The morning was fine and sunny with only a light wind, the temperature being about 14 or 15 degrees. As a break from dealing with book orders,I took a walk along the beach in front of Mike and Chrissy’s place at Papatotara – see this Post for details about its location and access. The waves were subdued but the sandflies were active. I came away with dry feet, a few sandfly bites and some very nice stones.
Ten of my finds are featured below. Some of the photos show reflections on the stones which were photographed wet in direct sunlight.
The most gorgeous find was this small poppy jasper, just a little bigger than my thumb nail:
Another jasper with hints of orbicular or sphericular structure in places:
Continuing the red theme – this next stone is probably a red argillite with trace fossils in it:
And two red amygdaloidal stones, the big and the small:
I spotted a pink thulite – I am always delighted with the often intense pink patches in these stones:
When I picked this seventh stone up, I thought it was probably granite, with its mix of orange, white and black. However, the elongated shape of the white crystals I find to be unusual in granite:
I always keep an eye out for black and white stones, often finding that a close-up look reveals interesting textures, and I found this one today:
I really like the mix of elements in this stone, especially the thin lines:
Finally, a stone with some interesting green epidote in it:
My next fossick involves another visit to Gemstone Beach. An Index to all the Posts in this Series is here.
