Finding Flint in NZ

[Boyd]

Hi All

A while ago I found out that Flint used to be used as ballast in some of the
sailing vessels that used to visit New Zealand/Aotearoa, so a good
number of harbours around NZ will have flint! Balaena Bay in
Wellington is one of these places.

I had originally set up a cache under a tree by the dingy (look for a redbrick in a tree!) - and it's got bigger as more people have added to it! Feel free to take some, but if you find more than you need please leave some for the next person, just so they can work out what to look for.
The north facing coast yeilded all the pieces in my search, but then thats the way the wind & wave action was coming from today.

The stones are a orangy/tan sort of colour with quite a glassy
interior that can be the same colour or the more well known grey. I
suggest taking your firesteel with you to test the flint (Blacksmith
James told me you get better results with some stone/steel combos).

Test the flint by striking on a sharpish edge (you may want to take a hammer to crack open some of the stones!)

Please don't set fire to Balaena Bay, I got a very large spark from
one piece of flint, luckily it landed on me! I retested the pieces
when I got home and they work very well.

I suggest waiting until the next tidal period has gone by, with the
stength of the wind, some more pieces should get washed ashore.

Time to make charcloth!!

Cheers

Boyd

[Carl]

Any Idea where we could look in Auckland

[Boyd]

Sorry mate - No idea!

I think most of the places would have been developed over!

Maybe a visit to the NZ maritime Museum should be in order - www.nzmaritime.org

Cheers

Boyd

[NigelT]

Wicked, thanks Boyd. There will be a trip to Balaena Bay in the very near future I think. We've been looking for a flint equivalent in New Zealand with which to make flint and steel... got the charcloth, just nothing to light it with.

Cheers,
Nigel

[Angel]

Apparently agate works quite well.

[conal]

Boyd,

Thats awesome.

[Boyd]

Just don't use oily rags for charcloth like I did, it smolders but doesn't burn

I've taken some pics to help those in other parts of the country to find Flint around their harbours.

Cheers

Boyd

[NigelT]

If only it washed up on the beach like this (yes this is apparently all flint):

[mmy]

well, the bag I have of flint did.

[crite40]

I don't know if agate is indeed good as a firelighter, but there used to be a lot of it up the Kaueranga(sp) stream just south of Thames in Coromandel.
Try a rock shop first though and get a bit to try.
I also wonder if obsidian (volcanic glass) might just work. It appears quite like flint, but usually glossy black. That, if I remember correctly, is found in the Bay of Plenty and some other volcanic areas.
If I can find a bit I had, I must give it a try.
I was born in East Anglia (in the Danelaw) and there is a lot of flint around there, in fact many churches and other buildings use flints as a decorative pattern on stone walls.
Back in my school days (the 1950's) I made a few stone tools out of flint myself.
Probably some of those ships had called at East Anglian ports and picked up the very same flint as ballast.
Don't forget it usually has a chalky outer surface (of various colours) as it actually a silica concretion (like Opal but much commoner!).
Hope this generates a few ideas.

[adrianf]

[ann dugmore]

I had a few pieces of flint sent out to me from England - I used to live on the Wiltshire Downs where you stumble over it all the time!
If its worth it - I could get some more sent?

Ann

[Gregor]

This rock seems to do the trick.I think it is a type of rock that is found in NZ.

[crite40]

Well. That rock looks very much like a lump of agate to me. So Coromandel would be a good source.
However last weekend at the Deerstalkers range day at Riverhead I discovered that several gunshops stock flints for Black powder shooters. After all every flintlock and wheelock gun needs one. They would be ideal fire starters as they
would have to be fairly reliable to cut down on misfires.
BTW did you know that some of the earliest traces of life on Earth are actually found in Chert a sort of flint in Canada. It is actually known as "Gunflint Chert" as it has been used for that purpose since the 18th century.

So if you want a bit for a tinderbox, try a gunshop.

[Boyd]

The flint I found in welly can be classed as chert as well. From what I read when I was looking for info about it was that some see Flint as only being black/grey and anything else was chert. It seems experts can get a bit tetchy! B^D