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.
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).
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.
The next stone is a very unusual one, with its two sides being quite different and yet both being fascinating.
Eight of the other stones I collected today:
Some of the stones I left on the beach:
The TumbleStoneTwo home page for Gemstone Beach is here.
The next Part of this Series features a large pink thulite and a small red poppy jasper – see here. The Series Index is here.
I love the photo “some of the stones I left on the beach” – it made me have a little giggle to myself!
How common is it to find hydrogrossular garnet on Gemstone Beach? The one pictured above is a beaut.
Hi Anna. In a three hour fossick, I can sometimes find only two or three small ones that are not particularly beautiful. However, on other days, I can find four or five very nice ones along with a dozen others. It is not easy to recognise them – it takes a person, under guidance, at least two or three fossicks to learn what they are like. They tend to feel waxy, but can often look like quartz or even a shiny argillite in certain light. On Gemstone Beach itself, in front of the carpark, they don’t often appear (although they can) – you need to move around 300 to 400 metres past the Taunoa Stream (see here for where the Taunoa Stream is https://tumblestoneblog.wordpress.com/2023/07/28/ts2-gemstone-beach-and-its-stones-an-introduction-for-the-passing-motorist-part-two-main-features-of-the-beach/).
My eye is most definitely untrained but I’d love to find one. In their natural state straight off the beach they have a real allure, I think.