The 2022 TumbleStone Calendar is titled “Fossicking Beaches”, featuring mainly South Island beaches on which I have spent time fossicking for stones in 2021. Photos of three stones I found on each beach are also included for each month. Part One examined the beaches of January to May and this Post examines the beaches of July to November (June and December feature close-ups of stones).
JULY, Timaru, 27 June 2021 – The Jack’s Point/Tuhawaiki Point Walkway runs along the cliffs above the central section of this South Canterbury beach. The northern part of the fossicking beach can be accessed from where Scarborough Road meets The Parade, just south of Timaru. Its southern part is accessible from the end of Ellis Road. There is a stretch of more than five kilometres of stones in between. See here for the beach on Google Maps. The photo in the Calendar was taken just south of the lighthouse on a day I accessed the beach from the Ellis Road carpark. The Post about my visit to that beach on 27 June 2021 can be found here.
AUGUST, Leithfield Beach, 11 March 2021 – There is a long stretch of beach that runs north and south of the Canterbury seaside settlement of Leithfield Beach, about 40 kilometres north of Christchurch. Interesting jaspers and petrified wood can be found here, slong with other kinds of stones. See here for the beach on Google Maps. I usually drive to the northern carpark, at the end of Elizabeth Square. The photo in the Calendar was taken from near the carpark, looking south towards an old storm water drain (which has recently started to be demolished). For an account of my visit to the beach on 11 March 2021, see here.
SEPTEMBER, Kai Iwi Beach, 2020 – This beach, at Mowhanau village, is only two kilometres away from where I live, near Whanganui in the North Island. It is not known for stones that can be tumble polished, indeed there are not a lot of stones along its sandy stretches, though various fossils have been found there. However, I am unable to resist a scanning of the beach when I walk it, and I have found a few interesting iron-stained pieces of quartz that I have tumble polished. Around the mouth of the Kai Iwi Stream is a particularly good place to search. See here for the beach on Google Maps. The photo in the Calendar is taken north of Kai Iwi Stream. An informative Post on the area is here.
OCTOBER, Gemstone Beach, 28 February 2021 – This beach is located about one kilometre west of Orepuki in Southland, on the coast of Te Waewae Bay. There is an amazing diversity of stones on the Te Waewae Bay beach, and the photo in the Calendar provides a good sense of this. See here for the beach on Google Maps. I ususally spend at least three hours on a visit, walking from the carpark at Mullens Road West along to the mouth of the Waimeamea River, near Waihoaka, and returning. For an account of my visit to the beach on 28 February 2021, see here.
NOVEMBER, Slope Point, 3 March 2021 – One of the small number of fossicking beaches just to the west of Slope Point in the Catlins is called Thunder Beach by some locals. It is a sweep of golden sand backed by a lagoon containing petrified logs. Access is across private land so permission should be sought. Here at the bottom of the South Island, the sea is often rough and waves are powerful. See here for the beach on Google Maps. Click this link for an account of my visit to the beach on 3 March 2021.
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