I have just finished tumble-polishing some stones I collected from Gemstone Beach (Orepuki, Southland) in 2020 (and maybe even before that). This lot came out of a 6lb barrel. Such a barrel can take larger stones than can the 3lb and 4lb barrels, though a range of stone sizes go into each barrel to ensure lots of surface area to optimise the polishing process.
The first stone is about 4 cms long. Its complexity and the unusual light clay-like colour in it attracted my attention. It polished well with only a couple of tiny shallow holes to interrupt a smooth surface:
The next stone stood out on the beach because of it’s bright white half contrasting with the darker part. It polished smoothly except for a small elongated scar along its bottom:
Continuing the white theme, two other white stones:
Two stones in which red is predominant:
Two stones with splashes of other colours in them, the first a 5.5 cm long green and white one with small orange patches, the second a smaller 3.5 cm long grey-white stone with small brown spots:
Four green stones or which have significant green patches, all with significantly different characters:
The final two stones have a quirky character, the first having swirling lines at its base, the second having an embedded fault-line.
These 14 stones illustrate the great diversity in colour and pattern to be found in the stones of Gemstone Beach.
Thanks so much for sharing John!!
Thanks for the feedback, Christine. Glad you liked it.
I just found your blog and have really enjoyed reading it. So much so the last two hours have flown by! I have been looking for spots to fossick and have learned alot from you. I’m going to try the coromandel though as im in the dreaded Auckland but I now know my dream south island holiday plan!
Hi Taryn! So glad you have enjoyed the blog. Yes, do make the journey to the South Island sometime, you won’t regret it.