Semi Precious Stones and Gold Nuggets!

by Caroline
(United Kingdom)

I love collecting semi precious stones when I am out and about or on holiday.

The only problem is that if I go on holiday my bags weigh so much on the way back that I have to make sure I don't take very much weight on the outward journey just so I can bring back my stones!

Some of the stones don't look quite so interesting a few years later when trying to declutter the house and I often wonder why I collected them. When that happens I just put them out in the garden together in a little gang.

I have also been known to bring back bits of driftwood and other natural objects that I think are interesting at the time, or that will remind me of places and people.

Luckily for me, when I was in New Zealand I found a gold nugget just sitting on top of a rock in a stream. The stream was near Ross, West coast of the South Island. About the size of an old sixpence and quite flat, I still have it as one of my very favourite precious items. One of these days I am going to have my gold nugget embedded into a piece of New Zealand jade and hang it round my neck. I haven't done it so far because I have always been worried that it might fall out and be lost forever :-(

This actually started an obsession with gold panning but I haven't been lucky enough to find another piece like that. However, I don't actually spend an awful lot of time panning for gold and therefore unlikely to find any unless I do.

Anyway, that's my story about collecting things in the outdoors. I am adding a photo of me looking for something to collect on the beach at Hokitaka New Zealand. A holiday that I also have written about on a website called Explore New Zealand.