February is a crazy busy time here with summer cranking, the BnB fully booked, plus school is back in session for 2025. I only managed to get down to Gemstone Beach once in February (just sneaking in before the end of it) and it was really good to see a little less sand and a few more stones.
The Waimeamea River was open and flowing out to sea as well which makes a change from the last few times I’ve been fossicking down there.
Fossick #1 – Thursday, February 27 2025
I arrived at the carpark at 1:42pm. There were quite a number of cars in the carpark but I was still surprised at just how many people were on the beach. It was awesome to see some people set up with their chairs and picnic enjoying the gorgeous afternoon weather. Most visitors to Gemstone Beach were searching for their “pretties” in front of the carpark and along towards the Taunoa Stream.
High tide was scheduled for 12:49pm so I knew the tide was on it’s way out. Unfortunately I still managed to get swamped (right up to my backside) by a rogue wave. Silly me for not paying attention! Luckily, instead of gumboots I’ve been wearing my quick-dry shoes which means no sloshing with wet socks and feet after the rogue wave gets you!
No one was across the Taunoa which was very easy to cross with water just over the ankles even with the tide still quite high-ish. The sand that was there (for miles) on my January fossicks has all but gone with the stones back in their place.
Waimeamea River – Open
As I made my way down to the Waimeamea River I spotted the Goldman and his dog on the other side of the river. I think they were waiting for the tide to go out some more before recrossing the river to head back to the carpark. The sides of the river were very loose and unstable as well as swiftly running and rather deep looking so I didn’t attempt to cross the Waimeamea River nor fossick around there too long before heading back to the carpark.
A few metres later down the beach I got the usual wave as they went past and the Goldman’s motorbike gave me tracks to look carefully along. I often find hydrogrossular garnets this way and today this strategy did not disappoint!
I arrived back at the carpark at 4:46pm. It was full of campervans (4) and cars (6) so no sign of Gemstone Beach in February getting any less busy towards the end of the day. The gorgeous weather today had something to do with it and I’m sure the lateness of the sun going down in the South (around 8:40pm) plays a part in this as well!
Favourite Finds of the Day – Fossick #1
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:
Stones, Waves & Whispers: Part 6 (not published yet) – March fossicks – spoiler alert my fav fossicking companion JP from tumblestoneblog will be here for all of March!
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