I had expected Gemstone Beach in May to have a wintery feel to it but to my surprise the weather has been pretty awesome with average temperatures in the teens! Not all of May’s fossicks were rainless however and having a “keen to visit Gemstone Beach as much as possible” friend to stay for a week ensured that there were a quite a few fossicks to record and share this month!
Fossick #1 – Sunday 4 May, 2025
I arrived at the carpark around 11:30am. There were three cars and a bus camper already parked up. It was a mild 11 degrees but sunny with a bit of cloud hanging round. After a quick chat with fellow “Tui-tarian”, Trudy, (who showed me her awesome poppy jasper find – sorry didn’t capture it!) I headed off down the beach towards the Taunoa Stream.
With low tide expected at 12:03pm I knew that I had a good couple of hours to fossick. There were quite a few stones back on the beach towards the Taunoa so that should keep the tourists occupied. It’s still busy down south with a lot of visitors in the area even though we are starting to head into the winter months.
One lady had just crossed the Taunoa Stream before me with no one else on the other side. I ended up with water down both gumboots crossing the Taunoa (I was wearing my redbands and not my high thermal boots!) The directions of the Taunoa has changed again snaking it’s way out to sea.
The Waimeamea River
The Waimeamea River was closed off today but there were lots of seepages – some of them quite deep and great for fossicking in! Just before turning around at 1:13pm I sat down on a large log at the cliff corner of the Waimeamea River and ate my sandwich. A group of about four people were coming this way combing the beach with their heads down. They didn’t get as far down as me and had already disappeared into the distance by the time I started fossicking my way back to the carpark.
The temperature had risen a couple of degrees by the time I got back to the car. A few people were walking their dogs but headed in the direction of Monkey Island. It was 2:26pm so I’d been on the beach for a good three hours.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #1
Fossick #2 – Saturday 10 May, 2025
My good friend Angie (from Hawkes Bay) is staying with me for a week. After picking her up from the airport late last night she was keen as mustard to get back to Gemstone Beach for a fossick. Angie & her best buddy Nicola (aka New Zealand Rockhound on YouTube) were here last April for their first ever time on Gemstone Beach.
Unfortunately I did not get to meet them both face to face during that visit, but over the last year I’ve met up with them several times in Hawkes Bay (I go there often to catch up with family) and we’ve even squeezed in a fossick at their local fossicking spot on Kairakau Beach while I was up there!
The Beach
High tide was at 10:58am which worked out well for Angie to rest a bit after her very long day yesterday getting from Hawkes Bay to Southland (via Auckland would you believe!). Low tide was scheduled for 5:10pm so we left home at 1:30pm knowing that the tide would probably be quite high still. It was a lovely 15 degrees but overcast.
We arrived at the carpark at 1:50pm and there was only one other car there! (That’s a first in a long time). We spent two hours on the beach finally driven off by a drastic turn in the weather. It had begun to rain sharp and harsh so with that, the wind chill factor plus being absolutely soaked we headed back to the car. We’d only made it across the Taunoa Stream and down to the cut in the cliffs where all the driftwood used to pile up before turning around.
There was only one other person on the beach when we got back on the other side of the Taunoa Stream at 3:53pm. The temperature had only dropped one degree to 14 but we were both cold and very wet!
The Waimeamea River
Since we didn’t make it down as far as the Waimeamea River, I have no idea whether it was open or not today.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #2
Fossick #3 – Sunday, 11 May 2025
Low tide was at 5:27am with sunrise at 7:57am so we (Angie and I) got up early for our second (my third for the month) fossick on Mother’s Day at 7:25am. There was no one in the carpark nor the beach at 8am when we arrived so I had to take a photo! It was a little windy and a cool 8 degrees.
We knew it would be a short fossick because of the tides. You have to be quite careful on Gemstone Beach when the tide is high as there’s not a lot of room between the sea and the cliffs especially if there’s a swell running. There was quite a big swell which meant we needed to keep a close eye on the waves and keep close to the cliffs. That can also be a bit dangerous as well as those cliffs are constantly slipping too.
The Waimeamea River
The Waimeamea River was open but it as the tide was on it’s way back in, it wasn’t really safe to spend a lot of time fossicking down there. Oh well there’s always tomorrow!
By the time we got back to the carpark at 10:19am there were six cars parked up. We’d managed to fossick on the beach for a couple of hours despite the tides not being in our favour. The Goldman and his faithful dog Tig were checking out the beach in their ute giving us a wave as they headed out of the carpark.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #3
Fossick #4 – Monday 12 May, 2025
We had spent the morning fossicking down at McCracken’s Rest. This was a place Angie really wanted to visit as she’d not been there when first down here last April. Luckily I know a lovely lady who let us drive through the back of her private property and almost down to the beach so that we didn’t have to scale down the very steep side of the cliff at the famous McCracken’s Rest tourist stopping point.
After a bit of a rest, some lunch and the tides still not quite in our favour, we did the best with what we had and arrived at the Gemstone Beach carpark at 3:14pm. There were four cars in the carpark already with one person (the Goldman and Tig the dog) on the beach across the other side of the Taunoa Stream.
The Waimeamea River
The Waimeamea River was open and flowing out to sea. It was quite easy to cross so we did although we didn’t spend a lot of time going any further due to it being later in the afternoon. We fossicked mainly around the edge of the river as the stones were quite wet and it was easy to spot the good ones!
We were back at the carpark at 5:40pm just as the light was starting to fade. There was no one else on the beach but there were two cars in the carpark along with ours.
This would be the last May fossick for me (work, weather, tides etc) but Angie was able to fossick for two more days on Gemstone Beach without me. She ended up with some awesome finds, particularly a rather lovely black hydrogrossular garnet. I wish I’d photographed that for the blog! Maybe she’ll send me a pic if she’s reading this!
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 my favourite finds so please leave a comment – it’s greatly appreciated!
Next in the Series:
Gemstone Beach in June : Stones, Waves & Whispers Part 9 (not published yet)
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