I sent a few trace fossil stones too, argillite with the 250 million year old marks of small burrowing animals.
Kat’s shop is Little Wing Recycled Boutique, located at 130 Palmerston Street in Riverton, right next to the town’s only ATM. Formerly called Remix Boutique, its Facebook page is still under that name. The shop’s description is as follows: “Preloved women’s clothing & accessories. Locally made jewelry & more. Vintage & retro fashion & other quirky items.” Opening hours are 11 am to 4 pm every Wednesday and Thursday and 11 am to 3 pm on Sundays. Among the recycling dresses and shoes and old vinyl records and vintage jewelry are now some dishes of polished TumbleStones from Gemstone Beach. I took the following photos when I visited in November 2020:
Some of the stones sold in January this year and I took some replacements to Kat when I was in Riverton in March.
I am grateful to Kat for stocking these stones. She welcomes everyone to her shop anytime, if only for a browse and a chat!
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