Month: February 2024

Found during a 90 minute fossick on Gemstone Beach, Te Waewae Bay, this afternoon – five of them are green or have significant amounts of green in them, all six have tiny details making them attractive and intriguing:

Lots of fine detail in this small stone!

Tiny white crystals!

Large white quartz band, green epidote mineral.

Attractive shades of blue-green.

Streaks of green.

Small breccia stone.

Part 14 is about music, beaches, and stones. The Series Index is here.

Today I visited Gemstone Beach a couple of hours after low tide. I made my way down to the Waimeamea River lagoon to see what state it was in. Again, the lower half of the lagoon was dry. I now think this part drains when it’s low tide and fills at high tide, the first time I have seen this phenomenon in about six years visiting this beach. And I think the water mainly seeps back and forth between the sea and the lagoon through the banks of stones.

Low tide, dry lagoon.

Succulents in an area behind the beach.

A white succulent flower.

In front of the carpark…

People sometimes leave stones here.

Climbing up to get the photo of the lagoon, I pass by a bed of low-lying succulents which today had produced a tiny white flower (see photo above). I posted a photo of it, along with some of my stones, on the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils” and a member commented: “Gentianella saxosa, seems to be exclusively found on Southland and Stewart Island beaches!” Also above are photos of a low concrete pillar in front of the Gemstone Beach carpark where people sometimes leave stones they have collected but decided not to take home. Occasionally I will leave trace fossil stones here, along with a few other colourful stones.

Below are four sets of photos relating to the finding of a stone. Each set shows the stone lying on the beach as I come across it, then a more close-up photo of the stone when spotted, followed by a photo taken later of the stone in sunlight, and finally a detailed close-up showing the texture and composition of the stone. The first is a kind of poppy (orbicular) jasper – I wasn’t sure it was a poppy jasper even when looking at it closely on the beach – only later looking at the close-up of its composition was I able to so identify it.

This kind of jasper is usually quite small but it stands out brightly when wet, when the waves wash up and down the beach. I also often specifically look for a flash of red when walking through the shallows of the Taunoa Stream and Waimeamea River lagoon. This one was found on the beach, just past the Taunoa Stream.

The second set of photos is of a banded argillite I spotted in the shallows of the Waimeamea lagoon:

Banded stones often catch my eye – the contrasting colours of the bands stand out.

The third set of photos is of a small light-brown hydrogrossular garnet spotted in a more sandy part of the beach.

This was on a wet patch of beach. The next set of photos illustrates how hydrogrossular garnets often stand out even when the beach is dry:

Among the other stones I found today was this gorgeous small black-and-white hydrogrossular garnet:

Finally, four other stones:

Probably argillite, maybe trace fossils??

Quartz and epidote.

The next Part in this Series features six small stones. The Series Index is here.

Today’s fossick at Gemstone Beach (Southland) was two hours long, in the afternoon immediately following high tide. The Waimeamea River lagoon was reasonably full when I reached it. I did some stone hunting along the middle part of the lagoon where the water was shallower and running like the river does normally. Leaving the waves meant meeting some sandflies for the first time this trip – they left some itchy bites on my hands and face.

Gemstone Beach and the Waimeamea River. Source: Mapcarta.com.

Waimeamea River lagoon. Source: Mapcarta.com.

Waimeamea River lagoon when I was there today.

At the middle of the lagoon’s length, where I fossicked also.

Gemstone Beach stones.

More Gemstone Beach stones.

Two of today’s most interesting finds:

Mainly quartz with black and green minerals.

Very interesting composition to this small stone.

The next stone could be a trace fossil one, but I am unsure. It’s very different from other trace fossil stones I have found but the markings in it could be traces (burrows). The close-up photos seem to me to indicate that it is a fine-grained mudstone which would be consistent with trace fossils.

One side of the stone.

Other side of the stone.

Another six stones that I collected this afternoon:

Very smooth pink and white stone with an interesting vein across the middle.

Very smooth fine-grained green stone, with light coloured inclusions.

Brecciated argillite.

Green epidote mineral.

Nice green hydrogrossular garnet.

Trace fossil in red mudstone.

The next Part features stones and a small white flower. The Series Index is here.

I usually fossick at Gemstone Beach, and its extension along Te Waewae Bay, while the tide is going out. This minimises the chances of being caught by a wave and getting wet gumboots However, sometimes the timing of things means I fossick while the tide is coming in, as I did today. The waves were more energetic and moving faster and further up the beach than the previous few days, so I did get wet gumboots, despite being vigilant and trying hard to avoid it.

The weather was cool, windy and sometimes rainy this morning. I walked all the way to the mouth of the Waimeamea River in order to check out the drained lagoon I had noticed two days ago. It turns out that it was only half of the lagoon that was dry, and I noticed some “seepages” – areas where water from the lagoon was flowing beneath and through the barrier of stones to the sea. Maybe a little more water has been flowing through the seepages than has been coming down the river. I spotted a couple of pied shags (kāruhiruhi) on the bank of the lagoon there. On the way back, I was surprised to see the previously dry part of the lagoon seemed to be partially filled up again – half an hour made a big difference. Maybe the waves of the incoming tide were bringing some water in.

The lagoon at 10.11am, on my way west. Looking the same as two days ago.

The lagoon at 11.20am, on my way back. Not entirely sure where all the water came from – at least some of it could have come from the incoming tide.

A “seepage” – water flowing from the lagoon through the stones to the sea.

The two pied shags on the edge of the part of the lagoon that had water in it.

The waves were coming higher up the beach than the previous few days. This fellow fossicker and I were making sure we got back to the carpark before we were pushed up against the cliffs.

I had brief chats on the beach with two fossickers today, both times near the carpark. One was from Te Aroha in the Waikato, the other from Cromwell in Central Otago.

Two of my best finds today, both gorgeous – a small quartzite(?) and a small poppy jasper:

Small brecciated quartzite, I think.

Small poppy jasper.

Three green stones from my finds:

A range of nice green hues in this one.

Epidote in quartz?

Argillite, a kind of “turtle-back” pattern.

The best from the rest:

Interesting hydrogrossular garnet – transparent on left, opaque to right.

Maybe a quartzite?

Maybe a mudstone/argillite?

Part 11 in this Series is here. The Series Index is here.

This morning I spent two and a half hours on Gemstone Beach with Sascha Stoddart, a fellow fossicker from Timaru. In February 2022, I had joined Sascha and her friend Pauline on the Timaru South beach. Sascha sometimes turns her stone finds into pendants and other jewelry using wire wrapping. When we started, it was warm – 21 degrees – but windy, and rain was threatening. The rain eventually came for a while, and the wind got stronger especially on our way back to the carpark. The temperature had fallen to about 17 degrees at that stage. About one-third of the way through our fossick, I took some photos of a pair of paradise shelducks standing on the cliff at the back of the beach.

A couple of paradise shelducks on the cliff called out as we walked by.

Gemstone Beach at 10 am this morning. Rain is just visible in the far distance.

The rain gets closer.

The same scene as previously, the rain arrives.

Despite the wind and rain, we managed to find quite a few interesting stones. Sascha found a couple of small poppy jaspers.

One of Sascha’s small poppy jasper – photo taken on a rain-darkened beach.

Hematite is apparent in the stone.

Below are two small jaspers I collected:

Small bright dark-red jasper.

One side of a small jasper.

Other side of the same small red jasper.

Other stones I found this morning:

Epidote green, plus other material.

A variety of quartz/quartzite.

Small trace fossils in light coloured argillite.

Part 10, a Gemstone Beach fossick when the waves were bigger, can be found here. The Series Index is here.

This morning I spent two hours fossicking along the Te Waewae Bay coast starting at Gemstone Beach.

Gemstone Beach in front of the carpark when I started this morning.

Gemstone Beach in front of the carpark as I was returning just after noon.

The weather was warmer than its has been lately, though the tide was coming in so I had to take care with the waves. It turned out not to be a very productive time today, and I ended up bringing only 32 stones back with me. Just before I reached the Waimeamea River, I met up with Owen from Riverton fossicking with his wife – he showed me some of the hydrogrossular garnets he was finding. I found only three small nice ones this morning. However, I did find a large “roughie” – a stone that is not at all smooth – that may a hydrogrossular garnet, a variety that sometimes is called the “mother rock”. It’s quite glassy yet rough, and I initially thought it may be quartz. However closer inspection leads me to believe it is an example of a Type 7 stone in my classification of types of hydrogrossular garnet in my TumbleStone Two Post.

The second “roughie” I picked up looks like it may be a kind of yellow quartzite, not something I often find on this beach.

Despite not finding much, I did find another small poppy jasper and a nice pink thulite.

The four most interesting of my remaining finds this morning:

I got a surprise when I reached the lagoon of the Waimeamea River – it was dry! Maybe the river had breached the stone banks through to the sea further up the beach. I fossicked along the dry lagoon bed but didn’t find anything worthwhile mainly because dry stones don’t show any colour or patterns.

The dry lagoon of the Waimeamea River today. The river first emerges at the coast way up at the most distant of the cliffs facing us.

Waimeamea River lagoon three days ago.

Looking back from the dry lagoon bed at the little hill I took the previous photos from.

Dry stones, on the lagoon bed.

The next Part describes a Gemstone Beach fossick with a friend. The Series Index is here.

This afternoon’s fossick with Chrissy along the Te Waewae Bay coast, starting at Gemstone Beach, yielded a few more nice finds. My favourite was a large pink thulite, seven centimetres long.

A close second was a small poppy (orbicular) jasper, just under three centimetres long .

This gorgeous dark red jasper is just as nice!

I found this stone which has a complex composition:

And this stone, perhaps a mudstone, exhibits offset stress fractures within it, a good example of this type:

And a few more I found today:

Maybe amygdaloidal – a volcanic rock with tiny air bubbles that have been infilled with minerals.

The dark green stripes caught my eye.

A small greenie.

The next Part details a fossick that produced fewer stones but still some interesting ones, plus a surprise at the Waimeamea River lagoon. The Series Index is here.

Today on Gemstone Beach, during my usual fossick (three hours long, from the carpark to the Waimeamea River and back), I started off in light rain but finished in sunshine. It was 12 degrees when I started off at 11am, a bit warmer when I finished. At times I had a look for stones at the back of the beach, near the cliffs. However, there had been some cliff crumbling recently and I took care to check the steep slope above me (there is a sign in the carpark warning about the cliffs). Halfway through my fossick, I had a chat to a man from Winton who had not visited the beach before.

Rain clouds above Gemstone Beach in front of the carpark today. Close to high tide.

Large sections of this strip of the coast have lots of stones to walk over.

The crumbling cliffs at the back of the beach.

Part of a crumbling cliff.

I saw more hydrogrossular garnets on the beach than yesterday, though no large ones. I came across lots of trace fossil stones. I also found quite a few colourful and patterned stones, good for tumble polishing, including a bright red jasper (or is it a quartzite??), a dark green quartzite and a “pinkie” (probably thulite).

This bright red jasper (brecciated, with quartz) stood out on the beach. Other red jaspers there tend to be darker.

Gorgeous green quartzite, with translucent quartz veins.

Pink stone, probably thulite.

Below are three of the trace fossil argillite stones I found today. In the first two, the trace is darker than the host rock, which is unusual. In the third one, the traces are lighter and often quite faint.

Trace fossil stone.

Trace fossil stone.

The trace fossils in this stone are often quite faint.

The next stone is a very unusual one, with its two sides being quite different and yet both being fascinating.

One side of this stone has these tiny light wavy lines.

The other side contains an interesting pattern and some brecciated inclusions.

Eight of the other stones I collected today:

The first stone I found today, on the edge of the Taunoa Stream, not far from the carpark.

Tiny white crystals.

Light coloured spotted argillite is my guess for this one.

Iron oxide and quartz??

I like the subtle distribution of dark red and white.

This stone is brighter in colour in person. Maybe a quartzite??

Interesting “spots”.

A variety of quartz/quartzite?? I appreciate the tiny detailed pattern.

The green mineral in this stone is epidote, I think.

Perhaps the nicest of the hydrogrossular garnets I found today.

Some of the stones I left on the beach:

The TumbleStoneTwo home page for Gemstone Beach is here.

Gemstone Beach and the Waimeamea River. Source: Mapcarta.com.

Gemstone Beach. Source: Google Maps.

Waimeamea River lagoon. Source: Mapcarta.com.

The next Part of this Series features a large pink thulite and a small red poppy jasper – see here. The Series Index is here.