Month: April 2023

“The Sea Is Bound To Wash Upon The Sand” – A Song From My Fossicking Holiday

Slope Point, Southland.
Ward Beach, Marlborough.
Leithfield Beach, Canterbury.
Birdlings Flat, Canterbury.
Gemstone Beach, Southland.

I have been staying by myself in Riverton Aparima during the first three months of this year, taking the opportunity to fossick on Southland beaches. I have been listening to quite a bit of music – at my accommodation, on the drive to different beaches, and occasionally through headphones while fossicking. This song, “How Long Will I Love You?”, is one that has kept me company. It reminds me of my wife Petra, holding the fort in Whanganui in my absence – a reason why I’ll be heading home in early May rather than sticking it out until mid-July.

Slope Point, Southland.
Ward Beach, Marlborough.
Timaru South, Canterbury.
Kakanui, North Otago.
Gemstone Beach, Southland.

I stumbled upon this song when I caught glimpses on television of the movie “About Time”. It’s about a young man with the ability to travel through time, and the complications that result when he time-travels to try to develop love relationships. At one point in the movie, three guys are playing “How Long Will I Love You?” in a subway, and they sound a lot like a New Zealand group, The Warratahs, with the violin weaving a tune alongside the guitar (and mandolin or ukelele?). So I looked the song up, and fell in love with it. It was written by a member of The Waterboys who also recorded it in 1990, with Ellie Goulding doing a very popular cover in 2013. It appeals to the romantic in me, musically and lyrically. The reference to the sea washing upon the sand gives me an excuse to link it to fossicking on the beach for stones. The movement of the stones in the sand and waves produces the smooth colourful pebbles I seek. And those highly treasured finds from the beach – how long will I love you? Always! [Lyrics are below.]

“How Long Will I Love You?”

How long will I love you?
As long as stars are above you
And longer if I can

How long will I need you?
As long as the seasons need to
Follow their plan

How long will I be with you?
As long as the sea is bound to
Wash upon the sand

How long will I want you?
As long as you want me to
And longer by far

How long will I hold you?
As long as your father told you
As long as you are

How long will I give to you?
As long as I live through you
However long you say

How long will I love you?
As long as stars are above you
And longer if I may…

Southern Sojourn 2023(38): Third Fossick With Nicola and Angie, Gemstone Beach/Te Waewae Bay, Wednesday 5 April (Part 2)

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Post 42 https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/13/southern-sojourn-202342-stone-surprises-in-some-drizzle-on-gemstone-beach-te-waewae-bay-wednesday-12-april/

Post 37 described how the weather on the south coast today started to turn windy. In the company of Nicola and Angie and, later, Mary and her two dogs, I spent about six hours on the Te Waewae Bay coast. This Post features eight of my finds. [The weather turned wet and cold on Wednesday night and I had to wait until Friday afternoon for some sunshine to be able to take some decent photos of these stones.] Note: One of the trace fossil stones below was actually given to me by Angie so strictly speaking it’s not one of my finds.

The most colourful of my featured finds are a small (3 cm long) red quartzite plus a larger (5 cm long) green layered mudstone (maybe argillite?) – both are striking but for different reasons:

Nice red quartzite with quartz veins.
Green mudstone.
Other side of mudstone.

The next three stones are: first, what I call a “sugar quartz” pebble, with some iron oxide mineral – such stones can be crumbly but the smoother ones, like this, can polish well if tumbled with care; second, a yellow and black stone, the smoothest one I found today; and third, what I think is a small rhyolite, with some nice detail, which will tumble polish well.

Type of quartz.
Small rhyolite(?) stone.
Other side of stone.

The final three stones (below) include two trace fossil stones. The first was found by Angie who kindly gave it to me when I pointed out how unusual it is – the double-coloured trace is very rarely seen. The second trace fossil stone caught my eye because of the large trace shape on the left side of it, again something only rarely seen. The final stone is a dark gray one with faint layers in it – it proved very difficult to photograph clearly without reflections interfering.

TRace fossil stone given to me by Angie.
Unusual trace colours.
Unusual large trace shape, left side of this stone.
Interesting layers. But difficult to photograph clearly.

THE NEXT DAY

Nicola and Angie did a Gemstone Beach fossick in stormy weather on Thursday morning, with a wild sea and waves at times sweeping nearly to the foot of the bank in front of the carpark.

A wild sea, waves sweeping up the beach. Looking towards the Taunoa Stream. Photo by Nicola.
In front of the carpark. Photo by Nicola.
Angie and Nicola. Selfie.
Nicola, front, Angie, back. Selfie.

In the afternoon they visited me to show me their finds. At one stage, a hail shower interrupted the show-and-tell out on the deck. Two more of Angie’s finds are shown below – a trace fossil stone with red traces, and a fascinating little stone with tiny white spots.

Hail storm!
Trace fossil stone, red traces.
Fascinating little stone.

On Friday, Nicola and Angie finished their time at Gemstone Beach and moved on to Slope Point.

Post 39 features a fossick again with Chrissy from The Cliffs, hunting poppy jaspers. The first Post in the “Southern Sojourn 2023” Series is here. The Index to the Series is here.

Southern Sojourn 2023(37): Third Fossick With Nicola and Angie, Gemstone Beach/Te Waewae Bay, Wednesday 5 April (Part 1)

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Nicola Gray and Angie Nicholas, who had arrived recently from Hawkes Bay, visited me in Riverton Aparima this morning to view some of my rough finds and polished stones. On this trip, I had brought with me specimens of polished stones from Gemstone Beach, Slope Point and Kakanui. We spent some time talking stones, a bit of a luxury to have three keen fossickers and polishers getting together.

One of the five boxes of polished stones I brought with me.
My rough hydrogrossular garnet finds so far. 2.3 litre container.
Some of the small pebbles (up to 2 cm) I am collecting to help with the tumbling process. In a yoghurt pottle.
Angie’s photo of the view from the deck of my accommodation – Jacobs River estuary, Taramea Bay to the right.

We then went for a fossick at Te Waewae Bay, starting at Gemstone Beach. The weather started off well but the wind got stronger as the afternoon progressed. Mary from Slope point joined us for about an hour – she will host the two travelling fossickers in a couple of days time. Nicola and Mary drove the seven kilometres west to McCracken’s Rest for a fossick there, but Angie and I were too tired so we took our time making our way back to the carpark. [See here for some background on McCracken’s Rest.]

Nicola Gray on Gemstone Beach, near the carpark.
Angie Nicholas on Gemstone Beach, near the carpark.
Nicola and Angie often fossick separately – they’re the two most central figures here. Taunoa Stream in foreground.
The two fossickers on the west bank of the Taunoa Stream, a bit closer together. Angie has just found a good stone and is waving at me to come see it.
Scene 1 – standing at the wave’s edge and looking…
Scene 2 – bending over to pick up a stone or to get a closer look at a tiny patch. Repeat Scenes 1 and 2 again and again and again…
John checking a wet gumboot as the wind gets stronger. Photo by Angie.
Mary (and her small dog) and Nicola fossicking as the wind rises. Photo by Angie.
Mary’s other dog on Gemstone Beach, looking back at the distant carpark. Photo by Angie.
Mary’s dog at McCracken’s Rest. Photo by Nicola.

Angie seemed to make the most spectacular finds of the day – six of them are featured below, five of them having been photographed by me on the beach, one (the trace fossil) photographed the next day back at my accommodation. Angie really has developed an eye for fossicking along the Te Waewae beach, and at times was digging into the drifts of stones, discovering some great stuff. Nicola and I just plugged away, picking up what we could stumble over, it seemed. But we also ended up with a good bunch of great finds.

The first featured find of Angie’s is a spectacular dark red jasper. It almost looks like it was melted. I don’t recall finding a jasper this intense in colour before:

One side of Angie’s jasper.
Other side of stone.

Angie also rescued this small intense pink thulite from a wave, one of the best examples I have seen:

She then goes and finds a hydrogrossular garnet of a type I have not seen before! It took me a while to sort this one out as I don’t associate many small floating patches (almost spots) with garnets. But the stone has a distinct waxy feel, there is a pink blush in the patches on one side, which can be found in some garnets, and the opaque material is familiar.

Small spotted hydrogrossular garnet found by Angie.
This side shows some pink.

The other three stones are also exquisite (see below). The first is a most unusual trace fossil, where the trace is made up of more than one colour; the second one has intense green veins of what is probably epidote; and the third is a small dark-coloured stone, probably green quartz with clouds of brown iron oxide. Angie generously gave me the trace fossil stone.

Very unusual trace fossil stone found by Angie.
Most likely, veins of epidote.
An intense green.
Small dark stone.

Post 38 features my own finds from today. The first Post in the “Southern Sojourn” Series is here, the Index to the Series is here.

Southern Sojourn 2023(36): Second Fossick With Nicola and Angie, Gemstone Beach/Te Waewae Bay, Tuesday 4 April

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Post 39 https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/09/southern-sojourn-202339-hunting-poppy-jaspers-with-chrissy-gemstone-beach-te-waewae-bay-saturday-8-april/
Post 40 https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/11/southern-sojourn-202340-follow-up-fossick-with-chrissy-gemstone-beach-te-waewae-bay-sunday-9-april/

I spent a few more hours on Gemstone Beach today with Nicola Gray and Angie Nicholas, recently arrived visitors from the North Island. It was again great weather for a fossick, being partly cloudy but with very little wind. I think we all collected even more stones than yesterday. Some of the ones collected by Nicola and Angie were bigger than I am used to as Nicola is able to get them cut. I stick to the small tumble stones. We also have different preferences for what we like – different colours, patterns, shapes as well as sizes. One type we all love is poppy jasper, a few of which we found today, though often quite small. It all made for an interesting day.

Angie and Nicola taking a lunch break and looking wistfully at the other side of the Waimeamea River – too deep and swift to ford lately.
The Waimeamea River and beyond (looking west).
Not far from arriving back at the Gemstone Beach carpark, moving slower than usual. Nicola bringing up the rear, carrying Angie’s big stone as well as a few of her own!

Here are two stones found by Angie at the western reach of the fossick, on the bank of the Waimeamea River. The first is a large quartz with brown mineral patches that Nicola volunteered to carry back to the carpark for her. The second is a smaller version where the brown is a bit darker in hue.

Eleven of my finds are featured below. Spending time fossicking with others makes clear my own fossicking style and preferences, especially the fact that fine detail in a stone matters to me. The first two stones are the type that reveal more and more the closer you look at them:

It hs been suggested that this is epidotic quartz.

I found these three small jaspers, the first two being orbicular jaspers, also known as poppy jaspers.

Three green stones of different character and pattern :

Argillite with tiny brecciation in the vein.
Orbs/circles. Very small stone, 2 cm by 1 cm.

The final three stones caught my eye for: a very fine pink vein running through a light-coloured stone with small dark brown patches; bright light brown areas against a dark background in a small rhyolite; and a nicely sized chevron trace fossil in a large (8 cm) black mudstone.

That fine pink vein across the middle! 4 cm high.
I decided to collect some and see what tumbling achieves with them.
Unusual trace fossil, black stone. Stone is 8 cm long.

The next Post in the “Southern Sojourn 2023” Series features a third visit to Gemstone Beach with Nicola and Angie. The first Post in the Series is here, the Index to the Series is here.

Southern Sojourn 2023(35): Arrival of Nicola and Angie, Gemstone Beach/Te Waewae Bay, Monday 3 April (Part 2)

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Post 39 https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2023/04/09/southern-sojourn-202339-hunting-poppy-jaspers-with-chrissy-gemstone-beach-te-waewae-bay-saturday-8-april/

Post 34 described the arrival of Nicola Gray and Angie Nicholas in Southland from Hawkes Bay. It also featured some of their finds from their first fossick on Gemstone Beach. This Post features seven of the stones I found while in their company that day. Below are also photos taken on the beach, when I was coaxed into posing with them. Nicola is shown as her usual calm self, Nicola was caught in motion, probably chattering away as usual. I prefer to be on the other side of the camera.

Nicola and John. Photo by Angie.
Angie and John. Photo by Nicola.
Angie showing a stone to John, who photographs it. Photo by Nicola.
The photo I took of Angie’s stone.

To get back to the stones. I am often attracted to black-and-white stones, and this one caught my eye:

Another black-and-white, but with a very different pattern – it was the half-swirl that stood out:

The half-swirl.
Focusing on another part of the same side.

A stone with much less contrast in colours but with perhaps an even more complex make-up:

Egg shaped, 6 cm long.

The other four include a green stone, maybe quartzite, with epidote probably providing the green; a quite rough small stone (3 cm long) whose colours and layers may be clarified by tumbling; one of the many red stones on Gemstone Beach, but this one with tiny flecks of other colours that catch the eye; and a small but interesting rhyolite.

Quartzite with epidote?
Mineral stained quartz?
Rhyolite.

The next Post in the “Southern Sojourn 2023” Series features another visit to Gemstone Beach with Nicola and Angie. The first Post in the Series is here. The Index to the Series is here.

Southern Sojourn 2023(34): Arrival of Nicola and Angie, Gemstone Beach/Te Waewae Bay, Monday 3 April (Part 1)

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Nicola Gray and Angie Nicholas are from Hawkes Bay, a region hard hit by Cyclone Gabrielle in mid-February. They are both keen fossickers, active in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”, and readers of TumbleStone Blog. Nicola has a Facebook Page, My Rock Tumbling Journey, and a series of YouTube videos – her posts and videos document many of the details of fossicking and tumble-polishing, as well as stone cutting. Long interested in visiting Gemstone Beach, they were all ready to do so when the Cyclone intervened. Angie got stranded when a local bridge was swept away, and many regional roads were badly damaged. They revised their plans and bookings and finally managed to drive south in late March, completed a successful ferry crossing of Cook Strait on 31 March, stopped off at Birdlings Flat for a fossick, and arrived in Southland yesterday. I spent a number of hours on Gemstone Beach/Te Waewae Bay today in their company.

Nicola Gray, finally made it to Gemstone Beach!
Angie Nicholas, fossicking.
The stones here are so different from Hawkes Bay.
John and Nicola on Gemstone Beach – photo by Angie.
A handful of Nicola’s finds – photo by Nicola.
The carpark at Gemstone Beach this morning.

We took a slow meander along the beach, picking up stones, discussing stones – my usual solitary fossicking tends to be a little less meandering and much less interesting. Here are seven of the stones that Nicola and Angie collected, photographed on the beach.

Angie found a few small poppy hematite jaspers – this is perhaps the best of them, a gorgeous stone. The “orbs” are a little smaller than those in a stone I found a few days previously (see the last stone featured in Post 31 – also see Post 33 for three other small poppy jaspers).

Orbicular, or poppy, jasper found by Angie.
Other side of stone.

The next of their finds is probably a colourful brecciated quartzite. It’s been bashed around in the waves but will likely cut well:

Brecciated quartzite.
Another side of the stone.

The third stone is an unusual one, I’ve not seen the likes of it before. It might be a brecciated jasper, and there’s some quartz in there as well:

Brecciated jasper with quartz?
Another side of the stone.

Another brecciated stone, this one with green epidote in it, plus a quartz with coloured mineral staining, including epidote again:

Brecciated stone, with epidote.
Quartz, with epidote and iron oxide.

The final two are a small volcanic stone, possibly amygdaloidal, and a brecciated quartz:

Could be amygdaloidal.
Brecciated quartz.

The next Post features my own finds from today. The first Post in the “Southern Sojourn” Series is here. The Index to the Series is here.