March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 24, A Dozen From Gemstone Beach, Thursday 27 March

Ohla having a sitdown next to me. Gemstone Beach.

My finds from Gemstone Beach today.

My second last Gemstone Beach fossick for this trip was this afternoon. I was there for just over three hours with Chrissy and Ohla her dog. We arrived just after high tide and just as the rain was dying away. Early in the fossick, we chatted with a young couple from California, one of them having studied geology at Otago University. The sun came out as we walked west. Note that the beach photos below were taken on my phone.

When I arrived, the beach to the right was deserted.

The Stream With No Name, just to the left of the carpark. Two people were here.

Around 12.30pm, there were a few passing tourists on the beach, despite the rain.

The Taunoa Stream, running swift and wide but shallow.

Chrissy looking for stones, after the sun had been out for a while.

Ohla having a sitdown next to me. Gemstone Beach.

The Waimeamea River, held back by the stones.

On our way back, a seepage was slowly creeping back towards the Waimeamea River – soon the river will be flowing out to the sea.

Gemstone Beach stones.

My finds from Gemstone Beach today.

Chrissy and I found a range of stones, a dozen of mine are featured below.

The first stone is an yellow one with a couple of interesting veins:

A breccia stone with some nice white clasts:

Four trace fossil stones, all argillite, with a variation in the size, clarity and character of traces:

Three finds with green epidote in them but quite different compositions:

A “spotty” stone:

Some intense purple in this one:

Unpolished stone.

The largest stone I collected today, quartzy with feldspar giving it its peach colour?

Part 25 covers my final fossick on Gemstone Beach for this trip. 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