Today, starting at Gemstone Beach, I walked my usual fossicking trail along the Te Waewae Bay coast to the Waimeamea River mouth, a distance of 1.5 kilometres. Once there, I decided to venture about another 200 metres further before turning back. This route consists of Sections Two and Three in the TumbleStoneTwo Post, “Gemstone Beach: Location on Te Waewae Bay”.
I had started out at 11 am with some sun and a lot of wind, and with rain visible in the far distance. After about an hour, when the rain came closer, I returned to my car to get my raincoat. And I needed it for the next four hours. The conditions were cold and often wet. But the rain also made all the stones wet so my fossicking scan could move beyond the waves’ edge. I met up with Chrissy Hellyer just before she got to the lagoon and I had her company for the last hour or so.
An unusual stone or two always seems to crop up, such as today’s spectacular little mossy jasper.
One small dark red jasper I found turned out to have amazing detail in it when I zoomed in close:
A stone with unusual colours, maybe a quartzite:
This stones seems to have some tiny orbicular-type material in it, along with small patches of green epidote:
There are always black volcanic stones with white crystals to be found, and each one is unique:
More finds:
Part 21 reports on another windy fossick with part of it delayed on the beach at the carpark due to the high tide and energetic waves. The Series Index is here.
How many of the finds you feature on your blog do you end up tumbling, and how many of those have a satisfying finish?
Hi Anna. I probably tumble 95% of the featured finds, though it might take a few months to get through them all – the occasional one might look great but have a significant flaw such as a hole. Most of them are likely to have a satisfying finish – occasionally the stone material might not take a polish.