Following my morning fossick at the Back Beach, I let fellow fossicker Chrissy know I was going to check out Gemstone Beach in the afternoon. But I warned her that the beach’s Taunoa Stream might not be fordable and that the forecast was for rain and low temperatures. There was a sprinkling of snow on the tops of the Longwood Range, and the Eastern Fiordland mountains had significant snow cover. However, Chrissy was not deterred, so we met in the Gemstone Beach carpark at 1.30pm, about 90 minutes after high tide. It was cold – nine degrees with a wind, and it started raining shortly into the fossick. As a result, it became bitterly cold and our hands and faces suffered. But we made it over the Taunoa Stream without getting wet gumboots, thanks to both of us wearing waterproof over-trousers.
The rain meant that all the stones on the beach were wet. So we could easily fossick all over, wherever there were stones. And we found a great diversity of very interesting stones. Despite the chilly conditions, we made it down close to the Waimeamea River mouth before turning back. Turning around meant that we turned our backs to the direction from which the wind and rain was coming, a welcome relief. We got back to the carpark just under three hours after setting out. Our backpacks were heavy.
I left my camera in my backpack because of the rain and cold. So I have no photos of the beach from this afternoon. And I couldn’t take photos of the stones until the next day. The next day was also wet and cold, but a couple of brief patches of sunshine in the morning allowed me to snap some images for this Post. It was difficult to select the stones for the Post, given the large number of very interesting finds. I have managed to whittle them down to 18. I took photos of only one side of many of the stones because of time constraints, though two of them had such interesting fronts and backs that I took photos of two sides.
The first double-sided stone is a gorgeous small jasper, only 2 cms long. The white in it stood out on the beach:
The second double-sided stone is also small, 3.5 cms long, a yellow quartzite with some brecciation:
The three largest stones featured in this Post are all 5 cms long: maybe what is a pale brecciated quartzite, a veined jasper, and a predominantly white volcanic stone:
Only one poppy jasper was found this afternoon, by me about halfway back to the carpark. Below it is another interesting jasper I found and a quartz with iron oxide through it:
The diversity of stones on Gemstone Beach is remarkable, and I always come across types of stones I have not seen before, some with amazing colours and patterns inside them. Some of the patterns can be subtle and delicate, and appear only upon close inspection:
Three more of my finds:
Once again, Chrissy found more hydrogrossular garnets than I did (not that it’s a competition). However, below are three interesting ones I put in my bag:
Information on the different types of Gemstone Beach hydrogrossular garnets can be found here.
In Part 13, I return to Gemstone Beach for an 80 minute fossick at high tide, collecting 60 more stones for tumble polishing. The Post also contains information on breccia. The Index to the first ten Posts in this Series can be found here.
That small first jasper is even more stunning up close! I’ve not yet had a chance to go through my finds yet but it definitely was worth the cold hands and face! I think I will invest in a better quality pair of waterproof leggings, some fingerless gloves and a longer raincoat though!