Today I drove from Christchurch to Ward, a small town south of Blenheim. I stayed there at the motel overnight before driving to Picton early on Friday morning to catch a Cook Strait ferry – the one hour drive to Picton suits my timetable. Ronnie and Ian, who manage the Flaxbourne Motel and Camp Ground, have shown interest in TumbleStone Blog, pinning a printout of my Ward Beach page on the Camp Ground noticeboard.
Ward Beach is six kilometres from Ward, and I spent 90 minutes there in the early afternoon before going to the motel. It had just rained when I arrived so all of the stones on the beach were wet, a real bonus.
I found a nice black agate-veined stone early on in my fossick, within the first 10 metres of stepping onto the beach in front of the carpark.
I later found this lighter-coloured version whose veins had suffered some stress:
I looked out especially for agate- and quartz-veined stones, as well as for trace fossils (zoophycos) in limestone pebbles. The following three stones are: a small black agate veined one; one that has whitish spots that look like crystals but seem less straightforward than that; and a trace fossil stone.
Four stones that are mainly limestone, a couple with flint inclusions:
Finally, another six I collected this afternoon:
I collected a few stones with flint inclusions, a mix of harder with softer materials – I may try tumbling these sometime to see the outcome. Many of the interesting stones at Ward Beach are soft limestone and are not likely to tumble-polish well.
On Friday morning, my Cook Strait ferry crossing ran on time and the sea was amazingly as flat as a pancake. I arrived home in Whanganui in the afternoon, ending my “Southern Sojourn” of fossicking.
An Index to the “Southern Sojourn 2023” Series is here.
Glad you made it home safely! I popped into Gemstone Beach this morning – it’s a shadow of its former self! Couldn’t even cross the Taunoa Stream (no banks left) and hardly any stones from the carpark to the Taunoa. It’s all sand and a heap of wood! 😔 Looks like your Southern Fossicking was timed just right!!
Thanks for the up-date. Things can change a lot there from time to time. Got 8 of my barrels revolving, all with Gemstone Beach finds. I’ve been checking on your blog from time to time – keep up the good work!