The following are my Posts for “Q” and “R” in the alphabetical series of a Facebook Group I belong to, “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The first Posts in this Series can be found here.
“Q” is for “Quartzite Stone from Kakanui” – The most common colour for this kind of quartzite in this area is yellow, though some have red in them and others, like this one, are mainly a more neutral gray. What I find fascinating with these quartzites is how small clear quartz crystals become apparent in the close-up images.
This stone is Stone #6 in my blog’s daily series marking the National Lockdown, one of the “projects” I work on to help keep me occupied over this period. For those interested, the Series starts here.
“R” is for “Riverton Rocks Red Rock” – This small thin flat dark-red tumble-polished stone was originally collected from one of the beaches of Riverton Rocks, the area of holiday homes that stretches south along the coast from the Southland town of Riverton/Aparima.
Located 30 kms east of Gemstone Beach (Orepuki) and 40 kms west of Invercargill, Riverton/Aparima is the oldest pakeha settlement in Southland. A whaling station was established there in the mid-1830s with land-based economic activity replacing that by the 1850s. Riverton Rocks (comprising Taramea Bay, Mitchell’s Bay and Henderson Bay – see photos below) became an important seaside holiday destination. My grandparents owned a crib (bach) at Henderson Bay from the late 1950s/early 1960s and I spent many Christmas holidays there.
The Back Beach, at the end of the “Rocks Highway”, faces Stewart Island/Rakiura across the often-stormy Foveaux Strait, and is the best fossicking place close to and east of Gemstone Beach. My very first batch of tumble-polished stones (19 April 2016) had been collected from Riverton beaches.
For the next Post in this Series, see here. For the Series Index, see here.
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