Tumble and Polish

JP invited me to fossick with him on Gemstone Beach on the 24 March. He had a challenge for me though. I was to resist the urge to pick up any stones until we got to the Waimeamea River. I’ve never fossicked more than a little way past the crossing of the Taunoa Stream before and I had never been down to the Waimeamea River either. To say I was excited was an understatement!

I was very proud of myself! I did not pick up a single stone until we got to the Waimeamea River, even when JP stopped to pick up something that caught his eye, I did not touch a single stone! We spent a large portion of our three and half hour fossick at or near the Waimeamea River mouth where it comes out onto the beach. Then we made our way slowly back to the carpark. JP blogged about our fossick here.

I’ve mentioned before that JP is a very discerning fossicker. He looks for more smoother stones than I do and has the most amazing eye for spotting stones with gorgeous patterns. He is exceptionally good at spotting hydrogrossulars. I don’t even seem to notice the hydrogrossulars and of course there are many varieties!

Needless to say, it was great to get down to the Waimeamea River and to fossick with such a knowledgable mind. As usual, my haul of stones was WAY more than JPs and I’ve decided that I need to get myself a backpack. I had an over the shoulder bag to transfer stones to from my mesh bag but every time I bent over it swung around to the front of me. It was very annoying!

Stones that Caught My Eye

I have no idea what most of the stones that catch my eye are – I am starting to know some because of spending time with JP – but I am still no expert and I basically pick up anything I think looks pretty or unusual to me and that I think will polish well. And by polish well I mean “if it looks good wet, then it probably will look like that permanently when polished.” These stones have not been polished yet. When I get home I like to leave the stones for a day or so and then put them in a bucket of water and go through them again. Sometimes I wonder why on earth I put a stone in my fossicking bag! This is also a great way to “pare” down your collection of stones to polish.

Judging by these images, it looks like I’m particularly drawn to the darker stones especially those with interesting squiggles of a lighter colour. Of course I love the green ones as green is my favourite colour!