I arrived at Kakanui’s Seadown Beach, North Otago, at 1pm, just before low tide, and spent 90 minutes there. The afternoon was grey and cold. I had been told that the beach had less stones on it than usual. Looking north from the carpark area, I could see only a few scattered stones above the high tide mark, the rest being smooth sand.
But the biggest surprise was when I walked to the nearby south end of the beach – I couldn’t recognise the rocks there. I eventually worked out that a great quantity of sand had been dumped there by the sea, burying over a metre of the rocks that were normally exposed. Comparison with a photo I took in May 2023 (see below) shows how much sand has been added recently.
The May 2023 photo is on the top row, with a large rock outcrop in the centre foreground (the roadside carpark in the distance). A photo from today is on the second row, showing the same rock but from a greater distance. And the same rock is viewed from in front in the third row. Circled in black on the May 2023 photo (top row) is the part of the rock that is now buried. The green line shows the part of the rock still exposed today (compare with rows two and three). The red line on the May 2023 photo is the top of a bank of sand – the beach suddenly dropped away below that maybe two metres. Today’s photo in the second row has a black line running along the same bank, except the whole beach is now at that level.
The area just past this rock usually has a great patch of stones. Not today. But a bit further south was a good patch, and I spent most of my time there.
I collected about 50 stones today. Ten of them are featured below.
The yellow flashes in this dark stone caught my eye on the beach. The close-up photos showed the interesting structure of the flashes:
Another stone that the close-ups revealed as very interesting. I almost didn’t put it in the bag as it’s kind of plain and has lots to tiny indentations in it, not good for tumble polishing. The photos reveal an intriguing grey material in it that I suspect could be chalcedony:
Maybe tumble polishing can remove some of the indentations and clarify the constituent material.
The best of the limestone pebbles I found, with many tiny fossils in it:
Limestone is quite soft and I tumble polish it only in fine grit.
I found a couple of caramel-hued quartz stones with interesting veins, patches and patterns. Here is one:
Here is the other:
Seadown Beach has some gorgeous quartzites. One of my best finds was this small mainly red quartzite:
Three other quartzites I collected, illustrating some of the yellow hues common here:
Finally a multi-veined seven-shades-of-grey quartzite:
Today also saw an 8.8 magnitude earthquake near Russia. This triggered tsunami waves across the Pacific, and New Zealand issued a Civil Defence alert for people to stay off beaches for at least a day. I had planned to visit Seadown Beach again the next morning but cancelled in accordance with the Civil Defence advice.
There wasn’t enough sunlight to take photos of the day’s finds on Wednesday. On Thursday, when I was passing through Milton on the drive south, the sun came out. So I parked down a back street and got my camera out, and took the above photos.
So I continue on my way south to Gemstone Beach, through Milton and onto Balclutha for Thursday night. Friday sees the last stage of the trip to the Te Waewae Bay coast. Cue the latest addition to my Spotify playlist, added because I heard it on a recent episode of the New Zealand-made TV programme “The Brokenwood Mysteries”. The song is “On My Way to You” released in 2015 by New Zealander Don McGlashan [“you” being Gemstone Beach, in my current case]. It’s a good song to drive to, with a travelling beat:
Speedo blurs, and the white lines rolling
Through the clouds and the telegraph poles
A little farmhouse that’s up in the hills
Dairy factories and timber mills
Every valley shall be lifted high
Every mountain will fall, too
′Cos I’m on my way to you
I’m on my way to you
Woke up this morning, expecting rain
Kept my foot down, and it never came
Petrol, road dust, on my tongue
Every song that I′ve ever sung
Pouring out into the sky
Sounding beautiful and new
′Cos I’m on my way to you
I’m on my way to you
And just because something’s impossible
That doesn′t mean it isn’t true
So I′m on my way to you
I’m on my way to you…
My next fossick will be at Gemstone Beach. An Index to this Series is here.
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