March 2025 – Page 2 – TumbleStone

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 13, The Beach Past the Back Beach, Riverton Aparima, Thursday 13 March

This afternoon I spent an hour looking for stones at a Riverton beach I call “The Beach Past the Back Beach”. The Post “Some Recently Polished Stones from Riverton” includes a location map for this beach, and the entry for Day 14, Tuesday 2 March 2021 in this Post has photos and more information on it. I initially parked at the Back Beach, at the end of the road. While I was taking a photo of the Back Beach, a young man asked me if it were dolphins that he could see swimming in the bay. I would not have noticed them if he hadn’t mentioned them! There were about six Hector’s dolphins there, the same kind that I had seen at Ward Beach on 27 February, on my way south.

Hector’s dolphins, Back Beach, Riverton Aparima.

The guy on the rock was the one who pointed out the dolphins to me. He went to get a closer view.

The view of the Back Beach from the walking track over to The Beach Past the Back Beach.

I then walked over the sand dunes to The Beach Past the Back Beach. I collected 33 stones there today – good stones are not as common as at Gemstone Beach but some interesting ones can be found.

Seven of this afternoon’s finds are featured below. The first is a light tan colour with pieces of quartz in it:

There’s intense epidote green in this stone:

In contrast, there’s a light pink in a large part of this next stone. This is often due to the presence of manganese:

The “swirls” are solely on one side of this fourth stone:

Another example of one of those small red jaspers that, when viewed close-up, turns out to have a fascinating composition:

When I picked up the next small stone on the beach, I could see there was something interesting to be seen at one end of it. The close-up confirms this:

The final stone featured in this Post is a small argillite with a light-coloured pattern which includes three or four trace fossils:

Part 14 reports on a Gemstone Beach fossick which included the finding of a petrified wood stone. An Index to this Series is here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 12, A Stormy Sea and Swollen Streams at Gemstone Beach, Wednesday 12 March

Looking back after crossing the Taunoa Stream.

Today’s 67 finds from Gemstone Beach.

At 2pm, I arrived at Gemstone Beach to find lots of cars in the carpark. There were quite a few people on the beach in front of the carpark and along to the Taunoa Stream (see here for an idea of the main features of the beach). It was a cool but dry afternoon, high tide had been at 12.18pm. I spent two hours looking for stones, collecting a total of 67 finds. Halfway through the fossick, I had a brief chat with the local gold miner who described the sea as “stormy” – energetic waves, lots of foam and driftwood, swollen streams, and the stones had been turned over a bit. The Taunoa Stream was too high for most people to ford – I just managed it in my big gumboots. A kilometre westwards, the Waimeamea River was flowing strongly through the stones to the sea.

Some of the people on Gemstone Beach yesterday. A stormy sea.

Taunoa Stream, swollen with recent rain. The stream has cut down into the beach, leaving a high bank on the carpark side.

Looking back after crossing the Taunoa Stream.

Driftwood on the beach.

More driftwood, at the high tide mark, near Waimeamea River mouth, Gemstone Beach.

The Waimeamea River flowing to the sea. Over a metre deep and moving strongly. Here, a wave is sweeping up into it.

Another view of the Waimeamea River.

Wave at the mouth of the Waimeamea River. There was good fossicking along the short bank of the river between the sea and the cliff.

Today’s 67 finds from Gemstone Beach.

On my return to the carpark, when I was looking for stones on the edge of the Taunoa Stream, I talked with Tim and Martin from near Palmerston North. Tim has a cafe and museum which features beach finds including stones, including petrified wood. We discussed the kinds of stones to be found on Gemstone Beach. I promised to send Tim some trace fossil stones and some petrified wood from Slope Point when I got back home in April.

Eight of my finds are featured below. When I looked closely at the first one, what caught my eye were the densely packed tiny white crystals.

A small brown hydrogrossular garnet:

Hydrogrossular garnet.

Other side of hydrogrossular garnet.

I find this type of sugary quartz very attractive, both its texture and pastel hues – and they often tumble polish well:

An intriguing stone, probably my favourite find today, although the photo doesn’t do it justice:

The first of the next two finds is a jasper. The second could also be jasper but maybe a mudstone, I am not sure. I like the colours in both stones:

I think these last two could be different varieties of quartzite – nice and smooth and full of detail:

Part 13 features a fossick on The Beach Past the Back Beach, Riverton Aparima. An Index to this Series is here.

Index to “March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip” Series: Part Two, Posts 9 to 18

The Index to Posts 1 to 8 can be found here. In this Index, you can click on a link to be taken to the relevant Post. The photos above each link give you an idea of some of the stones that feature in that Post.

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The small cove at the western end of the Back Beach.

Today’s nine finds.

The Back Beach.

Part 9 – Nine Finds from the Back Beach, Riverton Aparima, Friday 7 March

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My Gemstone Beach turning around point, near the Waimeamea River lagoon.

My finds this morning, about 60 stones.

Part 10 – Cold and Wet at Gemstone Beach, Saturday 8 March

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Chrissy’s phone photo of me on the way down to the beach, Slope Point.

My 90 finds from Slope Point today.

Part 11 – “Subtle Colours and Patterns”, 90 Finds from Slope Point, Monday 10 March

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Another view of the Waimeamea River.

Today’s 67 finds from Gemstone Beach.

Looking back after crossing the Taunoa Stream.

Part 12 –A Stormy Sea and Swollen Streams at Gemstone Beach, Wednesday 12 March

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Hector’s dolphins, Back Beach, Riverton Aparima.

Part 13 – The Beach Past the Back Beach, Riverton Aparima, Thursday 13 March

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The other four of today’s stone hunting party.

My Gemstone Beach finds today.

Chrissy and Ohla at the Waimeamea River mouth today.

Ohla the dog. Gemstone Beach.

Part 14 – Five Fossickers, a Dog and Petrified Wood on Gemstone Beach, Friday 14 March

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At Gemstone Beach yesterday, a few people had crossed the Taunoa Stream, walking westwards.

Today’s 75 finds from Gemstone Beach.

Part 15 – Colours and Shapes from Gemstone Beach, Saturday 15 March

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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.

This morning’s 47 finds from Gemstone Beach.

One of the new patches of stones.

Part 16 – Fossicking East of the Taunoa Stream, Gemstone Beach, Tuesday 18 March

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The fossickers down near the Waimeamea River this morning.

My 50 finds today.

Part 17 – A Tiny Gorgeous Patterned Jasper, Gemstone Beach, Wednesday 19 March

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Wendy and Rudy, Gemstone Beach.

My Gemstone Beach finds today.

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

Gemstone Beach stones, in the shade near the cliffs.

Part 18 – Fossick Twelve on Gemstone Beach, Thursday 20 March

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For Parts 19 to 32, see here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 11, “Subtle Colours and Patterns”, 90 Finds from Slope Point, Monday 10 March

Looking towards where the track comes down to the beach.

My 90 finds from Slope Point today.

Very similar to a Kakanui bryozoan fossil stone.

Fragment of a jasper.

Slope Point petrified wood.

I drove 90 minutes to Slope Point yesterday, in the company of Chrissy. I always try to visit there at least a couple of times each trip south. We arrived just after noon and just before high tide. The sea was reasonably calm despite a strong swell being apparent. We spent about 2½ hours on a small Slope Point beach, the one featured in this 2023 Post. Then it was a slow climb back up the steep track to the car with our finds. We paused partway for me to take a side-trip to a small cove located down an even steeper slope. A large sea lion had somehow made its way up to that point of the track and had hunkered down in the long grass. It poked its head up and we carefully skirted around it.

The small Slope Point beach we visited.

Chrissy on the way down to the beach. Slope Point itself, where the tourists go, is straight ahead, just over her head in the middle background.

Chrissy’s phone photo of me on the way down to the beach, Slope Point.

Looking towards where the track comes down to the beach.

Chrissy’s phone photo of the sea lion that was located half way up the track, in long grass near a large flax bush. Slope Point.

Chrissy’s phone photo of me down in the small cove.

My 90 finds from Slope Point today.

The beach is only about 250 metres long, but there’s a lot of stones there. The waves have a lot of energy so care has to be taken to keep your boots dry. On Gemstone Beach, I tend to walk along slowly until a stone catches my eye. On this Slope Point beach, a more effective strategy is to take a step and bend down and look carefully at the stones before taking another step. This is because, as Jocelyn Thornton notes in her “Gemstones” booklet about Slope Beach stones: “At first glance they appear dark, but closer examination reveals a multitude of subtle colours and patterns” (see page 35 here).

Slope Point stones.

More Slope Point stones.

Slope Point stones.

We didn’t find any spherulitic rhyolite or fossil punga – see the first two stones in “Some More Recently Polished Stones from Slope Point and Kakanui” – and we didn’t find any of the brown petrified wood that sometimes has agate in it – see “January 2022, Stone of the Day #10”. I collected 90 stones that caught my eye for some reason (colour, lines, patterns). I thought it was a mediocre fossick until I looked at the stones more closely after getting back to Riverton. Many of them are fascinating! Eighteen of my finds are featured below.

The first one was the most surprising. A small stone that stood out due to its pale yellow clay-like colour, it appears very similar to the bryozoan fossil stones I have found previously at Kakanui. I have not seen anything like this anywhere apart from at Kakanui and its presence at Slope Point came as a complete and unexpected surprise.

Very similar to a Kakanui bryozoan fossil stone.

Another side of the stone.

Another side of the stone.

Another side of the stone.

I suspect the tiny features in the stone are fossils of some kind, some of them being bryzoan.

Another amazing find is this tiny jasper fragment. I spotted its red hue and decided to pick it up for a closer look despite it being so small. I could see enough to let me know it was going to be worth putting in my bag so I could take a closer look via my camera back at the crib.

Fragment of a jasper.

Another side of the jasper fragment.

The next find is a good example of the kind of Slope Point stone that Jocelyn Thornton refers to as containing a “multitude of subtle colours and patterns”. My guess is that it’s a kind of rhyolite:

Other side of stone.

The bright orange in this sedimentary stone caught my eye:

It might be a little soft to tumble polish but I thought I might give it a go. Another one that might be too soft for tumbling, but its pink colour and contrasting textures are interesting:

This one appears to be a breccia, small fragments from different stones cemented together in a fine grained matrix:

A different breccia, darker in colour and slightly larger fragments:

A couple of light brown stones with black spots:

The red in this stone is subtly different from the usual jasper red. It appears to be igneous:

Two lighter coloured stones with complex structures, again good examples of “subtle colours and patterns”:

Two of the darker coloured stones that caught my eye:

The fine white lines in this stone reminded me of lightning:

Two small finds, the first being a quartzy one, the second a granite pebble with well-defined white crystals, probably feldspar:

A type of quartz or quartzite??

Small granite pebble.

Finally, a piece of black petrified wood I brought up from the small cove. When wet, the grain of the wood can’t be seen so this photo is of the dry stone:

Slope Point petrified wood.

We had aching muscles by the time we finished our walk back up the hill to the car. It was then another 90 minute drive back to Riverton, and then Chrissy had another 30 minutes or more back to her home. But it turned out to be well worth it.

The next Post in this Series is “A Stormy Sea and Swollen Streams at Gemstone Beach“. An Index to this Series is here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 10, Cold and Wet at Gemstone Beach, Saturday 8 March

My Gemstone Beach turning around point, near the Waimeamea River lagoon.

My finds this morning, about 60 stones.

I spent just over a couple of hours at Gemstone Beach this morning. No-one else was there when I arrived – it was 12 degrees, there was a cold breeze, and heavy showers were going through. When I left, the temperature had risen to 13 degrees and the beach was again deserted. I did look back once to see one other person in the distance in front of the carpark, but saw no-one else. The periodic rain made most of the stones wet most of the time, so I spent some of the time fossicking away from the waves, close to the cliffs. I managed just to get to the Waimeamea River lagoon but then turned back, earlier than I usually do. I took away about 60 stones, including a good bunch of trace fossils.

Gemstone Beach this morning during one of the brighter moments.

Rain drop on the camera lens.

This photo gives a good sense of the dark clouds moving over Gemstone Beach.

My Gemstone Beach turning around point, near the Waimeamea River lagoon.

My turning around point.

My finds this morning, about 60 stones.

Eleven of my finds are featured below. The first is the largest stone, possibly a type of iron-stained quartz with spectacular patterns:

Other side of stone.

Two much smaller stones – the first is a nice clear banded argillite, not sure what the second is but it has an intriguing composition:

I collected about 15 trace fossils (in argillite) stones. This is the one with the longest trace fossil. The one below it looked initially like a trace fossil but close inspection leads me to believe it is a brecciated stone, probably a mudstone.

Trace fossils in argillite.

Brecciated mudstone?

Another three finds: The first is my favourite – a variety of subtle light hues and veins. The second has some tiny orange crystals that caught my eye. The third has some intense green epidote in its veins.

Two sides of a small hydrogrossular garnet:

Other side of stone.

Finally, two different types of poppy jaspers:

Part 11 is “Subtle Colours and Patterns”, 90 Finds from Slope Point. An Index to this Series is here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 9, Nine Finds from the Back Beach, Riverton Aparima, Friday 7 March

Low tide.

Today’s nine finds.

Just a 30 minute fossick this afternoon on a cold cloudy day with a stiff breeze. The Back Beach is right on Foveaux Strait, with Stewart Island Rakiura on the southern horizon. There are a lot of stones on this beach though it was low tide and few of them were wet.

The Back Beach.

The small cove at the western end of the Back Beach.

Today there was a lot of seaweed on parts of the beach.

A small patch of stones.

Low tide.

Some of the stones at the Back Beach.

Today’s nine finds.

The location of the Back Beach is 30 kilometres east of Gemstone Beach and there are some similarities in the kind of stones from these two beaches. However, in my view, the quality and diversity here are not as good as Gemstone Beach. Some great stones can be found here – see this 2022 Post – but they are harder to find.

Riverton Aparima itself lies about 40 kilometres west of Invercargill. It is the oldest pakeha settlement in Southland. A whaling station was first established here in the mid-1830s. Riverton Rocks, comprising Taramea Bay, Mitchell’s Bay and Henderson Bay, became an important seaside holiday destination. My grandparents owned a crib (holiday home) at Henderson Bay from the late 1950s/early 1960s and I spent many Christmas holidays there as a child.

Here are six of today’s finds. The first two are dark green brecciated stones of a type also found on Gemstone Beach:

Two different small rounded pebbles, the first with a flash of purple, the second with noticeable white quartz pieces within:

The final two featured finds are a nice smooth white stone with interesting inclusions, and a bright orange one:

Part 10 reports on a cold wet fossick at Gemstone Beach, highlighting 11 finds. An Index to this Series is here.

Index to “March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip” Series: Part One, Posts 1 to 8

On 26 February I drove from my home in Whanganui to Wellington to catch a ferry across Cook Strait to Picton. This was the start of a trip down to Riverton, a journey of about 1150 kilometres. As usual, I documented the beaches I visited and the stones I collected for tumble polishing. In this Index, you can click on a link to be taken to the relevant Post. The photos above each link give you an idea of some of the stones that feature in that Post. The first eight Posts in the Series are listed below.

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Ward Beach, looking back towards the carpark and campervan area, from the south.

The 30 stones I collected today.

A view from the side, when I was further south on the beach.

Part 1 – Ward Beach and Hector’s Dolphins, Thursday 27 February

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Looking south from the carpark to Mutu Mutu Point. Timaru South beach.

Today’s 32 finds, Timaru South.

On the beach, Timaru South.

Part 2 – Lunch at Timaru South, Friday 28 February

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The other side of the rock – a lot of small stones have been piled up here, maybe 1 to 2 metres higher than usual. Some patches of larger stones

Today’s 32 finds.

Part 3 – First Fossick at Kakanui’s Seadown Beach, Friday 28 February

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Heron, Kakanui’s Seadown Beach.

This morning’s 54 finds.

Part 4 – Two Visits to Kakanui’s Seadown Beach, Saturday 1 March

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Gemstone Beach this morning, from in front of the carpark.

I collected about 70 stones today.

Part 5 – First Fossick at Gemstone Beach, Monday 3 March

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Gemstone Beach stones.

Today’s 28 finds.

The head of this seepage is about 1.5 to 2 metres high.

The cliffs where the river arrives at the coast.

Shag, Waimeamea River lagoon, Gemstone Beach.

Part 6 – Twenty-Eight Finds from Gemstone Beach, Tuesday 4 March

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Horses and riders, Gemstone Beach.

Today’s 43 finds.

Four horses and riders, encountered beyond the Waimeamea River mouth.

Part 7 – Forty-Three Finds and Four Horses on Gemstone Beach, Wednesday 5 March

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Paragliders over Gemstone Beach.

Today’s collection of finds.

Part 8 – Paragliders Over Gemstone Beach, Thursday 6 March

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For Parts 9 to 18, see here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 8, Paragliders Over Gemstone Beach, Thursday 6 March

Chrissy down by the Waimeamea River lagoon.

Paragliders over Gemstone Beach.

Today I spent four hours on Gemstone Beach (Orepuki, Southland) in the company of Chrissy. We arrived at 10am and left just after 2pm. It was a cool but sunny day. It proved much more productive than the last couple of fossicks – I collected 120 stones, though 30 of them very small ones for use in the tumbler (see “Little Things – The Value of Small Stones”).

A few fossickers on Gemstone Beach this morning.

This small stream (with no name) to the left of the carpark currently soaks into the sand before reaching the sea.

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

Chrissy down by the Waimeamea River lagoon.

Chrissy taking photos of stones, Gemstone Beach.

Gull group on Gemstone Beach.

Today’s collection of finds.

Two paragliders spent an hour or so hovering over the beach before gliding away in the direction of Monkey Island.

Two paragliders, making efficient use of a stiff breeze.

Paragliders over Gemstone Beach.

Eleven of today’s finds are featured below. The first two are small stones, different colours but with really interesting detail when viewed up close. They are both brecciated (fragmented then re-cemented), the second is maybe a quartzite:

A couple of green stones with interesting compositions, likely due to brecciation as well:

Two poppy jaspers with hematite, with different sized orbs. The first stone has a rounded oblong shape, the other is more spherical:

Among the larger stones was this banded argillite with a stress offset, sometimes called an “earthquake stone”, and a sedimentary stone that John Taylor suggests (in a comment in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”) is a “very swirly river deposit”:

Banded argillite with a stress offset.

Sedimentary stone.

A nice smooth quartzy pebble – I like the subdued colour:

It looks like this stone consists of tiny black fragments in a light-coloured matrix:

And the final stone is a hydrogrossular garnet with interesting patterns within it:

Part 9 is entitled “Nine Finds from the Back Beach, Riverton Aparima”. The first Post in this Series is here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 7, Forty-Three Finds and Four Horses on Gemstone Beach, Wednesday 5 March

Horses and riders, Gemstone Beach.

Today’s 43 finds.

Rhyolite.

I spent a couple of hours this morning at Gemstone Beach, just prior to low tide. It started out cold – the temperature was six degrees when I left Riverton but had climbed to ten degrees by the time I got to the beach at Orepuki. However the day was sunny and it was 15 degrees when I left. I saw four horse riders down the beach, had a chat with the local gold miner, and counted 30 other people in front of the carpark when I got back there.

Gemstone Beach at 9 am this morning.

Stones piled up near the cliffs at Gemstone Beach.

Looking back towards the carpark.

Today’s 43 finds.

Four horses and riders, encountered beyond the Waimeamea River mouth.

Horses and riders, Gemstone Beach.

Here are eight of today’s finds. The first is an interesting fine breccia, the matrix being light green with the tiny fragments being mainly white, light to dark hues of green, and orange:

I found two large hydrogrossular garnets todays, both down near the Waimeamea River lagoon . The best is a green stone, six centimetres wide, with maybe the green due to chromium in it – parts of it have a slightly glassy look:

This poppy jasper which is one of the larger I have found though it is only four centimetres wide. I came across it while looking among dry stones near the base of the cliff:

Two igneous (volcanic) stones, both a type of rhyolite. The first is banded ignimbrite, and tends to tumble polish very well. The second is a brighter orange-brown, and a type I see from time to time on Gemstone Beach – I look for specimens with the least number of small pits so I can tumble polish them.

Banded ignimbrite.

Rhyolite.

This is maybe amygdaloidal, an infilled volcanic stone. The white and orange in it make it an interesting stone:

A nice grey trace fossil in argillite:

For more examples of trace fossil stones, see stones Gn40 to Gn63 in this Post.

Finally, I like the two dominant colours in this stone:

The next Post in this Series is “Paragliders Over Gemstone Beach”. An Index to the Series is here.

March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 6, Twenty-Eight Finds from Gemstone Beach, Tuesday 4 March

Gemstone Beach stones.

Shag, Waimeamea River lagoon, Gemstone Beach.

Today’s 28 finds.

This morning’s visit to Gemstone Beach was not as productive as it usually has been in the past – I collected only 28 stones. I am getting more selective but I also seemed to come across fewer collectibles today. It was 12 degrees when I arrived, with rain and hail forecast for the afternoon. There were maybe eight to ten other people there, a few wandering west of the Taunoa Stream (see here for a map of the beach showing the Taunoa Stream). I walked down to the Waimeamea River mouth, just over a kilometre from the carpark.

Gemstone Beach this morning. A lot of sand on this near part of the beach, but lots of stones further on.

Gemstone Beach stones.

Today’s 28 finds.

Currently the Waimeamea River is blocked by stones from reaching the sea. However I counted 33 seepages of water through these stones in front of the lagoon over a 300 metre long stretch. I also spotted a photo-worthy shag perched on a stick in the middle of the lagoon.

Some of the seepages in front of the Waimeamea River lagoon.

The head of this seepage is about 1.5 to 2 metres high.

My turning around point – where the Waimeamea River comes out at the coast.

The cliffs where the river arrives at the coast.

Waimeamea lagoon and the bank of stones that keeps it from the sea. The bank as shown is maybe 5 to 6 metres high.

A shag on a stick in the middle of the Waimeamea River lagoon.

Shag, Waimeamea River lagoon, Gemstone Beach.

I got back to my car just as a decent shower of rain started.

Five of today’s finds are featured below. Perhaps the most attractive is this semi-transparent stone with interesting layers within it:

Another very good find was this small poppy jasper:

A couple of dark stones with significant red in them. The first is likely to be an amygdaloidal stone (infilled volcanic stone) – the orange parts of it caught my eye. The second stone has less red in it.