Today is New Zealand’s 33rd day at Covid-19 Alert Level Four, which is set to be lifted at 11.59 pm tonight. New Zealand has had clearly defined Alert Levels from the beginning, which has been very useful in shaping people’s expectations and ability to see things through. It was initially announced that the country would be at Alert Level Four for four weeks (two cycles of two weeks, two weeks being understood to be the incubation period for Covid-19). This has been extended for only a further five days before the country moves down to Alert Level Three for an intended two weeks. With a population of five million people, New Zealand’s highest official daily new cases of Covid-19 infection was 89 (reached twice, on 2 and 5 April). This dropped to 18 on 12 April and has been in single figures since 19 April. The daily level of hospitalisation due to the virus has been very low, usually less than 20 being in hospital at any one time. Sadly, 18 people with Covid-19 infection have died, all aged over 60, half over 80. Ten of the deaths came from one Aged Care Home in Christchurch. In total, New Zealand has officially recorded 1,470 cases of Covid-19 infection (as at 25 April).
The final Stay-at-Home stone, Stone Thirty-Three, is a small polished jasper stone.
Stone Thirty-Three, a small polished jasper stone from Waikaka.
An end view of Stone Thirty-Three – it has three sides.
One side of Stone Thirty-Three.
Another side of Stone Thirty-Three.
The third side of Stone Thirty-Three.
Stone Thirty-Three.
Stone Thirty-Three.
Stone Thirty-Three.
Another end-on view of Stone Thirty-Three.
As befitting the occasion, this is a special stone. It is also an unusual one as it does not come from a beach but from many kilometres inland. I found a large stone embedded in a farm track near Waikaka in Southland, just north of Gore. I hand-chipped Stone Thirty-Three from this larger stone, so it started off with sharp edges, requiring extra tumbling to smooth it out. Even then, some small rough patches have remained.
Stone Thirty-Three detail.
Stone Thirty-Three detail.
I told the story of the large stone in part of a previous Post Diane’s Stone, and an Introduction to Jasper. Here it is:
I once found a rock in a track on the farm I grew up on, “The Mains” near Waikaka. When trying to identify it, I thought first of all that it was chert but it turned out to be jasper (Minerals.net states that “when Jasper is dull and lacking interesting colors or patterns, it is not Jasper but rather Chert”). I eventually broke it up, with difficulty – to put it technically, jasper “fractures conchoidally” (like flint – Geology.com points out that jasper, chert and flint are very similar, all being varieties of opaque microcrystalline quartz). When polished, the pieces of the rock I found had a very glossy, almost waxy, quality.
The farm track on “The Mains” where I found the jasper rock.
The jasper rock in the farm track.
Jasper rock found on The Mains.
Jasper rock found on The Mains.
It was very difficult to break up the jasper rock.
The pieces were very sharp and angular.
Some of the pieces broken from the jasper rock.
The pieces of jasper after tumbling.
Polished pieces of the jasper rock.
I later discovered that jasper is very common around the Waikaka area, being part of the gold-bearing quartz gravels of the area – see the Tumblestone Posts “Jasper Stones and Petrified Wood, Shepherd’s Creek, Waikaka” and “Waikaka’s Auriferous (Gold-Containing) Quartz Gravels“.
Thanks to those who have been following this Series and I hope you have enjoyed meeting such a diverse range of stones from New Zealand’s South Island. It just remains for the final Stone of the Week to be named.
The next Post in this Series is Stay-at-Home Week Five, Final Stone of the Week. The first Post is Stay-at-Home Day One, Thursday 26 March 2020: Stone One.
TumbleStone 