March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 18, Fossick Twelve on Gemstone Beach, Thursday 20 March

Wendy and Rudy, Gemstone Beach.

My Gemstone Beach finds today.

A mudstone that was crushed then flooded with green epidote.

My time on Gemstone Beach today was three and a half hours, arriving on a sunny morning at 9am, a couple of hours before low tide. The temperature started off at nine degrees but reached about 18 degrees by noon. There is still a lot of sand on the beach, and I initially searched among the stones closest to the cliffs to the west of the Taunoa Stream. These stones were all wet from overnight dew and I found some good ones there, including a very nice hydrogrossular garnet and one of the larger poppy jaspers I have yet collected. NOTE: I later worked out this was my 11th fossick this trip to Gemstone Beach, not my 12th!

The Taunoa Stream – highish but fordable for me.

Lots of sand on the other side of the stream.

The stones near the cliffs – when wet, as they were today, they can provide interesting specimens.

Gemstone Beach stones, in the shade near the cliffs.

An area where I found some interesting stones.

Hunting stones can sometimes be a solitary activity – just you, the stones, the waves and the weather. Other times, it can be a social event, going with a companion or meeting up with other people. Today it was more of a social event for me. Down near the Waimeamea River, I encountered a couple of fossickers who turned out to live in Taranaki. Rudy was originally from Germany and Wendy, a Kiwi, is a keen reader of this TumbleStone blog, so she was interested to meet me. I spent some time with them and we managed to cross the Waimeamea River, which is still flowing across the beach. I carried on to the end of the lagoon before turning around. On my way back to the carpark, I ran into Shona, Lee and Brian, on their last day at Gemstone Beach (they have been based down here for seven days). Closer to the Taunoa Stream, I stopped to chat with a man from Westport who had stopped off at Gemstone Beach to find a stone to take back to his granddaughter.

The local gold miner on his way over the Taunoa Stream, his fox terrier trotting along behind.

Wendy and Rudy, Gemstone Beach.

In front of the carpark at the end of the fossick.

My Gemstone Beach finds today.

Below are photos of seven finds. The first is another small jasper with spectacular patterns:

The poppy jasper I found near the cliffs – the poppies (orbs) are not the most impressive but still a good find. And, found not far away, a nice white hydrogrossular garnet:

Poppy jasper.

Hydrogrossular garnet.

I picked up the next stone because of the white lightning on a dark background. While taking its photo, I decided it could very well be a hydrogrossular garnet:

Two different types of brecciated stone with green epidote in them. The first one may not tumble polish well as there is quite a hollow in it, but it is so vibrant that I think it’s worth trying:

A mudstone that was crushed then flooded with green epidote.

Maybe a brecciated quartzite.

Finally, a largish trace fossil stone with dark traces:

Part 19 is entitled “A Quad Bike, Seven Dogs and Two Horses 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