There are some gorgeous stones for tumble-polishing to be found at Seadown Beach and on other beaches along this coast. Twenty kilometres south of Kakanui is Moeraki, famous for its boulders. The Moeraki area tends to have more prominence than Kakanui when beach stones are discussed. Furthermore, beach agates and chalcedony tend to receive the most attention of the range of stones along this coast. For example, Jocelyn Thornton has a page on “Moeraki-Kakanui” in her booklet “Gemstones” (also available online). Most of the stones she refers to are agates or chalcedony. The two exceptions are a “green and yellow-ochre jasper” and a “quartzite from Central Otago” (see the two photos below, top row, left).
I had been told before going to the Kakanui area that the beaches here were a good place to find beach agates. However, it was yellow quartzites that first caught my eye at Seadown Beach, and I soon found other quartzites there (see above). I recognised them because I had become familiar with them at Birdlings Flat. I also quickly started to stumble across some very nice dark red jaspers, especially brecciated ones (see above, lower line, second from left). Then someone on Facebook asked me if I had found any “limonite prase”. I eventually found out what these looked like – I think they are Thornton’s “green and yellow-ochre jasper”. I have since kept an eye out for them. I have found fewer agates than I expected. Over time, I discovered stones on Seadown Beach that were relatively soft and contained tiny fossils (see photo above, lower line, second from right). I eventually identified these as “hash fossil” stones, what I now call “fossilised seafloor” stones. I have also found on rare occasions pieces of petrified wood. Apart from these, a wide range of other interesting stones have been collected by me.
Posts on TumbleStone Blog featuring Seadown Beach stones:
- “Twenty Thesis Milestones for Lynley, Part One” – 20 polished Kakanui Seadown Beach stones, to recognise academic progress. July 2021.
- “Twenty Thesis Milestones for Lynley, Part Two” – July 2021.
- “20 Polished Stones from Kakanui, Part One” – A selection of stones from Seadown Beach. August 2020.
- “20 Polished Stones from Kakanui, Part Two” – August 2020.
The following list contains the main types of stones I collect on Seadown Beach, in alphabetical order. Many of the stones I find there are not identifiable by me, despite being well worth polishing. Click on a stone for more information about it [Note: Links with * after them, e.g., Petrified Wood*, have not yet been constructed. In some cases, links are provided in the meantime to Blog Posts featuring such stones.]
Agate* Blog1 Blog2
Bryozoan Fossil Stone* Blog1
Fossilised Seafloor* Blog1 Blog2
Jasper* Blog1 Blog2 Brecciated Jasper
Limonite Prase* Blog1 Blog2
Petrified Wood* Blog1 Blog2
Quartzite* Blog1 Blog2 Blog3
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