Month: July 2022

June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip: 19) Ward Beach Bonus

Driving the 260 kilometres from Kakanui to Christchurch yesterday (Tuesday 12 July) was quite a challenge, with persistent heavy rain. There was some flooding across parts of the road, especially north of Ashburton, and at times the temperature got down to three degrees before going back up to seven. The weather was good today (Wednesday 13 July) and the road from Christchurch to Ward (a 300 kms trip) was relatively clear, with few disruptions. I stopped off briefly at Leithfield Beach, about 40 kilometres north of Christchurch. The effects of a recent high swell were very apparent here, with scattered pieces of driftwood across the carpark and retaining-wall-tyres moved out onto the beach. A quick fossick yielded very little, mainly a piece of brown sea glass.

The front of the carpark.
Some of the tyres used to protect the carpark have been moved by the sea.
Looking south towards old wastewater pipes.
A couple of stones from Leithfield Beach today, quartz and andesite(?), both left there.
Piece of brown sea glass.

I was able to reach Ward in time to make a trip out to Ward Beach for just over an hour. The waves were massive there, powerful and threatening. The sea at the beach in front of the carpark was dark and muddy from the flooding Flaxbourne River. Both the tide and the wind were high, spray whipping from the breaking waves. Drift wood, most of it the results of forestry activity upstream, I would guess, was piled up at the high tide mark. The sea had swept stones onto the seaward face of the wood, and the most powerful of the waves were starting to come over the top of that. It was interesting to compare the landscape with what it looked like when I visited on my way south, four weeks ago.

Flaxbourne River at Ward Beach, four weeks ago.
Flaxbourne River in flood, probably at least a metre lower than the day before.
Ward Beach four weeks ago.
Ward Beach today.
Mouth of Flaxbourne River four weeks ago, a couple of metres wide.
Flaxbourne River mouth today.
Ward Beach four weeks ago.

I made the sensible decision to stay well away from the wet stones and fossicked among the dry stones further up the beach.

Logs near the mouth of the Falxbourne River.
A muddy sea.
My fossicking area.
Dry Ward Beach stones.

I decided to not focus on zoophycos trace fossil stones, as I often do at Ward Beach. Instead I searched mainly for limestone stones with veins or flint in them.

Flint at the top of this stone.
Mainly flint.

I also came across some nice patterned stones. I’m not sure how all these finds will tumble, some of them may be too soft.

A little out of focus.

A ferry trip across Cook Strait tomorrow is scheduled, an early morning start ahead of me to get to the Picton wharf on time to catch it. [The crossing was a smooth one and I reached home in Whanganui safely, 3,600 kilometres after leaving.]

A shorter version of this Post first appeared in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The first Post in the Series is here. An Index to the whole Series is here.

June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip: 18) (Second) Last Fossick, Seadown Beach, Kakanui

Seadown Beach, Kakanui, southern end, this morning.
Powerful waves, tumbling the stones.
At the end of my morning’s fossick, the waves ahead were just about reaching the cliff at the back of the beach. There was more room on the section I walked back on.

Today (Monday 11 July) is most likely my final fossicking day this trip as I am on my way north and the weather will get very stormy from tomorrow [though it turned out I was able to get one more fossick in on Wednesday at Ward Beach]. At 9.30 am this morning, with the temperature at minus one degree, I arrived at Seadown Beach, Kakanui. It was sunny and there was no wind so it was comfortable on the beach wearing my big coast, a scarf and woolen hat. I spent just under 3 hours there, leaving when it was seven degrees. I returned at 3.30 pm, after high tide, for a further hour – the temperature was about five degrees on the beach, in growing shade as the sun lowered, but a stiff breeze meant it felt much colder than this morning. There was plenty of evidence of heavy swells and the erosive power of the waves.

This morning I walked as far as these rocks across the beach.
Looking back, the rocks in the foreground.
Another view back along the beach.
Bits of the surface of a closed section of Beach Road falling onto the beach.

Today was mainly a jasper and quartzite day. Here are some of the jaspers I found today, showing some of the variety available on this beach.

And the following photos show some of the variety of quartzites to be found on this beach.

Finally, some of the other stones I collected today.

Fossil sea-floor stone.
Another fossil sea-floor stone.
This small stones also has fossils in it.
This stone appears to have lots of tiny fossils in it too.
It has been suggested that this stone is argillite (silicified mudstone), with two different types of mud in it.
Some kind of veined quartz?
The little white dots are not loose sand on the surface of this stone but part of the stone.
Could be partly quartzite.

A shorter version of this Post first appeared in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The last Post in the Series is here. The first Post is here. A Series Index is here.

June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip: 17) Return to Seadown Beach, Kakanui

Seadown Beach this afternoon, looking south.
Seadown Beach this afternoon, looking south.
Kakanui’s Seadown Beach.
At stone level.

Friday (8 July) was too wet and windy to go to a beach. Saturday was pack-up and tidy-up day, and I drove from Riverton Aparima to Gore where I stayed overnight. I drove from Gore to Oamaru this morning (Sunday 10 July) and dropped in on the North Otago Rock & Mineral Club’s Gemstone, Jewellery and Craft Fair for 30 minutes – lots of interest there! I then stopped by Kakanui’s Seadown Beach on the way to my lodgings (see this Post for TumbleStoneTwo’s main page on this beach). The afternoon was sunny and lacking wind, though cool, and the tide was high. I spent just over an hour on the relatively narrow strip of stones available. Found some nice stones, especially brecciated jasper.

Another small brecciated jasper.
A slightly larger brecciated jasper.
Jasper.

Among the other stones I found:

Small quartzite.
Another quartzite.

I am staying in the area for another day, so I have tomorrow to do some more fossicking on this beach.

A shorter version of this Post first appeared in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. See this Post for my next visit to Kakanui’s Seadown Beach. The first Post in this Series is here. An Index to the whole Series is here.

Index to June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip

For four weeks in June-July 2022, I travelled by car from my home in Whanganui to the south of the South Island. Along the way, and when I got there, and during my return, I visited a number of beaches, fossicking for stones to take home to tumble polish. Each day I also wrote a Post about that day’s fossicking. This Index allows you to click on a link to be taken to the relevant Post. The photos above each link give you an idea of the beach and stones in the Post.

***** *****

1) Ward Beach Wednesday 22 June

2) Birdlings Flat Thursday 23 June

3) Timaru South Thursday 23 June

4) Seadown Beach, Kakanui Friday 24 June

5) Seadown Beach, Kakanui Saturday 25 June

6) Gemstone Beach Monday 27 June

7) Back Beach, Riverton Aparima Tuesday 28 June

8) Gemstone Beach Wednesday 29 June

9) Back Beach, Riverton Aparima Thursday 30 June

10) Gemstone Beach Thursday 30 June

11) Gemstone Beach Saturday 2 July

12) Gemstone Beach Sunday 3 July

13) Gemstone Beach Monday 4 July

14) Gemstone Beach Tuesday 5 July

15) Gemstone Beach Wednesday 6 July

16) Slope Point Thursday 7 July

Kakanui’s Seadown Beach.

17) Seadown Beach, Kakanui Sunday 10 July

It has been suggested that this stone is argillite (silicified mudstone), with two different types of mud in it.

18) Seadown Beach, Kakanui Monday 11 July

Flint at the top of this stone.

19) Ward Beach Wednesday 13 July

Twenty-Five Slope Point Stones Polished for Oliver, July 2022: Part 3, Stones 16 to 25 (Dots, Orbs, Breccia)

In Part 1, I introduced eight stones that I had tumble-polished for my fossicking buddy, Oliver Simpson, who lives near Slope Point in Southland. Part 2 featured seven petrified wood stones. In this Post, the remaining ten stones are presented, a variety of types and colours and patterns. Many, if not all, of them are probably rhyolite.

Stones 16 and 17 both have very small light-coloured “dots”. Closer examination reveals the complexity of the dots. These are sometimes known as “flower garden” rhyolites (see page 35, #8, in Thornton).

Stone 16.
Another side of Stone 16.
Another side of Stone 16.
Stone 17.
Other side of Stone 17.

Stones 18, 19 and 20 have slightly larger “dots” or orbs, also of different construction, the first two also being “flower garden” rhyolites.

Stone 18.
Other side of Stone 18.
Stone 19.
Another side of Stone 19.
Stone 19 again.
Stone 20.
Other side of Stone 20.

Stones 21 and 22 have a different kind of orbs, darker in colour and with less sharp boundaries.

Stone 21.
Other side of Stone 21.
Stone 22.
Other side of Stone 22.

Finally, three brecciated stones. The final one is a favourite of Oliver’s. He was less impressed with Stone 24 while I really like it, so he kindly let me keep it.

Stone 23.
Other side of Stone 23.
Stone 24. Gifted back to me.
Other side of Stone 24.
Stone 25.
Other side of Stone 25.

The next lot of Slope Point stones from Oliver has been handed over to me to take home to tumble-polish. I am looking forward to what is revealed.

Twenty-Five Slope Point Stones Polished for Oliver, July 2022: Part 2, Stones 9 to 15 (Petrified Wood)

In Part 1, I introduced eight stones that I had tumble-polished for my fossicking buddy, Oliver Simpson, who lives near Slope Point in Southland. One of those was petrified wood, and this Post features seven more polished stones of this type. The most common colour for petrified wood in the area is black, but lighter varieties are also present. I will present the lighter stones first.

Stone 9.
Stone 11.
Stone 10.
Stone 12.
Stone 15.

Stone 9 is the largest of all the 25 stones. It is right at the upper boundary of what I feel I can tumble polish. I also did not want to reduce its size too much – reduction results in a smoother outcome – as Oliver was mainly interested in just clarifying the grain and veins. There is some brecciation apparent in the central vein.

Stone 9, Slope Point petrified wood.
Stone 9.
The other side of Stone 9.

Stone 10 has a light grey hue and a mottled bottom. It is also a decent size (for a tumble-polisher).

Top of Stone 10.
Stone 10.
One of the sides of Stone 10.
Another side of Stone 10.
Bottom of Stone 10.

Stones 11 and 12 are much smaller. Stone 11 has one face that displays its grain very nicely.

Stone 11.
Another face of Stone 11.
Stone 11.
Stone 12.
Stone 12.
Another side of Stone 12.

Stones 13 and 14 are darker in colour. Stone 13 was difficult to get a clear clear photo of because of its high polish. By contrast, Stone 14 did not take a good polish, maybe because the material is a little softer.

Stone 13.
Another side of Stone 13.
Stone 14.
Another side of Stone 14.

Finally, Stone 15 is very black. It is probably fossilised tree fern, given the shapes that can be discerned in it.

Stone 15, fossilised tree fern?
Stone 15.
The other side of Stone 15.

Part 3 in this Series features the remaining ten stones, which include a number of orbicular and brecciated ones.

Twenty-Five Slope Point Stones Polished for Oliver, July 2022: Part 1, Stones 1 to 8

Ten months ago, in September 2021, I delivered 24 polished stones to Oliver Simpson who lives near Slope Point, Southland (see this Post). At that time, he gave me a few more that he had collected since we last met, some for me to keep and some for me to return polished to the finder (fair trade!). I have now finished tumble-polishing most of these, and I returned 25 to him yesterday. This Post, and the other two in this Series, feature these 25 stones.

Oliver fossicking on a Slope Point beach, February 2022.
Oliver fossicking on a Slope Point beach, February 2022.
Oliver and faithful dog fossicking on a Slope Point beach, March 2021.
Source map = Google Maps.

As I mentioned in my September 2021 Post, Slope Point beaches are known for petrified wood, much of it black in colour, and rhyolites that are colourful and swirly, sometimes brecciated. Oliver has a particular interest in petrified wood, especially large pieces (see this recent Post for a couple of examples), whereas I fossick for smaller stones for a tumble polisher. I first visited Slope Point in March 2021, with Oliver as host. We have since conducted maybe half a dozen fossicks together. Oliver now knows the kind of stones I like so he picks up a few to give me to tumble.

This Post features eight of the polished stones I gave back to Oliver yesterday. They represent the range of types of stones in the 25, and most are quite spectacular in character. I don’t know the identification of all of them. In fact, the first one in particular is a mystery to me. I have not seen anything like it before.

Stone 1.
Other side of Stone 1.

The second is a volcanic stone, the vesicles of which have been infilled, making it an amygdaloidal stone. Oliver had found this at Gemstone Beach.

Stone 2, an amygdaloidal stone.
Other side of Stone 2.

I have found similar amygdaloidal stones at Gemstone Beach (140 kilometres west of Slope Point) (see here and here), though these are not as colourful as the one Oliver found. The next stone is also a colourful one, a mix of white and red. It has a complex composition, with brecciation visible (small sharp fragments in a fine matrix) as well as white orbicular structures.

Stone 3, a complex, bright stone. Maybe a brecciated rhyolite.
Another side of Stone 3.
One of the ends of Stone 3.
Yet another view of Stone 3.

The next stone also exhibits a kind of orbicular structure but the boundary of the “orbs” are less clearly defined. Close inspection shows a crystal of some kind in the centre of a lot of the “orbs”. This could be a “chrysanthemum rhyolite” stone.

Stone 4.
Another side of Stone 4.
Stone 4 again.

The next stone is also orbicular. It is the one that Oliver liked the most, and it was the most difficult to tumble-polish due to its shape. Again, a complex composition.

Stone 5, an awkward shape.
One of the smaller faces of Stone 5.

The sixth stone is petrified wood, a rich brown colour in parts.

Stone 6, a nice piece of Slope Point petrified wood, polished.
The bottom of Stone 6.
Another side of Stone 6.

The next stone appears to have some orbs and is also brecciated – its four main colours, black, gray, white and dark red make it particularly attractive.

Stone 7.
The other side of Stone 7.

Finally in this Post, a type of stone that is reasonably common at Slope Point, probably of volcanic origin but I am unsure.

Stone 8.
The other side of Stone 8.

Part 2 in this Series features seven petrified wood stones polished for Oliver.

June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip: 16) Slope Point

Unruly seas at Slope Point.
Oliver fossicking.
The lagoon and a wave hitting the rocks.
The channel cut out by the sea, draining and refilling the lagoon as the tide goes out and back in.

This morning I drove the 120 kilometres east to Slope Point, meeting with my good friend and fellow fossicker Oliver Simpson who lives there. When I arrived, it was four degrees and cloudy, but no wind or rain meant it wasn’t too uncomfortable on the beach. Access at Slope Point is always a challenge and Oliver’s four-wheel-drive was essential. It was three and a half hours before low tide, and the seas were high. They had recently broken across the beach we went to and a channel was emptying what was usually a lagoon as the tide receded.

The beach at Slope Point today.
The lagoon behind the sandy beach today – water draining away as the tide recedes.
The same view in March 2021, when the sand trapped the water there despite different tide levels.

The beach was unexpectedly bereft of stones, we initially thought, but careful fossicking revealed a line or two of scattered small pebbles.

Looking towards the cliffs today, a lack of pebbles.
The same stretch of beach in March this year.
Looking in the other direction, today.
A lack of pebbles to tumble!
At the high tide mark, a few scattered pebbles.
The high tide line.

Some good patches of pebbles could also be found around the fringe of the lagoon. It was there that Oliver found a recently uncovered large piece of petrified wood that he managed to lug back to the truck.

The large piece of petrified wood found by Oliver.
The side of the petrified wood.
Oliver walking out the large piece of petrified wood.

I ended up with a nice haul of much smaller stones, suited to tumble-polishing. After about two hours on the beach, we made our way back to Oliver’s place. The temperature had risen only two or three degrees. I gave him some stones I had polished for him, stones he had collected himself at Slope Point. He gave me a few more to polish which I readily welcomed as they are often gorgeous and colourful.

The Slope Point stones I had tumble-polished for Oliver.
Stone 3, a complex, bright stone. Maybe a brecciated rhyolite.
Stone 2, an amygdaloidal stone.
Another polished rhyolite.
Oliver handed this one back to me as I like it and he was prepared to let it go.
Stone 6, a nice piece of Slope Point petrified wood, polished.
Oliver gave me these stones he had collected since I last saw him in March. I will take them back to Whanganui to tumble-polish.

He also showed me a gorgeous petrified wood bowl, made from a Slope Point slab, that Michael Lidski had polished for him.

The bottom of the piece of petrified wood.
The bowl part, polished.

Most of the photos of the stones I collected today were taken back at Riverton Aparima in gloomy light – the photos were not sharp enough for good close-ups.

Probably rhyolite.
Rhyolite.
Rhyolite.
Petrified wood.
Dry stone.
Same stone wet.
Tiny orbicular jasper found early on in my fossick.
Rhyolite.
Petrified wood, dry.
Wet.
Petrified wood.
Rhyolite.

A shorter version of this Post first appeared in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The next Post features a visit to a Kakanui beach. The first Post in this Series is here. A Series Index is here.

June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip: 15) Gemstone Beach, Day Eight

Waimeamea River today.
Waimeamea River 3 days ago.
When I came back after 90 minutes, part of the flow had seeped underground.
A school group in front of the carpark when I returned.

There was a bitter wind and the occasional shower of rain this morning and I debated whether to go to Gemstone Beach or not. Overnight rain would have swollen the creek and river, maybe making fording impossible. I decided to go, since I was down here on my stone collecting trip anyway, and thought that even a 30 minute fossick would be good. I arrived at the beach at 10.20 am, an hour before low tide. It was cold! But I have a good heavy coat with big pockets. I actually warmed up after about 30 minutes. The fossicking was reasonable, and I eventually reached the Waimeamea River, to find it barely a trickle – the last high tide had thrown up stones and restricted the outflow. When I returned 90 minutes later, the flow had actually disappeared under the stones for a few metres before resurfacing (see photos above). I met two other hardy/foolhardy souls on the lonely windswept beach. Sabina is a local who I often meet but this was the first time I had seen her on this trip. Then Aaron, who I had met just a couple of days ago, came up on his motorbike and did some fossicking just beyond the Waimeamea River.

Sabina, about 400 metres from the carpark.
Aaron and his motorbike, just to the west of where the Waimemea River crosses the beach.

I ended up spending just over three and a half hours on the beach. I kept finding nice stones (the lack of sunlight meant that some of these photos are not as clear as they could be, with some interfering reflections):

Ths stone just called out to be picked up.
Banded argillite.
Other side of banded argillite stone.
Very glassy type of hydrogrossular garnet.
Amygdaloidal stone.
Thulite stone, quartz combined with manganese to give the pink.
A smaller thulite.
Quartzite with a stress fracture across it.
Another banded argillite.
Small orbicular jasper.
Another small jasper.
Hydrogrossular garnet.
Hydrogrossular garnet.
Hydrogrossular garnet.
Trace fossil stone.
Quartzite.
Probably argillite.
Quartzite?

A school group was on the beach in front of the carpark when I returned. They left at the same time as me, leaving the carpark and beach empty. This was my last visit to Gemstone Beach on this trip, partly because the weather was too windy and rainy on the day I could have returned, two days later.

A shorter version of this Post first appeared in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The next Post in this Series describes a fossick at a Slope Point beach. The first Post in this Series is here.

June-July 2022 Fossicking Trip: 14) Gemstone Beach, Day Seven

The fordable Waimeamea River today.
Maybe 500 metres past the river, the beach has a long stretch of steep cliffs behind it. The onrushing waves can feel very threatening, especially as the tide gets higher.
The steep cliffs.
Too steep and slippery to climb.

I arrived at Gemstone Beach this morning (Tuesday 5 July) just before low tide. I walked reasonably quickly (with a few distracting stones on the way) down to the Waimeamea River to check if it was fordable because of the waves being further down the beach. It was, which meant I had time enough to fossick well beyond the river and get back to cross it before the waves of the high tide became a problem.

It is an eerie feeling once you get past where the Waimeamea River first comes out of the hills – a roaring sea on one side of the narrow stone beach, high slippery cliffs on the other. There is a very long stretch of the beach like this, a number of kilometres, where high cliffs are right at the back – the driftwood is piled up right at the foot of the cliffs, so you know the high tide reaches there (see the photos at the top of this Post). It is not a place to be an hour or two before high tide, the prospect of being trapped being quite real.

I managed to spend four hours on the beach today, walking a few hundred metres further than on previous days. It turned out to be a hydrogrossular garnet day. Before today, I had found maybe only a handful of that type of stone per day. Once I was past the river today, however, small hydrogrossular garnets appeared, and then a few larger ones as well. And this was partly over a section of the beach I had visited before. I was able to collect a nice diversity of types and sizes (photos of the range of types of hydrogrossular garnets can be found here).

I first thought this was a piece of broken glass – turned out to be a battered hydrogrossular garnet.
This one looks very much like quartz but it has the waxy feel of hydrogrossular garnet.
Side 1 of this stone.
Side 2.
Maybe the third-largest hydrogrossular garnet I found today.
Some of the small hydrogrossular garnets that appeared on the beach.

About one-third the way through the fossick, I was thinking that today’s Post could simply feature the hydrogrossular garnets. But then I started to find other types of stones that deserved to be shown as well. And I kept finding them right up until I reached the carpark. Some of them are among the best I have found on this trip.

I found this about 400 metres from the carpark, on my return there. I initially thought it was artificial because of the colour. An amazing little jasper! The first of its type I have seen on Gemstone Beach.
A type of spotted argillite, I think.
I am always on the outlook for a red trace fossil in a red mudstone, having seen only a couple before. I was very pleased to spot this one!
I had to look close at this one to spot the depths in the clear parts.
The complexity of this little stone just goes on and on.
Small but gorgeous!
Green quartzite.
Breccia at one end.
Sone great traces.
A Gemstone Beach rhyolite.
Banded argillite.

A shorter version of this Post first appeared in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The next Post in this Series describes another visit to Gemstone Beach, this time on a cold day. The first Post in this Series is here.