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Robert Simmons with co-owner and wife Kathy Helen Warner in the Heaven & Earth
Gallery. They enjoy engaging young rockhounds, and have created this special ‘treasure
chest’ where kids can delight in filling a bag with stones for as little as $10.
And for all those who would like to see, touch or acquire petrified wood from the
Coromandel (or other localities around the world), the gallery offers a large array – from
tree trunks to pocket stones – including polished petrified wood spheres, bookends, bowls,
cheese boards, coasters, and pendants – plus tree branches, twigs, trunks and polished
cross-sections.
Inside the store’s front entrance is one large tree trunk that has fooled numerous visitors
who, upon first look, thought it was real wood rather than stone!
View displays of minerals, gemstones, jewellery and more. Located on Main Road in Tairua.
07 864 8875. Open from 10am every day. See
DESIGNER HOMEWARES & GIFTS
in the heart of the main street
of Whangamata, Coromandel.
652 Port Road | Whangamata | 07 865 7514
TABLE TALK
Polished cross section of
Coromandel petrified wood at
left and opalised ‘Coromandel
Stonewood’ below.
As an enthusiast for all rocks, crystals, minerals and gemstones, I have a great
interest in how they were formed, their colours, shapes, composition – and the
“vibes” I feel from them. The Coromandel petrified wood is no exception. Since many
are millions of years old, they can carry deep memories of ancient Earth. I enjoy
‘tuning in’ to these stones, and have some intuitions to share.
‘Coromandel Stonewood’, as I call it, holds within itself the heartbeat of the Earth, and
can bring one into resonance with its rhythm, therefore enhancing one’s receptivity
to the planet’s curative vitality which is placid, slow-moving and long-lasting. These
vibrations benefit the telomeres of our DNA, helping to preserve cellular memory and
supporting longevity. The stones exert a gentle, calming influence on the emotional
body, helping to alleviate anxiety and support a sense of quiet self-confidence.
DOCUMENTATION BY EARLY
GEOLOGISTS
Petrified wood was once fairly abundant on
the peninsula. Ferdinand von Hochstetter,
known as the ‘Father of NZ Geology’,
observed in 1859, “Around Coromandel
Harbour, great silicified logs and trunks
changed to opalised wood.”
In 1885, another well known writer/geologist,
Alexander McKay noted the existence of
“great quantities of fossilised wood ... with
many prostrate trunks and stumps of trees
yet remaining ‘in situ’ at Colville Bay”. This
was subsequently confirmed by Fraser &
Adams (1907) and Smale (1962), who also
recorded ‘not uncommon’ silicified wood in
volcanic breccias further north near
Port Charles.
Since then deposits have been verified at
Whitianga, near the Blackjack at Kuaotunu,
Hikuai, Tairua, and the Kauaeranga Valley
of Thames. Native trees which have been
transformed and preserved as stone
include kauri, beech, swamp maire, totara,
rimu, and kahikatea.
ANCIENT EARTH
ENERGIES
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