Kaikoura – TumbleStone

U is for U-Shaped Trace Fossil Found Near Ure (Waima) River Mouth

This is a slight expansion and rearrangement of my letter “U” contribution to the current weekly Alphabetical Series in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. In the 2021 version of this Series I posted “U is for Unusual Variations of Trace Fossil Stones”.

U is for U-Shaped Trace Fossil Found Near Ure (Waima) River Mouth

U-shaped trace fossil in limestone pebble from near Ure (Waima) River mouth.

I have struggled to find a stone starting with “U” so I’ve decided to go with one I found about four years ago just south of the Ure (Waima) River mouth (see Day 24 in this Post). With a little imagination, this stone has a U-shaped trace fossil in it.

Between Kaikoura and Ward on State Highway One, not long after crossing from Canterbury into Marlborough, you come to a bridge over a river marked as “Waima (Ure) River”. Marlborough Online states: “The Waima (literally meaning white water, due to the limestone in the river bed) or Ure River has its mouth a few kilometres south of Ward, and is the southernmost river fully within the current Marlborough District… For much of its length of about 30 kms, it flows through rugged limestone gorges… The European name Ure presumably derives from the Ure River in Yorkshire which also runs through limestone country.”

Location of Waima (Ure) River mouth, south of Ward. Area in red is where stone was found.

The beach just south of the Waima (Ure) River mouth.

A scattering of lighter-coloured limestone pebbles.

Along this coast, you can find many limestone pebbles that contain trace fossils – lines of dark-coloured burrows or trails through sediment that have been preserved in the light-coloured stones. I have collected a number of them with a wide range of trace shapes and sizes. Here are four more from the same beach:

Criss-crossing trace fossils in limestone.

A common pattern of trace fossils in this area.

Nearly a U-shape.

Trace fossil in limestone.

On page 64 of “A Photographic Guide to Fossils in NZ” by H. Campbell et al. (2013), it is noted that these trace fossils can be found in Muzzle Group geological strata in Marlborough, in fine-grained limestone, marl, mudstone and siltstone, laid down in deep water (over 150 metres), the traces due to burrowing activity by something like an echinoderm. An echinoderm is a marine invertebrate, like a starfish, sea urchin, or sea cucumber, that has a spiny skin and a five-part (or more) radial symmetry. Other marine animals leave traces as well.

From page 64 of “A Photographic Guide to Fossils in NZ” by H. Campbell et al. (2013).

Trace fossil in limestone in situ, on beach south of Waima (Ure) River mouth.

Kaikoura coast beach stones, near boundary of Canterbury and Marlborough.

These stones are too soft to tumble polish successfully but a short tumble in fine grit removes a thin outer layer, smooths the stone and clarifies the traces. It also often leaves a nice smooth waxy-feeling stone.

For more on this type of stone see “Selection of Tumbled Ward Beach Stones: Part 1 – Trace Fossils in Limestone”.

The next Post in this Series is “V is for Veined Vein?”. An Index for this Alphabetical Series is here.

“Y” is for “Yellow Beach Stone from Kaikoura Coast” and “Z” is for “Zoomorphic Shape in Stone”

T is for Timaru Today

U is for Unusual Variations of Trace Fossil Stones

V is for >>>>>>

W is for Ward Beach ZoophycosCross in a Stone

X is for X-Figures When Veins Cross in a Stone

The following are my final Posts in the weekly alphabetical series of a Facebook Group I belong to, “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The first Posts in this Series can be found here. The Series Index is here.

“Y” is for “Yellow Beach Stone from Kaikoura Coast” – I found this small stone in August 2020, just south of the Waima (Ure) River mouth, about 70 kms north of Kaikoura. The creamy yellow pastel colour in it is complemented nicely by the blue.

One side of the small beach stone, when found.

Other side of the stone.

Page 92 of R.L. Bonewitz (2008), “Rocks & Minerals: The Definitive Visual Guide”.

It might be limestone, but I am unsure – the trace fossil trail in it means it is certainly sedimentary. Colour is an important characteristic of stones – it is often what makes them attractive, and it is what can catch the fossicker’s eye. Colour variations, contrasts and patterns are all significant. But when it comes to identifying a stone, colour can often be unhelpful or even misleading. As R.L. Bonewitz writes in his book “Rocks & Minerals: The Definitive Visual Guide” (2008), page 92 (see photo below): “Some minerals have characteristic colours and others do not… As few as three or four atoms per million can absorb enough of certain parts of the visible light spectrum to give colour to a mineral. [Furthermore] the colour produced by a particular trace element varies according to the mineral it inhabits.” One good online introduction to colour in stones is www.minerals.net/resource/property/color.aspx.

“Z” is for “Zoomorphic Shape in Stone” – “Zoomorphism” means “in the shape of an animal”. Applied to stones, it could mean a stone in the shape of an animal. Or it could mean a stone that contains an animal-like shape, either in veins or blobs within the stone. This small beach agate was found near Kakanui in February this year. It contains some light-yellow inclusions, outlined in black, some of which could be imagined to make up a simplified giraffe form.

This is the end of this Series. The full Index for the Series can be found here.

“C” is for “(Fossil) Coral” and “D” is for “Dendrites”

A is for Amygdaloidal

B is for Botryoidal

C is for (Fossil) Coral

D is for Dendrites

E is for Entrance

Recently the Facebook Group I belong to, “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”, invited its members to submit photos each week of a stone, mineral or fossil in their collection that starts with a letter of the alphabet. My Posts for the first two letters can be found here. The following are my next two Posts in the series.

“C” is for “(Fossil) Coral” – I found this fossil coral stone on Gemstone Beach (Orepuki, Southland) on 10 June 2020. My sister was showing me a stone she had found when I looked down and saw this stone with faint unusual markings. Not only the top of the corals can be seen but also the view from the side. I have not seen anything like it before on Gemstone Beach, nor since.

Top of the polished coral fossil stone.

Side view of polished coral fossil stone.

Top view of fossil coral stone when found on Gemstone Beach.

Side view of fossil coral stone when found on Gemstone Beach.

Of the fossil corals, there appear to be two types (families) which this stone could belong to – rugose and scleractinian. They both have “septa”, the radiating segments seen from the top. But the symmetry in rugose is bilateral, meaning that two identical halves can be created, while scleractinians have radial symmetry (reflecting two different types of growth processes). See Palaeo Post. The well-known Petoskey stone, the official stone of the US State of Michigan, is a rugose coral – the photo of a polished Petoskey stone below is from http://www.geologyin.com/…/what-is-petoskey-stone-and…
I have also posted below two diagrams from Wikipedia, showing the rugose (“tetracorallia”) and scleractinian (“hexacoralla”) corals from a 1904 book.

Polished Petoskey stone from Michigan http://www.geologyin.com/…/what-is-petoskey-stone-and….

Drawings of rugose corals from 1904 book – from Wikipedia. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugosa

Drawings of scleractinian corals from 1904 book – from Wikipedia. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scleractinia

Entry for a rugose coral on page 29 of “A Photographic Guide to Fossils of NZ”

To my eyes, my stone looks closer to the rugose family but I am far from certain, given the great diversity within each family type. The book “A Photographic Guide to Fossils of NZ” has an entry (p.29) for a rugose coral (see above) (one of a total of six entries for coral fossils in the book). The stone I found on Gemstone Beach has tumble-polished well, with just one small shallow hole to interrupt its smoothness.

I failed to anticipate how much attention this Facebook Post would receive from the members of the “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils” Group. The week after the Post, it was given 53 “Wow”, 78 “Love” and 176 “Like” along with more than 50 Comments about its beauty and interest. The Administrators of the Group decided to make it the Group banner for a while.

I was not happy with the photos I had used for the Facebook Post, the close-ups in particular looked too yellowish. So I took some more photos and tried to produce better close-ups. I wrote: It is a difficult stone to photograph as it is curved, and focus plus lighting are difficult (I use my camera’s automatic settings). I have tried again but don’t know if these are much of an improvement. Creating the close-ups seems to accentuate the yellow tinge, and I have tried to adjust for this, without much success. However, interesting aspects of the coral structure can still be seen.

A few days later, I was searching for information on the geology of Slope Point, to provide some context for the rhyolite stones I found there. In one book I consulted, “The Natural History of Southern New Zealand”, I came across a reference to fossil coral at Te Waewae Bay. Gemstone Beach is located towards the eastern end of Te Waewae Bay. The following is stated on pages 62 and 63 of the book, in Ewan Fordyce’s outstanding chapter on “Fossils and the History of Life”: “Te Waewae Bay rocks yield the only specimens of a bizarre pseudo-colonial form of sceleractinian coral apparently related to Flabellum… [It sits in the] siltstone of the Te Waewae Formation; probably upper Kapitean, latest Miocene; western Te Waewae Bay.”

Te Waewae Bay coral fossil, related to Flabellum. Page 63, “The Natural History of Southern NZ”

Living Flabellum coral, photo by Nick Hobgood. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flabellum_(coral)

Cover of “The Natural History of Southern NZ”

Page 63, “The Natural History of Southern NZ”

Flabellum coral fossils, esp. A & B. Source: https://www.mindat.org/paleoimg.php?id=1282846

Note: “The Natural History of Southern New Zealand” is edited by John Darby, R. Ewan Fordyce, Alan Mark, Keith Probert and Colin Townsend, published in 2003 by University of Otago Press. Currently available from University of Otago Press for $80.

Coral of the Flabellum family are fan-shaped, usually solitary, and seem quite different from the fossil coral I found – see NIWA Critter of the Week., Mindat Fig. 4 (esp. A & B) and Mindat Fig 5. I have not yet come across any other reference to fossil coral found along the south coast.

To return to the alphabetical series of Posts in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils” – I posted the following on 25 May 2021:

“D” is for “Dendrites” – I found this stone in March 2021, on a beach not far from my motel on the northern side of Kaikoura town, while I was looking for stones with trace fossils (zoophycos). The stone is probably a limestone(?) or mudstone(?), too soft for tumble polishing. The word “dendrite” is from the Greek word for “tree”, referring to its branching. In geology, dendrites are thin, branching crystals, often of some variety of manganese oxide (or iron), that grow over a surface in a rock or mineral. They are found in cracks or along bedding planes.

Unpolished Kaikoura stone with dendrites.

The beach at north Kaikoura where the stone was found. Kaikoura town centre is at middle right of photo.

See Mindat for some good photos of dendrites https://www.mindat.org/min-26645.html. See Sandatlas for a technical explanation of their growth https://www.sandatlas.org/dendritic-growth-in-crystals. Jocelyn Thornton provides some NZ examples of dendrites in agates in her book “Gemstones” – see page 15 here (see photo below). Dendrites are often given as examples of “pseudofossils”, natural objects that may be mistaken for fossils (of a plant leaf, for example) – see https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Pseudofossils-1663.aspx

Jocelyn Thornton’s “Gemstones”, pages 30-31 in book, page 15 in online version https://www.onnaturesedge.co.nz/downloads/nzgemstones.pdf

Dendrites in agates, close-up of Jocelyn Thornton’s book.

Mindat entry https://www.mindat.org/min-26645.html

From Sandatlas https://www.sandatlas.org/dendritic-growth-in-crystals/

From “Pseudofossils”, Western Australia Dept of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety https://www.dmp.wa.gov.au/Pseudofossils-1663.aspx

For “E” and “F”, see this Post. The Series Index is here.

Another South Island Fossicking Trip, February/ March 2021 – Last Two Days (Leithfield Beach, Kaikoura Coast, Ward Beach)

The first Post in this Series is here.

Day 23, Thursday 11 March – Leithfield Beach and Kaikoura Coast. I spent nearly three hours on Leithfield Beach this morning on a cloudy day threatening rain, but the rain moved across to the north of me.

I always walk southwards from where I park the car at Leithfield Beach to fossick around these old stormwater pipes. The person near them provides scale.

Looking out to sea over the old stormwater pipes.

Leithfield Beach stones this morning, looking north. There is rain in the distance which fortunately did not come my way.

Leithfield Beach stones.

Probably a spotted shag.

Here are seven jaspers found on Leithfield Beach – I especially like the yellow in them. The seven go from the most to the least yellow, the least red to the most red. These stones are often less smooth than the ones I collect at Gemstone Beach and Kakanui, reflecting the state of most stones on the beach.

And another four stones from this morning:

Small stone. likely to have a lot of chaceldony (agate) in it.

It has been suggested that this is rhyolite.

Very unusual circular pattern on this stone.

I also found an unusual sea-weed like stuff on the beach and posted photos of it on the “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils” Facebook Group (see first two photos below).

Found on Leithfield Beach.

Among the stones on Leithfield Beach.

Found on Leithfield Beach.

Stan Wen, a Group member, did some research on it and eventually identified it as the strobila of a certain kind of jellyfish, part of its asexual reproductive process, as illustrated in this diagram from the Seattle Aquarium.

jellyfish33

The Aquarium information states: “When a [jellyfish] polyp strobilates—segmenting its body to reproduce—it releases tiny ephyra into the water. Within a few weeks, a bell appears and the ephyra are considered medusa [adults].”

I then drove to Kaikoura and, in the late afternoon, spent about 40 minutes on the beach near my motel. Here are six stones from that fossick, the first of which has dendrites in it. A dendrite forms when a mineral, starting from a point of origin in the stone, migrates and branches outward.

The beach near my motel, looking back towards the Kaikoura Peninsula.

Kaikoura beach stones, late afternoon.

Dendrites in a stone.

Limestone. Likely to be too soft to polish.

Limestone. Likely to be too soft to polish.

Day 24, Friday 12 March, Last Day – Kaikoura Coast and Ward Beach. I often stop at a little spot on the Kaikoura Coast between Kekerengu and the Waima/Ure River mouth. I am especially interested in the stones there with zoophycos trace fossils. As noted on page 64 of “A Photographic Guide to Fossils in NZ” by H. Campbell et al. (2013), these trace fossils can be found in Muzzle Group geological strata in Marlborough, in fine-grained limestone, marl, mudstone and siltstone, laid down in deep water (over 150 metres), the traces due to burrowing activity by something like an echinoderm (see first photo below for this extract). The stones in the photos below are examples of the range of types of traces I found today, both at my Kaikoura Coast spot and at Ward Beach just over 20 kilometres north. These stones are likely to be too soft to tumble polish well so I left many of them on the beach.

Page 64 of “A Photographic Guide to Fossils of New Zealand” by Hamish Campbell et al. (2013).

Zoophycos trace fossil. The nested curving chevron-shaped trace is one I find particularly attractive.

Another zoophycos trace fossil from the Kaikoura coast.

Stone from Ward Beach.

Parallel zoophycos.

Another Ward Beach zoophycos.

Intersecting trace fossils.

Less organised and less well-defined, but traces probably as well.

A Ward Beach stone with a variety of zoophycos trace fossils.

Ward Beach stone, where the zoophycos traces are harder than the surrounding stone material so are slightly raised.

Some more photos from my stop on the Kaikoura Coast between Kekerengu and the Waima/Ure River mouth:

The beach between Kekerengu and the Waima/Ure River mouth. Looking south.

The stones on the beach. The white limestone(?) stones stand out.

Gorgeous green stone, maybe quartzite?

This stone looks like one where the burrowing that produced the zoophycos traces ended up producing actual holes in the stone (or the burrows were petrified with softer material and eroded away). Or maybe the burrows were made by a different animal. The other side of this stone is equally interesting (see next photo).

The other side of the previous stone.

About 12 kilometres further north on State Highway 1 is the small village of Ward. Ward Beach is about six kilometres off the main road, to the east, set among spectacular scenery – high hills with steep slopes and a coastline with interesting rock formations. The Ward Beach boulders (concretions) are not far from the car park (maybe 10 minutes walk north), although I did not visit them today. The beach was uplifted by the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, unveiling the boulders.

The Ward Beach boulders – photo taken during an earlier visit.

Ward Beach boulder.

When I arrived, there were about 6 to 8 people from the WSP company (formerly Opus), a Design, Engineering and Environmental Services Consultancy, picking up rubbish as a community service. One of them showed me a mannikin leg he had found, and I gave him a florescent light tube I had found. For a sense of the beach and its setting, see this web page.

Scenes from Ward Beach today:

Looking towards the Ward Beach car park.

Ward Beach stones.

Ward beach in front of the carpark, lowish tide.

White-faced heron on Ward Beach.

A surfer in high seas, just in front of the car park.

Five of the stones I found today on Ward Beach:

Gorgeous little stone I found at Ward Beach. Could be a quartzite.

Other side of previous stone.

Treasure

My trip back over Cook Strait the next day was uneventful in stark comparison to the sailing of nearly four weeks previously!

Another South Island Fossicking Trip, February/ March 2021 – Days 1 to 4 (Kaikoura Coast, Amberley Beach, Leithfield Beach, Kakanui)

This is the first in a Series of Posts about a car trip of nearly four weeks to the bottom of the South Island of New Zealand to collect beach stones for tumble polishing. During the trip, I regularly made daily reports to my personal Facebook page and also the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. These reports form the basis of this Series, although small additions of photos and information have also been made. [I made a similar trip in May/June 2020.]

On Tuesday 16 February, I was scheduled to take my car across Cook Strait by ferry, usually a 3 1/2 hour sail. However, high winds and seas initially delayed the departure of the “Straitsman” ferry from Wellington by 3 1/2 hours, and then the crossing itself took 9 hours, partly due to rough seas (the first hour was especially up and down). The other problem was damage to the dock in Picton that took a few hours to repair, meaning that two previous ferries had to unload and reload before we could. (See here for a newspaper report on a 12 hour ferry journey earlier on that day.) As a result I did not reach my motel in Ward until 3 am on Wednesday (originally scheduled to get there at 6 pm on Tuesday). Not an auspicious start to the trip!

"Straitsman" ferry in rough seas. Source: http://wps.wps.org.nz/portfolio/projected-image-2018/#lightbox[group-21501]/21/

“Straitsman” ferry in rough seas. Source: http://wps.wps.org.nz/portfolio/projected-image-2018/#lightbox%5Bgroup-21501%5D/21/

After the roughest of the seas, the captain allowed us to go outside on deck – photo taken on my phone.

Day One, Wednesday 17 February, driving from Ward to Amberley, with stops at Okiwi Bay and Amberley Beach – The weather was sunny and warm as I drove along the Kaikoura Coast. I stopped off at one of the many small bays (Okiwi Bay) to check out the stones there and at another (Ohau Bay) to view some of the hundreds of seals that make the coast home. I did not collect any stones at Okiwi Bay as most of them are too large, too battered or are too soft to polish. But many are a gorgeous pastel colour – cream, grey and yellow.

Okiwi Bay, about 30 kms north of Kaikoura

Part of the reconstruction of the road after November 2016’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake.

Okiwi Bay. looking south

Okiwi Bay, looking north

I spent 30 minutes walking the beach and taking photos.

Some of the stones included trace fossils, known as “zoophycos” (see the third and fourth stones below). See here for a good introduction to zoophycos by the Kentucky Geological Survey and here for a 1970 article on zoophycos in the “New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics”.

Trace fossils

Trace fossils

The road reconstruction after the 2016 Kaikoura earthquake, magnitude 7.8, has included a number of parking areas allowing people to view the many fur seals that have returned to the area. I stopped at Ohau Point, just a few kilometres south of Okiwi Bay, and took these photos.

Next stop was Amberley, a drive of just over two hours. I was interested to visit Amberley Beach as it is just along the coast from Leithfield Beach where I had found some nice petrified wood and jasper during a previous trip. While stones were well scattered across the beach there, and I didn’t see any petrified wood, I managed to find more than 20 worth picking up to put in my car.

Amberley Beach, looking north.

Amberley Beach, looking south.

Quartzite stone.

Lovely veins.

Intriguing jasper?

My small group of finds from Amberley Beach.

Day Two, Thursday 18 February – Visited Leithfield Beach this morning – warm sunny weather – and strolled up and down it in the company of my sister Helen and her husband Ray. Found a number of interesting jaspers (no petrified wood this time). I then drove down to Kakanui where I stay for two nights, a four hours drive. Took photos of a few of my Leithfield Beach finds late this afternoon in less than ideal light conditions.

Leithfield Beach, looking south.

Stormwater outfall.

Leithfield Beach stones.

Day Three, Friday 19 February – Visited a Kakanui Beach this morning and again this afternoon, the beach that is my favourite in the area. I have decided to call it Seadown Beach after the nearby Seadown Road. Lots of stones on the beach, perfect weather.

My favourite Kakanui Beach

Kakanui Beach stones

This morning, I found lots of interesting jaspers and quartzites along the first 300 metres of the beach, some of which are shown here:

The find of the week!

Other side of the find of the week.

Eight of the remaining finds from this morning:

This afternoon, it was low tide at the beach. Not so many stones wet by the breaking waves so less finds. However, they were still of high quality, as shown by this sample:

Day Four, Saturday 20 February – Visited Kakanui Seadown Beach again this morning, before hitting the road again, arriving in Riverton Aparima late this afternoon. Foggy in Kakanui this morning:

Foggy beach at Kakanui

View from the south

Kakanui stones

The fog actually helped to keep some of the stones wet, assisting me to find a few more very nice candidates for polishing. However, lack of direct sunlight maybe made the photos a little dark.

The next Post in this Series, on Days 5 and 6 on Gemstone Beach, is here.

South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Index and Contents

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:

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.

Riverton’s Back Beach.

Gemstone Beach.

Stone from Gemstone Beach.

Trace fossil stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone from Gemstone Beach.

South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Days Six to Ten – DAY 6: Gore to Riverton, visit to Riverton’s Back Beach; DAY 7: Visit to Gemstone Beach; DAY 8: Visit to Gemstone Beach; DAY 9: Wet and windy, no beach visits; DAY 10: Visit to Gemstone Beach.

Gemstone Beach surf.

Banded argillite from Gemstone Beach.

Jasper from Gemstone Beach.

Stained quartz from Gemstone Beach.

Fossil coral stone from Gemstone Beach.

South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Days 11 to 15 – For each of DAYS 11 to 15, I made a visit to Gemstone Beach.

Henderson’s Bay, Riverton.

Stone found at Henderson’s Bay, Riverton.

Hampden beach.

Just north of the Waianakarua River mouth.

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.

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).

End of South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – Days 19 to 22

The following are the last of my personal Facebook Posts on my trip, which were also posted in the Facebook Group “New Zealand Lapidary, Rocks, Minerals, Fossils”. The first five days of my trip can be found here.

Day Nineteen, Visit to Beaches North of Kakanui – I stopped off at about four places along the stony beaches just north of Kakanui. The bright sun dried out stones and made it hard to see their colours.

One of the places I parked.

I spent a lot of time nosing around the back of the beach. These boulders look like they were placed here to prevent erosion – the former coast road here has disappeared due to the sea’s encroachment.

The tide was going out. The stones dried in the sun. But sometimes the shade kept some stones wet.

At the southern end of the stony part of the coast are some rocks with a few stones piled up against them

The lower layer of the rock consisted of this dense breccia of very small pebbles – see next photo.

But I managed to find a few worth tumble polishing, especially quartzites and some jaspers. I didn’t see any agates.

Light cream quartzite.

I picked up a lot of small grey quartzites, which will polish well.

Green quartzite.

Jasper.

Unusual shaped jasper.

Side A.

Side B.

This stone was too large to take home, but worthy of a photo.

Yellow quartzite.

Stained quartz.

Quartzite.

An interesting quartzite, a larger stone but able to be polished in my 12lb barrel.

Day Twenty, Last Visit to Kakanui Beach on This Trip – I spent four hours on the stony beach two kilometres north of Kakanui. It was 1 degree when I arrived at 10 am, and it stayed cold. Hat, scarf, gloves and a thick coat were all necessities today. Today was cloudy, which meant that nearly all the stones on the beach stayed wet! That made fossicking so much easier than yesterday. I met a local couple walking their dog and picking up rubbish (bless them!). They told me that sometimes there are very few stones on the beach, and changes can occur from day to day. But today, they said, was excellent for someone like me. I found many very nice quartzites and red jaspers and a few other kinds of stones.

The view on the drive from Oamaru to Kakanui today.

An exquisite small stone, one of the last I found today.

The other side of the previous stone.

A little beaten up, but a beaut!

Side A.

Side B.

Jasper.

Another bashed about but gorgeous pebble.

Other side of previous stone.

I find silica veins intriguing.

Another gorgeous small stone.

Side A.

Side B.

The white blaze on this stone caught my eye.

I stashed my finds in three different places as I made my way about a kilometre along the beach (it felt like two or three kilometres but I checked on Google Maps). I had to make sure I could remember these places so chose very large drift wood pieces. Gathering the stashes up on the way back made the last 300 metres an effort, but it was worth it.

My first stash of stones was at this large up-right driftwood branch. The stones across the beach were wet so I found some good ones even at the back here.

My second stash of stones was left at the end of this “pointer”.

My third stash was near this large driftwood tree trunk.

A stunning small black and white pebble.

Small flat stone.

Small spherical stone.

Outstanding jasper.

Close-up of jasper stone.

Quartzite.

Yellow quartzite. There were many of this type of stone on the beach.

I think this is a limonite prase.

Probably a quartzite.

Green quartzite.

Day Twenty-One, Oamaru to Christchurch – Today I stopped off at Patiti Beach (Timaru), Browns Beach (near Temuka) and Wakanui Beach (to the east of Ashburton). The kind of stones I am interested in for tumble polishing are few and far between on these beaches but an hour’s fossicking does prove productive, especially for small quartzites and jaspers.

Patiti Beach is located right within the boundaries of the city of Timaru:

South Canterbury landscape view. Irrigation equipment in foreground.

The parking area at Patiti Beach, Timaru (not my car).

Patiti Beach.

Patiti Beach stones.

Find of the day.

Browns Beach is on the coast east of Temuka:

Browns Beach. Timaru is far away in the distance across the bay, straight ahead, centre.

Dark purple pebble,

Nice grey quartzite, a bit bigger than the other stones I collected here.

One side of a small quartzite.

Other side of a small quartzite.

The parking area at Browns Beach (my car).

Wakanui Beach is east of Ashburton:

Wakanui Beach is about 20 kilometres east of Ashburton.

Parking area at Wakanui Beach, looking south.

Wakanui Beach.

South Canterbury beach agate, the only one I found.

Small, oval and smooth quartzite pebble.

Sun falling over Mid-Canterbury.

Day Twenty-Two, Final Day Visiting Beaches, Gore Bay and Kekerengu – I’ve now clocked up over 3,000 kms, reached Ward tonight, catching the Cook Strait ferry tomorrow (if it’s not too stormy). After leaving Christchurch this morning, I stopped off at Gore Bay, just to the east of Cheviot. Lots of grey stones on the beach, with the odd dash of white or colour. An hour’s fossick yielded a few interesting stones, often a bit bashed about.

Gore Bay, looking south. The small segment of wet stones was where I spent my time.

At the far north of Gore Bay.

Gore Bay, looking north. I found a handful of colourful quartzites. Jasper was also present.

Lovely quartzite stone.

Close-up of quartzite stone.

Small green pebble,

There were a number of small black and white stones on the beach.

Close-up of black and white stone.

Another nice grey quartzite.

Close-up of grey quartzite.

Later I stopped off on the Kaikoura coast at the beach north of Kekerengu, not far from where the road leaves the coast to head to Ward. The sun was dropping but I wanted to revisit this beach – on my way south I had found some interesting limestone stones with trace fossils in them. I collected a few more to aid my study and understanding of them. Today was a warm day, up to 20 degrees. A storm is coming.

The beach north of Kekerengu along the Kaikoura coast. Looking north.

The fading light and colour or shininess of the stones meant that my camera usually didn’t quite get the stones in focus.

There are a number of types of limestone stones, some white, some grey, some cream. Many have dark grey layers and/or traces.

I had to wait 30 minutes for road works at one point. Nearby was this heron, and…

…at least 20 or 30 seals on the rocks.

[The storm arrived the next day, the day I crossed Cook Strait on the car ferry. A planned trip to Ward Beach in the morning was not able to take place.]

South Island Stone Collecting Trip, May/June 2020 – First Five Days

The beach just north of Kekerenga, looking south.

Autumn foliage in North Canterbury.

This photo captures the scale of the cliffs at the end of the beach that abuts onto Banks Peninsula.

The 4-5 metres high cliff at the back of the beach.

Beach just north of Kakanuii.

Distinctive trace fossil trail.

Jasper or maybe quartzite?

Green quartzite.

Gorgeous quartzite.

Gold quartzite.

On 14 May, New Zealand moved to Covid-19 Alert Level Two, lifting the majority of lockdown restrictions while maintaining physical distancing. It’s now been more than a week since New Zealand had a new Covid-19 case and there is currently only one active case left in the country. The move to Level Two means travel is now possible to different parts of the country. I have taken the opportunity to embark upon a three-week stone collecting trip to the South Island by car, crossing Cook Strait by ferry on Wednesday 27 May. The following are the up-dates I posted on Facebook for the first five days of the trip.

Day One, Wellington/Picton to Cheviot – Stopped on the beach some 60 kms north of Kaikoura and found lots of interesting white stones with dark shapes on them. Some of the shapes were very reminiscent of worm cast fossil traces – I will need to do a bit of research and sort out any connection. I found a few other types of stones as well. There were also lots of roadworks and seals along the coast.

The beach just north of Kekerenga, looking south.

It was the light grey stones that drew my attention.

Inland from the beach.

A lot of road works and road protection is still being undertaken in the wake of the massive 2016 Kaikoura earthquake.

Waiting at a stop/go, I glanced down at the beach and saw…

…a number of seal pups playing around the rocks.

[The stones are probably some kind of limestone and the dark shapes are definitely trace fossils. Whether they will polish or not is questionable due to the relative softness of the stones.]

Distinctive trace fossil trail.

The only quartzite-like stone I found on the beach.

Day Two, Cheviot to Birdlings Flat – Foggy this morning on the road for the first 30 minutes, sunshine the rest of the day though it struggled to get past 13 degrees. Some brilliant autumn foliage, especially in North Canterbury. I arrived at Birdlings Flat at noon, about 6 or 7 others collecting stones on the beach too. With the sun so bright and low in the sky, it was hard to pick out details of stones but I managed to find a few of interest, especially some nice quartzites. On the way to Christchurch for the night, saw some thick cloud clinging to the top of the Port Hills. Will visit Birdlings Flat again tomorrow.

Autumn foliage in North Canterbury.

Birdlings Flat, looking north towards Banks Peninsula.

Low cloud clinging to the Port Hills near Christchurch.

[I found some typical Birdlings Flat stones with interesting colours and patterns.]

Jasper or maybe quartzite?

Petrified wood.

Quartzite.

Jasper.

Quartzite.

Interesting intrusions in this stone.

Quartzite.

Could be jasper.

Grey/white quartzite.

Gold quartzite.

Small agate piece.

Day Three, Birdlings Flat – Cloudy and cool today, but the lack of sun meant that I could see the stones better. There was a 50 metre wide strip of wet stones along the shore-line which stayed wet, showing the colours of the stones. I walked up and down this strip, not along the beach – going towards the wave-line then back from it, zigzagging down the beach.

I parked on the compacted stones, not venturing past thos warning sign.

This photo captures the scale of the cliffs at the end of the beach that abuts onto Banks Peninsula.

My backpack, marking my movement up and down the beach.

In the three hours I was there, I found quite a few interesting stones, mainly quartzites, in a relatively small space (about 300 metres of the beach).

Gorgeous green quartzite.

Green quartzite.

Quartzite with a dash of gold and orange.

Petrified wood.

Striped jasper?

A kind of breccia?

Quartzite.

Small gold quartzite.

Larger gold quartzite.

Even larger gold quartzite.

Another type of gold quartzite.

Day Four, Christchurch to Oamaru, Side Trip to Beach near Hinds – On my way to Oamaru, I turned eastwards at Hinds (100 kms south of Christchurch) to come out at the coast after about 20 kms just north of the Rangitata River mouth. It is said that stones brought down from the Alps by this river eventually make their way to Birdlings Flat (100 kms away). And the evidence supports that view. In the 90 minutes I was there, I collected a few quartzites of the type that can also be found at Birdlings, a few of which are quite stunning. There were quite a few jasper stones on the beach, and I found one small agate fragment.

The beach on the coast near Hinds.

The 4-5 metres high cliff at the back of the beach.

Gorgeous quartzite.

The kind of gold quartzite that is found at Birdlings Flat too.

Not sure what this stone is.

A small agate fragment with a couple of bands.

Day Five, Oamaru to Gore, Side Trip to Beach near Kakanui – Just south of Oamaru I headed to the coast near Kakanui. My friend and former University of Waikato colleague David has a holiday home there and has encouraged me to see what stones might be found on the beach. I was very pleasantly surprised to find many nice quartzites there, especially the yellow/gold ones I particularly like. Another sunny day, cool, but excellent for fossicking mainly due to the lack of wind.