March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 16, Fossicking East of the Taunoa Stream, Gemstone Beach, Tuesday 18 March

The Taunoa Stream flowing too deep and swift for me to cross this morning.

This morning’s 47 finds from Gemstone Beach.

Thulite.

Yesterday I travelled to a dentist in Gore who treated a sore tooth for me. It also rained a lot in Southland yesterday, so when I visited Gemstone Beach this morning I anticipated it might be difficult to cross the Taunoa Stream. This turned out to be the case, even though it was low tide and the stream is at its most shallow as it then enters the sea. It was a cold morning, nine degrees when I arrived, but some light rain had just died out. I fossicked between the carpark and the Taunoa Stream, where there were a couple of new large patches of stones. I also crossed The Stream With No Name and walked for about 350 metres eastwards, towards Monkey Island – there were scatterings of stones in this area. The “unnamed stream” on the aerial photo near the start of this Post is The Stream With No Name. A few other people were on the beach despite the cold weather. One vehicle actually drove over soft sand to park on the bank of the Taunoa Stream. One couple I talked to came from Munich in Germany. When I left at 11am, with 47 finds for tumble polishing, the temperature had risen to only 11 degrees. Among the seven finds featured below is a small pink thulite found in The Stream With No Name.

The vehicle parked on Gemstone Beach near the Taunoa Stream, about 200 metres from the carpark.

The Taunoa Stream flowing too deep and swift for me to cross this morning.

The Stream With No Name is a much smaller stream the flows across the beach just to the left of the carpark. A couple of newly deposited patches of stones could be found on either side of the stream.

One of the new patches of stones.

Four of the people on Gemstone Beach this morning, checking out the stones. They are just over the other side of the small Stream With No Name.

Scatterings of stones along the beach, east of the carpark.

This morning’s 47 finds from Gemstone Beach.

The pink thulite I found is very similar to January 2022, Stone of the Day #5 – there’s also some information in that Post on thulite. Thulite is the national gemstone of Norway where it was first discovered in 1820.

Thulite.

Other side of thulite stone.

Next is a larger stone which has an intriguing texture – the green in it will be epidote:

Other side of stone.

Geology.com has a good introduction to epidote, though a bit technical in places.

It was the bright white in this stone that initially caught my eye:

Other side of stone.

I like the interesting veins in this white stone:

The small white crystals give significant added interest to this brown stone, which has a slightly different brown dominating each side:

The last two stones are a green brecciated one and another white one, probably a quartzite, with interesting veins:

Part 17 features a tiny gorgeous patterned jasper found on Gemstone Beach. An Index to this Series is 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