Gemstone Beach in April was very busy with many tourists still around Southland. Both Easter and ANZAC day created long weekends so I did avoid the beach on both those days! I have been told that they were extremely busy times in the carpark with cars, campervans and towed caravans parked all the way back out to the road!
I managed to fossick four times this month and one of the big changes is you may see from now on is the purple coffee van at the Gemstone Beach carpark. If she’s there, say hello to Britt, the very friendly lady who makes lovely coffee. She’s got print outs of Gemstone Beach posts from JP’s very famous tumblestone blog to help her when people ask about the stones they could find (or have found) and she’s also got some of my boxes of pretty polished Gemstone Beach stones for anyone to purchase as a momento of their trip to Gemstone Beach. If Britt is there, her bright yellow coffee flag will be out at the roadside so make sure you get your coffee fix!
Fossick #1 – Saturday 5 April, 2025
I arrived at the carpark at 1:09pm, just ahead of the 1:24pm low tide. After grabbing a coffee and chatting with Britt for a bit, I eventually headed off along the beach towards Waimeamea River around 2:04pm. By that point, there were about 10 cars and a couple of campervans in the carpark, many of them with mountain bikes on the back. Overhead, there were plenty of clouds, though a bit of blue managed to poke through every now and again.
The Taunoa Stream was very easy to cross at low tide and apart for two other people who passed me (and then I passed them) there was no one else on the Waimeamea River side of the Taunoa. The beach was quite sandy in general and there were very few stones around until you got down to the exposed cliffs (see image above). The Waimeamea River was closed off so I fossicked way past where it normally comes out – further than I have ever fossicked before.
By the time I was back at the carpark at 4:45pm I’d spent nearly three hours on the beach. There were still a few people on the sand in front of the carpark.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #1
Fossick #2 – Thursday 10 April, 2025
It was sunny, with a slight breeze when I arrived at Gemstone Beach about 12:06pm with Ohla dog in tow. High tide was at 10:56am so I knew I’d be fossicking on the outgoing tide with plenty of time to get down to the Waimeamea River and back again. There were a couple of campervans and a couple of cars in the carpark. My watch told me it was 17 degrees – a bonus for this time of the year in Southland.
(April 10)
It did not take long to get down to the Waimeamea River today because the beach is still quite sandy with very few patches of rocks to fossick in until you get down to the cliff bank where the river used to snake out. Although the Waimeamea River was open and flowing out to sea, the tide was still a little high for me to safely cross it so I didn’t. Instead I fossicked along the side of the river. The goldman and his faithful dog (Tuck I think his name is) were the only ones I met on the beach today. Ohla and Tuck love having a bit of a play together when they see each other.
There were a few hydrogrossular finds today – I think they are easier to find when the sand is grainy and prevalent. By the time Ohla and I got back to the carpark at 2:30pm there were quite a few people on the beach and the temperature had gone up one degree to 18! The sun was out when I left, although for most of my time on the beach it was behind the clouds.
I picked up two pieces of rubbish on the beach today – both plastic – a gladwrap roll wrapper and a plastic water bottle lid. You don’t often find rubbish on Gemstone Beach so I like to pick it up when I see it.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #2
Fossick #3 – Tuesday 22 April, 2025
The coffee van (and Britt) was there when I arrived today. As I sat and had a coffee and a chat so many cars went in and out! It’s not getting any less busier at Gemstone Beach at the moment. It was a cool 12 degrees and low tide was at 1:32pm. It was 12:51pm when I got onto the beach so the tide hadn’t turned yet and will still at it’s high point. I wasn’t sure how far I would get today.
There’s been a significant change to the Taunoa Stream since my last visit earlier in the month. It is much wider, the bank of stones on the carpark side has gone and the flow is back over by the cliffs again. A bit of bank of stones is building up on the other side.
The Waimeamea River was open but it was way to swift for me to cross and it was a little deep too. The tide was on its way out so after fossicking for a bit, finding a poppy jasper, giving the goldman and Tuck a wave, I turned around and made my way back to the carpark. There were still a lot of people on the beach (big groups too) in front of the carpark hoping to find some beauties. I’d been fossicking for a good three hours adding a few different hydrogrossular garnet specimens to my rock bag too.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #3
Fossick #4 – Saturday 26 April, 2025
With high tide at 10:55am, I arrived on Gemstone Beach at 12:08pm for my last April fossick around midday. It was a lovely 17 degrees again with a little sea breeze. Britt and the purple coffee van were parked up but I only stopped for a quick catchup on my way in. Anzac Day was yesterday and just like today according to Britt it was crazy busy in the carpark. About 50 or so cars had been in and out already this morning!!
Ohla dog was with me so together we crossed the Taunoa Stream all the way back by the crib in the cliff because the waves were rushing up the beach quite strongly still. There was no one on the other side either; however, a few family groups were gathered on the beach in front of the carpark. In addition, someone had built a bivouac of sorts on the beach.
It was not as sandy across the Taunoa Stream as it has been lately so I took my time (about an hour and twenty minutes) exploring all the stones as the tide was still quite high despite it being on it’s way out. It’s like that sometimes at Gemstone Beach as the swell was quite bit it pushes the waves higher up the beach.
Ohla and I reached the Waimeamea River around 1:17pm. It was open and fast flowing. Although it was narrow, it was still far too swift and deep for me to even consider crossing—so I didn’t. Meanwhile, Ohla popped over for a quick look, which, as always, had me wishing she knew how to pick up stones and put them in a bag!
Halfway back to the carpark there was an area of beach that had a number of pieces of plastic and rope rubbish so I picked that up that rubbish to bring home to dispose of it properly. It was quite disappointing to find so much of it today but at least there’s no chance of this lot going back into the ocean now. We were back at the carpark at 2:23pm after fossicking for about two and a half hours. By that time, there were quite a few people on the beach in front of the carpark, and additionally, quite a number of people had gathered on the other side of the stream with no name.
I thought today’s fossick was a bit meh as I only filled one bag but after looking through my favourite finds it was not so bad! There are quite a few that I can’t wait to see tumbled and polished – especially A, H, N and O. Which ones are your favourites?
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #4
If I’m naming the stones in the captions, please note that I am by no means an expert and they are my “best guess” with some being more confident guesses than others. That being said, I am really keen for any thoughts, corrections, suggestions on the stones of interest (to me) that have come out of my tumblers so please leave a comment – it’s greatly appreciated!
Next in the Series:
Gemstone Beach in May: Stones, Waves & Whispers Part 8 (not published yet)
Just stumbled across this post and want to read the series from the beginning? Click here.
Wow! Great reading. Many really interesting finds. Good to hear about a coffee van. Many thanks for your efforts.
Thank you my friend! Hope you are having a great day! It is good to see the stones back too – lots to choose from! I have a little laugh to myself and say “JP would be proud – I’m leaving so much more behind now!”