March 2025 Stone Collecting Trip – Part 30, Last Fossick on Kakanui’s Seadown Beach, Tuesday 1 April

The second of the two small bays I searched. Some patches of stones up near the cliffs.

My finds from this fossick, Kakanui.

Rhodolith fossil in limestone.

This morning, I had the last of my five fossicks on Kakanui’s Seadown Beach on my way home to Whanganui. It lasted for 90 minutes, at mid-tide, and consisted of a careful search of stones in the first two small bays at the south end of the beach. Below are eight of the stones I found, photos taken after I arrived home which is when the sun came out. Photos (below) of the beach were taken on my phone.

The second of the two small bays I searched. Some patches of stones up near the cliffs.

The largest patch of stones in the first small bay I visited.

Close-up of patch in previous photo.

My finds from this fossick, Kakanui.

The first stone is limestone, consisting mainly of a fossil rhodolith:

Rhodolith fossil in limestone.

Other side of stone.

The second is a small beach agate (chalcedony), the only one I found during my five fossicks here.

There are a few of these to be found on other beaches near here, I have been told.

Two cloudy quartzites of quite different hues:

A small pale quartzite that appears to have some brecciation:

One of the green quartzites that can be found on this beach:

A nice dark red jasper:

Finally, a small quartzy-type stone:

This afternoon I continued my drive north, reaching Ward in Marlborough on Wednesday. On the way, I had a quick stop at a beach just north of Kekerengu on the Kaikoura Coast, before spending some time at Ward Beach.

Part 31 is “Last Stop, Ward 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