September 2024 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 5, Gemstone Beach, Sunday 8 September: Fifteen Finds from a First Fossick

My first fossick on Gemstone Beach, Orepuki, Southland, began this morning at 9.15 am, at low tide. It lasted three hours. The weather was cold, 8 degrees climbing later to 12, with a chilly breeze. I just managed to cross the rain-swollen Taunoa Stream, and was able to make my way to the Waimeamea River mouth.

Gemstone Beach, in front of the carpark, looking northwest.

Taunoa Stream, after rain.

Looking towards the Southern Fiordland mountains.

Walking towards the Waimeamea River mouth.

A bank of stones maybe seven to eight metres high was holding back the Waimeamea River from crossing the beach, so I could easily make my way past the river mouth.

The bank of stones holding back the Waimeamea River.

A large seeepage in the bank of stones, which may in a day or two break through to allow the river to flow across the beach.

Paradise shelduck at Waimeamea River mouth.

Not long after turning back, one particularly strong wave caught up with me, wetting me to mid-thigh. I need to be more vigilant! Nearing the Taunoa Stream, I passed four other fossickers, and there were five passing tourists on the beach near the carpark. The cold weather was keeping the number of visitors down on this weekend early afternoon.

Fifteen of today’s finds are featured in this Post. Today’s most interesting one was perhaps this hematite jasper with quartz or maybe chalcedony in it:

Hematite jasper with quartz or chalcedony?

Other side of stone.

I found a handful of small poppy jaspers, including this one which was in the Taunoa Stream:

Small poppy jasper.

Other jasper finds included these two:

Jasper-quartz with some green epidote?

Another small jasper.

Three other finds which have some purple in them:

Gemstone Beach.

Gemstone Beach. Igneous stone?

Gemstone Beach breccia.

I came across one small thulite stone with patches of intense pink in it:

Thulite.

Some bright green stones can be found on Gemstone Beach. Here is a nice small one with some white quartz in it, the green probably due to epidote:

Bright green stone.

Another green-coloured stone, darker but with an interesting composition:

Gemstone Beach.

Some of the white quartz stones on the beach have an intriguing internal structure:

A stone whose colours and patterns caught my eye:

Gemstone Beach is known for its hydrogrossular garnets, waxy stones that come in a variety of colours. I didn’t see many today but did collect three nice small brown specimens, including this one:

Brown hydrogrossular garnet.

Another well-know type of Gemstone Beach stone is argillite with trace fossils. Again I didn’t see many today, but here is one I picked up to put in my bag:

Today’s trace fossil stone.

Finally, a larger stone (9 cms long) that will go home to the rock garden. This is a beautiful grey banded argillite that I couldn’t walk past:

Large banded argillite, Gemstone Beach.

The next Post in this Series records a visit to the Back Beach at Riverton Aparima. Part 1 can be found here.

Author: tumblestoneblog

Retired Academic, male, living in the New Zealand countryside near Whanganui with his wife as well as Jasper the dog, Fluffy the cat, Dancer and Penny, the horses, and a shed half-full of stones. Email john.tumblestone@gmail.com. View all posts by tumblestoneblog