This is my fourth and final visit to Gemstone Beach for this trip. Chrissy and I arrived there around 2pm, just after low tide. There were quite a few people here today – there were two campervans and six cars in the carpark when we arrived. Again the beach was very sandy, though there was a good scattering of stones along the wave edge in front of the carpark.
We made our way down to the far (northwestern) end of the Waimeamea River lagoon before turning back just after 3.30pm. Tiring from a heavy load of finds, we made it back to the car an hour later. We saw a lot fewer trace fossil stones than previously, and hydrogrossular garnets were still few and far between.
Because of the cloudy weather we’re having, I was unable to take photos of my finds until two days later – and even then, the light conditions were challenging. The images of stones below reflect those difficulties.
One of my most intriguing and enigmatic finds today was made early on in front of the carpark. It kind of looks like quartz, which is what I expected it to be. But it kind of looks like chalcedony (agate) too. After careful examination, and seeing it both wet and dry, I’m leaning towards chalcedony. But this is a very rare find along this coast, as far as I know, and I have found only one like it last August at McCracken’s Rest.
The largest of my finds today also poses an identification question. This large pink stone appeared in front of me down near the Waimeamea River lagoon:
The first side (above) was showing when I found it – it is completely pink, so I thought “thulite”. Turning it over, however, there is some dark mineral in it, maybe an oxide, that makes the stone look like “rhodonite”. I’m leaning towards the latter ID, on the basis of the visual evidence.
A little later on, I found a much smaller version of a similar stone with a similar question about it, and interestingly it contains some brecciation:
I found four stones this afternoon that are or could be poppy jaspers. The first three definitely are:
The fourth one is more cryptic – the orbs are not clear but there are hints of them here and there:
Four different kinds of quartzites (maybe) I found today – the first is green, the second is red, the third is more subdued in colour but is not unlike some I have found at Kakanui, and the fourth I am least sure about because it has larger fragments of material in it than usual:
Three orange stones, no doubt coloured by the presence of iron oxide:
Finally, the only interesting hydrogrossular garnet I found this afternoon:
My next fossick will be at Riverton Aparima. An Index to this Series is here.
