A Blog About Stone Gathering, Tumbling and Polishing, and Rocks and Landscapes, from New Zealand – With Musical Interludes (john.tumblestone@gmail.com)
A Series of five Posts describe my three-week stone collecting trip to the South Island by car, starting with the crossing of Cook Strait on Wednesday 27 May. I reached the bottom of the South Island on Day Six, beginning my return on Day 17. On Day 23, I crossed back over Cook Strait and headed for home (Whanganui). The following is an Index of the five Posts and an indication of their Contents:
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Beach just north of Kekerengu, Kaikoura Coast.
Limestone with trace fossil.
Birdlings Flat.
Birdlings Flat stone.
Stone found on the beach east of Hinds.
South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – First Five Days – DAY 1: Wellington/Picton to Cheviot, including beach just north of Kekerengu (60 kms north of Kaikoura); DAY 2: Cheviot to Christchurch, including beach visit to Birdlings Flat; DAY 3: Christchurch, beach visit to Birdlings Flat; DAY 4: Christchurch to Oamaru, including visiting beach east of Hinds (100 kms south of Christchurch), on the coast 20 kms north of the Rangitata River mouth;DAY 5: Oamaru to Gore, including visit to beach near Kakanui.
Beach agate found north of the Waianakarua River mouth.
South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Days 16 to 18 – DAY 16: Visit to Gemstone Beach; DAY 17: Riverton to Gore, with a visit to Riverton’s Henderson’s Bay beach; DAY 18: Gore to Oamaru, with visits to Hampden beach, the beach north of the Waianakarua River mouth, and Kakanui.
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Patiti Point Beach, Timaru.
Patiti Point stone.
Browns Beach.
Wakanui Beach.
Gore Bay.
Gore Bay stone.
End of South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Days 19 to 22 – DAY 19: At Kakanui, visiting beaches; DAY 20: At Kakanui; DAY 21:Oamaru to Christchurch, with visits to Patiti Point Beach (Timaru), Browns Beach (near Temuka), and Wakanui Beach (east of Ashburton); DAY 22: Final day visiting beaches, at Gore Bay and near Kekerengu (Kaikoura coast).
50 tumblestones from the beaches of Riverton/Aparima.
Riverton/Aparima is a small seaside town with about 1500 residents but its numbers swell significantly over summer with the influx of local and international tourists. Many of these stay in the cribs (baches or holiday homes) of Riverton Rocks. Located about 30 kilometres from Invercargill, Riverton/Aparima is the oldest permanent European settlement in Southland.
Te Hikoi Museum circled in black, Mitchell’s Bay and Henderson’s Bay beaches circled in blue, Back Beach circled in red.
“Te Hikoi Southern Journey” is a museum in Riverton/Aparima with a gift store and information centre attached. It holds an interesting collection of regional historic artifacts, with its displays focusing on local Maori history, whaling and the area’s European settlements. The museum is located at 172 Palmerston Street, on the main street just before the bridge over the Aparima River on the way to Riverton Rocks. See here for a brief YouTube clip on the museum. Te Hikoi has a geology-themed Discovery Depot which includes access to a library of geology resources, such as drawers of rock samples, and it makes available a pamphlet for a children’s rockhound experience in the local area.Outside, on the bank of the estuary, are a number of large rocks set in concrete, representing aspects of the geology of the Southland area, with an attractive and informative Information Panel.
Sign on the main street of Riverton/Aparima.
Street frontage of Te Hikoi Museum, Riverton/Aparima
Side view of Te Hikoi museum, Riverton/Aparima
Information Panel outside of Te Hikoi museum, about rocks on display nearby
Information Panel section on jasper.
Jasper rock on display outside Te Hikoi museum, about 30 to 40 cms long
The gift shop often has stones for sale. When I visited last week, near the reception desk were two bowls, one with some “Gems of the World” (apparent in the YouTube clip mentioned above), the other with some small tumble-polished stones from Orepuki (Gemstone Beach). On a shelf in the book section were also half a dozen larger hydrogrossular garnets.There is an opportunity to add some local Riverton/Aparima stones, which I have agreed to provide.
I have selected 50 tumble-polished stones from the three southern-most beaches of Riverton Rocks – Mitchell’s Bay, Henderson’s Bay and the Back Beach (Howell’s Point). The Back Beach, right at the end of the Rocks Highway, is the main source of my stones, a 500 metres sweep of sand and stones on the shore of Foveaux Strait, facing Stewart Island /Rakiura.
Henderson’s Bay at low tide. The Back Beach is around the point (top centre).
Stones on Henderson’s Bay, Pockets and drifts of them can be found among the rocks.
The Back Beach, Howell’s Point, on a stormy day.
Stones on the Back Beach.
Stewart Island/Rakiura from the Back Beach.
It is difficult, in many instances, to identify the exact type of rock of origin of Riverton/Aparima stones because of the great diversity to be found on these beaches. Each stone is unique but carries within it a significant part of New Zealand’s geological history. Each stone tells its own story upon careful reading (best viewed in bright sunshine), and every person can see slightly different patterns, landscapes, and depths.I selected 50 polished stones that had character and interest. Different people like different kinds of stones so I included a range of colours and patterns.
The 50 polished Riverton/Aparima tumblestones. $2 coin (top left) for scale.
Six of the stones (see photos below) are argillite containing trace fossils of ancient worm-like animals from the Permian Era, around 250 million years ago.Such stones can be found at a number of beaches along the coast between Riverton and Orepuki.
Six trace fossil stones from the beaches of Riverton/Aparima.
Trace fossil stone. Small traces of diverse shapes.
Trace fossil stone, unusual black stone with light trace shapes and a couple of dark ones.
More information on trace fossil stones can be found here .
Six of the 50 stones I sent to the Te Hikoi Museum shop illustrate the complex structure of many stones of the area. Stained by various minerals and subject to a range of geological forces, they come in different colours and patterns.Below are photos of these six as well as as close-ups of their structure.
Could be an iron-stained quartzite stone.
Three very fine strands of colour.
Probably a quartzite stone.
Probably a jasper, with a complex band of orange-brown.
Many hues of green in this stone.
A stone that has been srunched, fragmented and reassembled.
See Part Two in this Series for details about a further 15 of the 50 stones.
The following are Facebook Posts on my trip made for family and friends, as well as for the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The first five days of my trip can be found here.
Day Sixteen, Ninth Visit to Gemstone Beach – Since I don’t leave Riverton until tomorrow, I decided to make one more visit to Gemstone Beach this morning, 30 kilometres away. The day was so nice and I had such a productive fossick yesterday that I couldn’t resist the temptation. Ended up spending nearly four hours in the sunshine.
Gemstone Beach on a sunny winter morning.
Same view as previous photo but standing on top of the bank of stones.
Nice quartz. Graduated colour and interesting shape.
While there was little wind on the beach, further out, the wind whipped the breakers.
I’m always interested in stones that look vaguely like fossil worm casts but are not. This brecciated stone was too big to take home so I took a photo of it.
Detail of large brecciated stone.
A dry stone. When wet….
…the colours become apparent.
Not as many great finds today compared to yesterday but I picked up some nice stones for tumble polishing.
Small light green quartzite.
Close-up of small light green quartzite.
Close-up of black and white stone.
I am always interested in black and white stones.
A few holes and scratches but interesting composition, as shown in next photo.
Probably an argillite.
I call this a “one-sider”, because….
…the other side is bashed about. I usually return such stones to the beach as they will not tumble polish smoothly. But I like the colours in this one too much and so will polish it for the quality of “one side”.
Met a couple of people on the beach, one from Montana and another from Riverton (who said she had learned tumble polishing from my Blog!), and had interesting chats about stones.
White hydrogrossular garnet.
Close-up of white hydrogrossular garnet.
Climbing up the bank of stones, I spotted this….
…a green hydrogrossular garnet.
The green hydrogrossular garnet is partly translucent. I gave it to the fellow tumble polisher I met on the beach near the Taunoa Stream on my way back to the carpark.
A minute later, I found this nice white hydrogrossular garnet.
A stone with a fault-line in it.
Day Seventeen, Henderson Bay, Riverton – Had a quick visit to the bay in Riverton where I had summer holidays when growing up. It’s the last little bay before the Back Beach.
Bluff Hill in the far distance, across the water. The Back Beach, on Foveaux Strait, is around the corner to the right.
The steps down to Henderson Bay. Stones are scattered along the sandy beach, with a few drifts here and there.
Looking towards Riverton town from Henderson Bay on a gloomy winter’s morning
There are lots of interesting rock masses along the beach, including argillite and pillow lava.
This partially-hidden rock pool was my favourite place on the beach when I was small.
The rock pool.
Our former crib (holiday house) is at the top of the hill behind Henderson Bay, now owned by a different family.
Cold wind this morning so I needed all my warm weather gear. The stones at Henderson Bay are similar to those at the Back Beach and, to a lesser degree, Gemstone Beach. Generally speaking, there are fewer of them and of less quality here.
Small quartzite found this morning.
Detail of small quartzite.
Another small quartzite.
Close-up of quartzite.
This stone has a softish feel, waxy but dry. I have found a couple more like this in the area in the past. I suspect it may be a kind of petrified wood.
I can always find a handful of fossil worm cast stones at Henderson Bay.
Small fossil worm cast stone.
Iron stained quartz.
Day Eighteen, Gore to Oamaru – I drove from Gore to Oamaru and stopped off at Hampden and the beaches between the Waianakarua River mouth and Kakanui. I decided that the stones on the beach just north of Kakanui were so great that I’ll be going back there again on Sunday and Monday. Cold but sunny weather, the lack of wind and rain is appreciated.
Stream across the beach at Hampden, North Otago.
There was a lot of white quartz with interesting shapes at Hampden.
The beach just north of the Waianakarua River mouth.
Small beach agate found just north of the Waianakarua River mouth.
A green-stained quartz found just north of the Waianakarua River mouth.
This stone, found just north of the Waianakarua River mouth, could be petrified wood.
Found on the beach just north of Kakanui – small smooth grey quartzite pebble.
In December I moved house from Cambridge to Whanganui. Everything was shifted by Christmas, and most of the unpacking has now been done.
My new home, a few kilometres outside of Whanganui
Ollie the cat surveys new territory
The lawn and garden
Another view of the lawn and garden
Our two horses, Dancer and Penny, in their new home
Looking out at the back of the property towards the sea, a kilometre away
However, the shed I will use for tumble polishing is still in the process of preparation.
Early in January, after the moving and unpacking, I quickly put together a calendar for 2020, using Diamond Photo online. For each month, the Calendar has a set of photos, just slightly smaller than an A4 page, with another A4 size page below it containing the month’s dates. The main internationally-recognised holidays are noted, along with some of the main New Zealand ones.
Front Cover of Calendar – View east along Gemstone Beach, from near the Waimeamea River Mouth
January, Riverton scenes
December, Sam’s stones (Sam is my sister’s grandson)
I was very pleased with the quality of the finished product.
March
April
May
August
November
If you want to buy one for yourself, email me at john.tumblestone@gmail.com. It will cost you $25 (postage included, in New Zealand).
The following are the sets of photos for each month in the Calendar – these are all photos I took in 2019, most but not all of which appeared on TumbleStone blog last year:
January – Riverton scenes
February – Close-ups of Gemstone Beach stones
March – Fossil worm casts in rocks at Tihaka Beach, near Riverton
April – Hydrogrossular garnets
May – Gemstone Beach scenes
June – Fossil worm cast stones
July – Larger stones found on Gemstone Beach and the beach near McCracken’s Rest
August – Polished stones from Gemstone Beach
September – Henderson Bay scenes, Riverton
October – Polished stones, collected by my sister Helen on Gemstone Beach
November – Close-ups of fossil worm cast traces
December – Polished stones, collected by Sam, my sister’s grandson, on Gemstone Beach.
In February of 2016, my wife Petra and I were on holiday in the South Island of New Zealand. We had driven our own car down, crossing Cook Strait on a ferry, making our way to Golden Bay then south to Westport, down the West Coast then over Haast Pass to Te Anau and Riverton, right at the bottom of the South Island. Then we headed back north, driving up the eastern coast of the South Island, through Christchurch and Kaikoura then to Picton where we caught the ferry back to the North Island and a six hour car-ride home.
Somewhere between the West Coast and Riverton, we decided we would find out more about polishing stones. We have both always been the type who have walked beaches with our heads down, looking for interesting shells, driftwood and stones. The shells and driftwood usually found a place in the house or in the garden, but the stones that we collected have always been a problem. They just don’t look the same when they’re not wet. They tend soon to be overlooked or lost.
I have an aunt who many years ago used to polish stones from Riverton – my grandparents had a holiday home (“crib”, in local terms) there, at Hendersons Bay, and my family usually spent a couple of weeks there every summer.
Hendersons Bay, Riverton, where my family used to holiday when I was growing up.
I remember the polished stones of my aunt, collected from Riverton – I never knew how she polished them but I was impressed with the results. Petra and I decided to collect some stones on our holiday and try to polish them when we got back home. We ended up collecting more and more stones as we went along, weighing the car down significantly.
Upon arriving home, Petra and I did some internet searching and found out about rock tumblers. We bought three and started out on a journey of learning, of experimentation and of rearranging aspects of our domestic space to make room for it all.
This Blog is a way for me to share our discoveries, to share information, and to help others who start on the same journey. I can be contacted at john.tumblestone@gmail.com – all comments and questions welcomed.
