Summer has arrived, bringing with it perfect days for fossicking at the beach! This month’s spotlight on Gemstone Beach in January highlights significant changes to the Taunoa Stream once more, along with more sand on the beach than last month.
I managed to get out fossicking twice – that seems to be the magical number for me each month. First fossick was on my own with Lucy, my young fossicking neighbour, joining me for the second fossick. Lucy, meanwhile, is quickly developing an eye for trace fossils and is spotting some truly remarkable ones.
Fossick #1 – Sunday, January 5 2025
First fossick for 2025 was Sunday, January 5 arriving at the carpark at 10:15am. Low tide was set for 11.16am giving me plenty of time to look for nice stones to tumble. Being a Sunday I expected it to be busy down at Gemstone Beach and I was not wrong! It was packed!!There were already eight vehicles in the carpark including a couple of campers and a roof-top tent. Enjoying the 13 degree weather I’m guessing most of those campers stayed a night or two here. Although there was blue sky there were also quite a few clouds making it semi-overcast.
The Taunoa Stream was so shallow looking my first thought was “it’s blocked off!” It wasn’t but you can see how much it’s changed from December’s images. The stream runs out in the opposite direction from the cliff side now and there’s quite a few stones on either side to rummage around in. Of course the shallowness of the crossing and the stones on the other side make it really easy for people to cross.
On my way down to the Waimeamea River I passed four boogie board riders on their way back to the carpark. With so much sand still in the middle part I bet they had a blast riding the waves! As I checked out a few stone piles I was passed by a fellow fossicker with a back pack who gave me a silent wave.
The Waimeamea River was still closed off and the stones looked so inviting I fossicked even further past where I got to in December. Here I met up with and talked to the fellow fossicker that had passed me earlier. It was Jason, also a member of the Southland Geological & Lapidary Club (SGLC). He showed me some of his hydrogrossular finds and what stonkers they were!! I wished later that I’d asked if I could take a photo. We chatted a little about fossicking techniques, where to look etc especially for hydrogrossulars.
Hydrogrossular garnets seem to be more easily seen in the finer stone areas plus quite often when you follow the motorbike tracks of the “gold man” you seem to find more too. One thing I have noticed is the more super smooth argillite there is, the more likely it is that you will see/find a hydrogrossular.
During our short chat we both lost concentration on the waves resulting in wet feet & gumboots for me! Jason was wearing dive boots so it didn’t matter so much to him. Those are such a better idea to wear than gumboots especially during the summer months when it’s warmer! Thermal gumboots are great in the winter time but they are also very heavy!
I turned around at 12:46pm to make my way back to the carpark. There were so many people on the beach when I returned. A couple of people were surfcasting (fishing) and lots of people were just sitting on the beach (some in deck chairs) enjoying the sunshine. All the cloud from earlier in the morning had disappeared and it was such a beautiful day to be out! There were lots of people walking on the beach to the left of the stream with no name too as there was a lot of clear sand to walk on down there with the tide being out so far.
The carpark was FULL and all the way down the side of the entrance way were parked cars and campers too when I left at 2pm after nearly four hours of fossicking.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #1
Fossick #2 – Wednesday, 22 January 2025
It’s still school holidays so my young fossicking neighbour Lucy joined me for another fossick down at Gemstone Beach. Low tide was scheduled for 1:28pm and we arrived at the carpark at 11:28am. The carpark was absolutely packed with 20+ cars. It did not seem like there were that many people on the beach but there were plenty of people across the other side of the Taunoa Stream. That’s the most people I have ever seen on that side so far.
It was a warm 13 degrees but overcast when we first arrived. The Taunoa Stream was super shallow to cross (even with it still being a couple of hours before low tide) and it is still running out to sea away from the crumbling cliffs. It hasn’t changed much since my earlier January fossick and the December fossick I did with Lucy.
Instead of gumboots, I wore my quick-dry water shoes, similar to these. Mine have a reasonable sole on them. Game-changer! They were perfect for a summertime beach fossick!
The amount of sand was vast! It was completely sandy with almost no stones to about ¾ of the way down to the Waimeamea River. Apart from some stones up and along the cliffs and the odd patch of stones, it was slim pickings for fossicking along the way so we mostly walked straight down to the Waimeamea River. A few of the people that had just crossed the Taunoa Stream followed us down the beach further but no one fossicked as far as we did.
The Waimeamea River was still closed off although there were lots of seepage lines where the river is trying to “break free”. Those areas made for good fossicking too due to the wetness of stones. The “goldman” on his motorbike with his dog towing his sluice trailer giving us the usual wave as he headed back to the carpark. He’d been down past where we eventually turned around to make our way back to the carpark. The overcast skies had cleared which meant the sun was out with plenty of blue sky! Just as well because a few minutes later I got caught by a wave ending up wet right up to my backside!
Didn’t collect as many stones as I usually do. I think that was because there was so much sand resulting in more walking than picking up stones. We arrived back at the carpark at 1:47pm after spending 2½ hours looking for stones on the beach.
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #2
Next in the Series: Stones, Waves & Whispers: Part 5 (not published yet) – February fossicks.
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