Vancouver Island is burning hot right now and my girlfriend and I decided to cool off by going kayaking at our favourite beach with her dogs. The beach is accessed through a dead-end road and a steep, short cliff so it’s rarely used. That’s why it’s our favourite!
But before we got in the water, my girlfriend found some Dallasite (a local jasper gemstone material) and the hunt was on. It was our mission to have her find her first Flowerstone (a local porphyry with crystals that shape like flowers) and we accomplished it.
Our favourite beach. The rocks are a hounder’s dream. Dallasite and Flowerstone, here we come.
Rockhounding is a real blast. We had our eyes peeled to the ground as we slowly moved across the waterline, exclaiming when we saw something pretty.
There’s a chunk of Dallasite in the water! This one’s yellowish and dirty, but a good tumble should start bringing out the designs.
Helper dog. We want him to learn to sniff out ambergris.
This dog actually did lead me to a beautiful Flowerstone.
Rocks can be hard to see when they’re dry. We find it’s best to look along the waterline. Getting a rock wet is how you know if it will polish and look good anyway! It’s so exciting to see a real nice piece of Dallasite or other interesting material.
Here’s our haul. Not all Dallasite and Flowerstone. There’s some Serpentine in there as well as many unidentified or mixes of rocks. Love them all and a tumble will bring out the best.
The white and black piece above is Dallasite and there’s an interesting Flowerstone below it, with more Dallasite to the right.
Our Flowerstone finds today, along with fresh quail and chicken eggs. Notice the variation in Flowerstones.
The Flowerstone on the left is what we’re after most. That one’s solid throughout and can be polished.
Small Flowerstone with decent crystal development. This one’s a good piece for tumbling but it’s not quite ace material. Interesting variations again to its sides.
We eventually figured out rockhounding by means of drifting in a kayak was the most relaxing way to do it. The dogs had fun swimming and chased a deer. We capped the night off with a trip to our favourite sushi restaurant. Thanks for reading!