Polished Stones – Page 9

Fresh Batch of Polished Gemstone Beach Stones Collected by Helen

In June, when I was visiting Riverton and Gemstone Beach, my sister Helen accompanied me on some of my fossicking trips. She collected a few bucketfuls of stones and carefully selected some for me to take home and polish for her.

Helen on Gemstone Beach.

Today I completed polishing a 4lb barrel full. Included are a wide range of types and sizes of Gemstone Beach beauties. Here they are, in two trays:

A closer look at the first tray:

A closer look at the second tray:

These stones started out as relatively smooth beach stones. They tumbled in 320 silicon carbide grit for eight days and 19 hours, followed by a five hours soap tumble. A pre-polish in tin oxide was next, for just under eight days, followed by a five hour soap tumble. Finally, just under nine days was spent tumbling in pro-polish tin oxide, with a final burnishing tumble in borax for two days.

Photo-Book #2 “The 33 Stones of the Lockdown”

Photo-book number one.

Photo-book number two.

This is my second recent photo-book, using an online site. The first was on the trace fossil stones of Gemstone Beach. “The 33 Stones of the Lockdown” features the stones I posted on TumbleStone Blog over the 33 days of the Lockdown in New Zealand. The first Post of this Series, on Thursday 26 March, featured a small grey brecciated stone from Gemstone Beach.

I decided that a photo-book would be a great way to be able to look back, in the years ahead, on a significant and unusual time in the history of our communities, country and the globe. I no longer have all these 33 stones as I sent a few to those of my small number of Facebook friends who followed the Series on Facebook, so the photo-book is also a record of some special and unusual pebbles that I have collected and tumble-polished. Photos dominate the 30 page book, which is hardcover and 20 cm by 20 cm in size. At the beginning is a photo of all 33 stones followed by a brief introduction to the Covid-19 pandemic in New Zealand.

Photos of the 33 stones make up the bulk of the book. On some pages, just one stone is featured. On other pages, two stones are displayed. The online site provides a number of pre-determined formats and these two best fitted my aims.

It is difficult to control the brightness and colour of the finished product. What you see on your computer screen is not always an accurate representation of what turns up in the book. I order one copy of the book first and then make any adjustments required to ensure good images before ordering any further copies.

The final couple of pages have photos of the places where the stones were found.

Back cover.

All 33 stones, plus the other stones posted during Alert Levels Two and Three, can be found in the Summary Index of Stones of the Pandemic.

Four Polished Stones from Gemstone Beach

In my office at home is a bookcase on the top of which is displayed a small number of polished stones from three locations: Riverton, Gemstone Beach, and Birdlings Flat. These stones were picked at random when I moved into my new home seven months ago, being ones that I found intriguing and interesting mainly for their colours and patterns.

Here are four of the Gemstone Beach stones. The first one is a green banded argillite stone. Its fine lines draw my eye.

The bookcase top in my office.

Gemstone Beach, Orepuki.

Banded argillite stone.

Other side of banded argillite stone.

The second stone is of a type that is unknown to me. I find its white colour and subtle brown patterns attractive.

Unknown polished stone from Gemstone Beach.

Other side of unknown polished stone from Gemstone Beach.

The third stone is of a different shape and darker colour, with angular criss-crossing lace-like etchings.

Unknown type of stone from Gemstone Beach.

Other side of unknown type of stone from Gemstone Beach.

The fourth stone is cut by a fault-line, difficult to see among a jumbled complex of wavy lines, shapes and colours.

Complex patterned stone from Gemstone Beach.

Other side of complex patterned stone from Gemstone Beach.

Summary Index of Stones of the Pandemic

This Index allows you to click on a link to be taken to the relevant Post. The photos give you an idea of each Stone.

A) ALERT LEVEL FOUR, NEW ZEALAND – STAY-AT-HOME

To mark the passing days of Alert Level Four, I chose a polished stone each day for 33 days.

Stone One – Small grey and white breccia from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Two – Light-coloured quartzite from Back Beach, Riverton.

Stone Three – Green metamorphic stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Four – Chalcedony(?) from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Five– Brecciated stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Six – Banded ignimbrite.

Stone Seven – Hematite jasper from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Eight – Small jasper from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Nine – Quartzite from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Ten – Small black and brown stone from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Eleven – Green hydrogrossular garnet from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Twelve – Small red-brown stone from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Thirteen – Petrified wood from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Fourteen – Pinkish-brown stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Fifteen – Greenish-grey argillite with fossil worm casts from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Sixteen – Dolerite(?) from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Seventeen – Green fossilised worm cast stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Eighteen – “South Coast marble type” stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Nineteen – Black fossilised worm cast stone from Gemstone Beach

Stone Twenty – Yellow quartzite from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Twenty-One – Medium-green argillite with fossil worm cast traces.

Stone Twenty-Two – White hydrogrossular garnet from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Twenty-Three – Light brown volcanic stone from Birdlings Flat.

Stone Twenty-Four – Grey banded argillite from Gemstone Beach.

Stone Twenty-Five – Black and yellow grained stone from Gemstone Beach.

Twenty-Six – Banded agate stone from Birdlings Flat.

Twenty-Seven – Dark red quartzite from Birdlings Flat.

Twenty-Eight – Pink stone from Birdlings Flat.

Twenty-Nine – Green and yellow quartzite from Birdlings Flat.

Thirty – Grey-white quartzite from Birdlings Flat.

Thirty-One – Jasper from Gemstone Beach.

Thirty-Two – Black and white grained stone from Back Beach, Riverton.

Thirty-Three – Jasper from Waikaka.

B) LAST DAYS OF LEVEL THREE

For Alert Level Three I initially posted some children’s stories on Facebook but was then requested to recommence the Posts on stones. So I started a new series of recently polished stones for Alert Level Three, with Posts being made every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday. As it turned out, only two were made before New Zealand moved to Alert Level Two. (“LDOL3” = “Last Days of Level 3”)

LDOL3 Stone #1 – Black and yellow stone from Riverton.

LDOL Stone #2 – White-cream quartzite from Gemstone Beach.

C) ALERT LEVEL TWO

This Series began with a Post on a Thursday, the start of Level Two. I then made Posts every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday throughout Level Two.

Stone 1 – Quartz from Gemstone Beach.

Stone 2 – “Marble-type” stone from Riverton.

Stone 3 – Banded argillite from Gemstone Beach.

Stone 4 – Cloudy-green stone from Riverton.

Stone 5 – Fossil worm cast stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone 6 – Quartzite-like stone from Birdlings Flat.

Stone 7– Black-veined stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone 8 – Green breccia stone from Riverton.

Stone 9 – Jasper from Birdlings Flat.

Stone 10 – White-grey stone from Gemstone Beach.

Stone 11 – Dark grey banded stone from Birdlings Flat.

Stone 12 – Light-coloured maroon stone from Gemstone Beach.

Helen’s Stones, Collected from Gemstone Beach, February-March 2020

From left: Ray (Helen’s husband), Petra, and Helen (picjing up a stone) on Gemstone Beach, 28 February 2020.

People on Gemstone Beach, just out from the carpark, 9 March 2020.

In February-March this year, I visited the beaches at Riverton and Orepuki to collect stones – this was just a few days before the Covid-19 Lockdown. I was often accompanied on my trips to the beaches by my sister Helen, sometimes also by my wife Petra and brother-in-law Ray. Petra and Helen also collected stones. Helen generously handed on to me most of the worm cast stones she found. She accumulated a number of interesting stones from Gemstone Beach for me to polish for her. I brought these home to Whanganui and put most of them into a 4 lb barrel. They spent seven days in a 320 grit tumble in late March, followed by a three hour tumble in Sunlight soap. They then tumbled in tin oxide Pre-polish for eight days in mid April, followed by a two hour soap tumble. Finally in late April they underwent ten days in tin oxide Pro-polish followed by one day in borax to complete the polishing process. Below are the 121 polished stones:

All 121 polished stones in a pile.

Close-up of some of the 121 stones.

There are some stunning stones in this batch. Helen and I spent some time after each day’s stone collecting going though her stones, evaluating each pebble before deciding to keep it for polishing or to discard it (in the garden at Helen and Ray’s Riverton crib). Any stone that was kept was likely to be interesting.

The 72 larger stones, lying flat.

Large banded argillite.

Other side of large banded argillite.

Top view of large banded argillite.

Large brown hydrogrossular garnet.

Other side of large brown hydrogrossular garnet.

Other side of large brown and grey hydrogrossular garnet.

Large brown and grey hydrogrossular garnet.

Red-veined grey stone.

Pale quartzite.

Small button-shaped banded ignimbrite.

Other spectacular stones:

Spotted red argillite.

Detail of spotted red argillite.

Medium-sized white hydrogrossular garnet.

Holding medium-sized white hydrogrossular garnet up to sun.

Detail of small hematite jasper stone.

Small hematite jasper stone.

Some of the medium-sized stones, showing the range collected:

The 72 larger stones, lying flat.

The 49 smaller stones, along with two of the larger ones, lying flat.

Some of the medium-sized stones.

Some worm cast stones that Helen kept to polish for herself (shows good taste!):

Dark brown worm cast.

Red worm casts in grey stone – very unusual.

Other side of grey stone with red worm casts.

Brown worm casts.

Green stone with mica and very small worm casts.

Close up of green stone showing very small worm casts.

Close up of tiny mica pieces in green stone.

Medium-sized variegated green stone, with worm cast?

Other side of medium-sized variegated green stone.

At times, smaller stones can be the most colourful and interesting. Some of the smaller stones:

The 49 smaller stones, along with two of the larger ones, lying flat.

Some of the smaller stones.

All I have to do now is work out some way of getting the stones back to her, though restrictions are easing in New Zealand…

Stone of the Lockdown

I asked my small Facebook community to vote for “Stone of the Lockdown”. I had posted 33 Stones over the preceding 33 days, and we had voted for five Stones of the Week along the way. I asked them to consider the ten most popular Stones of the Day, including the five Stones of the Week – #3, #7, #8, #13, #18, #22, #25, #27, #29 and #33.

7 – Claimed

13 – Claimed

18 – Claimed

22 – Claimed

25 – Claimed

27 – Claimed

29 – Claimed

33 – Claimed

“Which one is the most favourite of us all over the whole time?” Voters could make up to three choices. Their first choice woud receive 20 points, their second choice would receive 15 points, and their third choice would receive 10 points.

The Stone of the Lockdown is Stone Seven, a jasper I picked up on Birdlings Flat in Canterbury. It received 90 points from the nine people who voted. Second was Stone Three (75 points) followed by Stone Twenty-Two (55 points) and Stone Eight (50 points).

Stone Seven, polished jasper stone from Birdlings Flat – Stone of the Lockdown.

Stone Seven.

The next Post in this Series is Producing the Photos of the Stones of the Day. The first Post is Stay-at-Home Day One, Thursday 26 March 2020: Stone One.

The Thirty-Three Stones of Stay-at-Home

These are the 33 Stones of the Day all laid out so you can see their relative size, with photos of individual Stones below. [I am currently offering a Stone to each of those in my Facebook community who voted for Stones of the Week and “Claimed” in a Stone’s caption means it will be sent to one of those people.]

The 33 Stones of the Day by size.

The Stones of the Day by size, numbered.

Stone One can be found at Stay-at-Home Day One, Thursday 26 March 2020: Stone One and from there are links to the rest.

See also the related Post Producing the Photos of the Stones of the Day.

Stay-at-Home Week Five, Final Stone of the Week

29 – Claimed

33 – Claimed

New Zealand lifted its “Lockdown”, Covid-19 Alert Level Four, at midnight of 27 April, and moved to Alert Level Three. Level Three is for an initial two weeks and it will then be reviewed. Some aspects of people’s economic lives will revive but not yet our social lives. The “bubbles” we have been living in may expand a little, and increased outside physical activity can take place, but social distancing is still important. “Staying Safe” is crucial.

So Week Five, the final week of Stay-at-Home, Level Four, was partial, consisting of only five days. As for the previous four weeks, my small Facebook community voted on a Stone of the Week for Week Five. “Which stone is your favourite?” I asked, regarding Stones Twenty-Nine to Thirty-Three. The most supported stone this week was Stone Thirty-Three, with Stone Twenty-Nine in second place.

33 – Claimed

Stone Thirty-Three detail.

Stone Thirty-Three.

Stone Thirty-Three detail.

The third side of Stone Thirty-Three.

The bowl of Stones of the Day is now as full as it will get.

33 Stones of the Day.

Bowl of 33 Stones of the Day.

The next Post in this Series is Stone of the Lockdown. The first Post is Stay-at-Home Day One, Thursday 26 March 2020: Stone One.

Stay-at-Home Week Four, Stones of the Week

22 – Claimed

25 – Claimed

26 – Claimed

27 – Claimed

The bowl of Stones of the Day in my home office is filling up with daily additions, now having a total of 28 polished stones in it.

As for Weeks One, Two and Three, my small Facebook community voted on a Stone of the Week for Week Four. “Which stone is your favourite?” I asked, regarding Stones Twenty-Two to Twenty-Eight. There are joint winners this week! Stone Twenty-Five and Stone Twenty-Seven received the same number of votes (with Stone Twenty-Two being a very close runner-up).

Stone Twenty-Five.

Stone Twenty-Five in detail.

Stone Twenty-Seven detail.

Stone Twenty-Seven.

It is anticipated that New Zealand will move out of Alert Level Four on 28 April. This means there will be have been a total of Thirty-Three Stay-at-Home Stones of the Day by then.

The next Post in this Series is Stay-at-Home Day Twenty-Nine, Thursday 23 April 2020: Stone Twenty-Nine. The first Post is Stay-at-Home Day One, Thursday 26 March 2020: Stone One.

Stay-at-Home Week Three, Stone of the Week

18 – Claimed

The bowl of Stones of the Day in my home office is fuller now, having a total of 21 polished stones in it.

As for Weeks One and Two, my small Facebook community voted on a Stone of the Week for Week Three. “Which stone is your favourite?” I asked, regarding Stones Fifteen to Twenty-One. Stone Eighteen attracted the most support.

18 – Claimed

Stone Eighteen.

The next Post in this Series is Stay-at-Home Day Twenty-Two, Thursday 16 April 2020: Stone Twenty-Two. The first Post is Stay-at-Home Day One, Thursday 26 March 2020: Stone One.