Mothers Day....thinking of you.

Sunday was another peach of a winters day and a friend Dave who is on his way down to the South Island to do some prospecting came along for a swing. He loaned the Garrett ACE150. First stop after a late lunch was Rawlpindi Reserve in Point Chev.

Dave skirting the edges of a barren Rawlpindi Reserve.

The park was unable to produce anything other than a few nails and the weed mat pins caused havoc. We soon lost interest and headed to the next park. The rocket park in Mt Albert, a big park, a very well populated park but too our disappointment now a rubber mat park. on we trundled. A small park in Sandringham shopping area was next on the list.

Again no luck at all. A rusty hinge being a highlight. The lack of bark left lots of weed mat on show again. The local council must be spending their money on things other than bark.

The constant bing bing bing of Dave's  was getting to me so I headed to the $2 shop to buy the missing plug for the headphones. A snip a $3.50 and good for my demeanour. I do like quiet when I'm awake.

So not a coin between us and a good hour spent on the job.

Balmoral was next. A big park and quite busy. Dave soon had a few kids digging for him but after thirty minutes all we had to show was a little kids brooch which Dave gave to one of the kids anyway. We needed at least one coin before we could go home as per the rules. Luckily in one last sweep a nice little gold $2 coin fell into my hands and we were good to go.

Part of Balmoral Park from across a duel carriageway.

We decided on home and I could feel Dave's disappointment in not reclaiming anything worthwhile.  The evening was closing in but we spotted another park in Owairaka Road.
Dave keen as to get going jumped out the Rav4 and got straight into it. So I pulled over and joined him.

Dave heading for his first ever coin finds, bless.

 We figured we had thirty or so minutes before dusk and as it turned out to be the most giving park of the day we ended up staying till dark. Again the park was threadbare with little or no bark in places but it held a few treasures. I had a good run of smaller coins and another $2 and an Aussi 10 cent. A very cheap kid's ring popped out of the bark as well as a curious piece, one of the very same of a find I had in Manukau Sports Bowl.

Nocturnal Dave trying to squeeze another ten cents out of Mount Albert.

Dave at last, in the murky gloom, found his first $1 coin and was very happy about it. He followed that up with a 10 cent and in the end I had to drag him away. I think he is hooked.

Coinage and tin Ring

Strange bits with hinge

So all up Dave plundered a $1.10 and I managed $4.90. I also had the cheapest of cheap rings and this unknown object pictured below with the one I found earlier. Any one got any ideas what they are?
Someone suggested part of a lock mechanism. Maybe.


See you out there.

The Boys Keep Swinging....

Gareth, Ritchie and myself headed out this morning for a few hours to check out a couple of parks hidden away in Whenuapai. I was with my Cobra Beach Magnet , Gareth with his Garrett AT Pro and Ritchie with a loaned Garrett ACE 150. I suggested a fiver in for most spending finds but the lads did not rise to the challenge. The Beach Magnet took that as a compliment.
The first park was the Bill Moir Reserve. We spent about an hour there and uncovered mostly coins. I scored $2.50 spending, Gareth 60 cents and Ritchie 40 cents. The trash was minimal both metal and otherwise and it was a pleasant park with nice grounds.

Ritchie getting a head start on the lads

The Garrett Gang

We then moved a hundred yards down the same road and hit the Malcolm Hahn Memorial Reserve behind the Whenuapai Hall. A small park with several kids using the bike ramps there. The pickings were slim. The kids on the scooters and bikes started to give us a hard time but they did shut up for a minute when Gareth told them we were a bomb disposal unit, but they became quite verbally abusive. We all smiled when a mother suddenly appeared and hearing his tirade against us dragged her child home, who burst in to tears, that after giving him a good dressing down in front of his mates, . That shut the others up. We don't mind kids joining in and sharing our time and indeed encourage it. But that was not going to happen with this little gang. Their loss.
The weed mat was close to the surface and well pinned down which caused a few fruitless holes to be dug. I got 40 cents with three coins and a 6mm Alum key, Ritchie's take was 30 cents with Gareth chipping in also with 30 cents plus a few early decimals, a 10 and a 5 cent.

Leaving the second park with a dollar between us which will help pay for our counselling after all the abuse

We then headed to Christmas beach were the tide was favourable to wander out on to the mud flats. We had been here a few months ago at high tide. That time a local told us of a ship the sunk in a storm in the channel a long time ago. He had picked up copper nails and brass fittings in the past on this very beach.  Gareth was keen to find something from the wreck. But it didn't happen.

The serenity of Christmas Beach. Before headphoneless Ritchie arrived. Bing...bing...bing!

Ritchie and I stayed in the little park there and we both felt grateful to pick up a 20 cent each in what Ritchie described as the cleanest park in Auckland. Gareth just hunted on the beach. When we got down to the beach I had a problem as the iron sand on the beach was giving me all kinds of signals. So I put aside the Cobra Beach Magnet and I tried our first video shots. I enjoy watching other detectors videos and hopefully I will become as proficient as they are. But this first one is a little rough, sorry. As my friend Sarah would say "it is what it is".
Can anybody recommend a decent video editor?

Metal Detecting Adventures
Featuring Glen, Gareth and Ritchie, at Christmas Beach, Herald Island.

Doh, no Video. Lol. Watch this space....

Reassuring I'm not a geek but.......

Gareth pulling up a 1960 half penny with a hole drilled through the centre of it was the video highlight after several non events. As he said it was probably at one time on a chain around someones neck. In fairly good condition too. Apart from the middle bit.

Gareth's incomplete 1960 Half Penny

He then found a Lockwood key.
We had come ill equipped as really the beach needed sturdier digging implements other than our trowels. Below the surface sand and mud is quite a hard layer that was a struggle to get through. Gareth found another early decimal five cent and Ritchie a small button in a hole Gareth had given up on. But digging was taking toll on Gareth's withered arm and tummies were rumbling.
We lasted about another half an hour or so and decided it was time to return home.  Which we did via the pie shop then the bottle shop.

Totals for the day $3.10 for me, Gareth with a $1 and Ritchie rocked up with $0.90 . No other finds to stir the imagination, apart from Gareth's half penny and his Key, the 6mm alum key for the set I'm slowly building and Ritchie's small bland brass button.
Once again the CBM (Cobra Beach Magnet) ruled.

My return.

Gareths Early Decimals

See you out there.

Mission Bay Mission

Up early on Saturday morning and by 3.15 am three of us were city bound off to Mission Bay to have a look around at around low tide. We know that this beach gets detected regularly and rich pickings have been reported over the years but hopes were high for something special as we arrived at the beach. A small gang of young lads dressed like NBA basketball team were enjoying the remains of their RDT cache outside the main toilet block but soon sauntered off to another place unknown leaving us alone on the beach. The sea was like a mill pond and a bright moon gave assistance to our headlamps. We split up. I headed to the wet sand at the tides edge while Ritchie and Gareth patrolled the dry stuff.  Richard found a foreign coin straight away, a Thai Baht. I too immediately had success with three coins in the same hole. I like it when after recovering something another sweep over the hole gives you another target and even better yet another. I pulled $1.70 spending out. I did venture into the water up too my knees but without a proper scoop the couple of targets that were indicated went uncovered. Scoop is a must. So back on the sand I continued and after many bottle tops and disfigured lumps of iron I too moved up the beach a little. A coin hunters dream really. I had six hits in a row all legit spending but small denomination.



Mission Bay sunrise



The morning was arriving fast and the beach slowly sprang into life. A city council worker arrived to open the gates, more descended to clean the toilets and another lot to empty the bins, then another one to check the bins were already done. Early morning joggers and dog walkers started appearing out of the dusky light. The clubs had also emptied out and a few worse for wear clubbers staggered along the beach. One couple bought blankets and after wrestling for a while fell asleep. Another group of four ladies were interested in more than the metal detecting we were doing, one even writing her phone number in the sand for our future reference. Not sure of which one of us it was aimed at but looking at the ugly twats I was with it was probably aimed at me. Anyway after a bit of slurred banter the group thankfully wandered off no doubt to assail a poor coffee shop owner somewhere. After a wee break, literally, I went right to the top of the beach where I recovered my first tent peg for a few weeks, a pen from "Performance Roofing Systems' whose contact number shows it originated from Oakland, California and another few dollars spending. At around 8am we decided to call it a day. Backs were aching and tummies rumbling as we packed up and headed for a nice coffee ourselves leaving the now quite populated but much cleaner beach to the locals. The shagging couple, still mostly under the blankets, lay entwined like some Greek sculpture and were oblivious the constant ringing of the mobile that sat in the sand next to them. I fear someone could be in trouble there. Ritchie our cameraman forgot to take any pictures, (again!!) so the ample opportunities for him to make the coveted 'New Zealand Geographic Photographer of the Year award' final passed him by once more.

 


One baht, Richards Retirement fund.



Value  4.063  NZ cents.







I ended up with $7.20, Gareth only $3.90 and Ritchie reflex lens $6.80 plus the one baht coin from Thailand.

No other finds that really piqued any interest but another enjoyable jaunt.

Long Bay a Flying Visit.

With half an hour spare yesterday I found myself at Long Bay with the Garrett ACE 150 along with Garthy a good friend of mine and a big empty beach. We decided to forego the wind on the beach to focus on the grassy area around the BBQ's and under a couple of big shady trees. I found a lot of rubbish in the first ten or so targets but then was rewarded with a $1 coin closely followed by a 20 cent both under a big tree. I carried on around the BBQ's and the tables but nothing but silver paper and bottle tops. Garth then had a wee discovery that though not spectacular was interesting none the less. Under the sign that shows the location of the various Islands in the gulf and after a lot of scratching around his target there was a American Roosevelt dime. A very small coin and hard to see amongst the dirt and bark. We are both really looking forward to the magic wand locator that will arrive with the new detectors. I realise this is such a handy tool to have and would help cut down search times by a great deal.



American Roosevelt dime



The dime was dated 1970. It was a one in 345 million find as the total produced was a mere 345,570,000. Garfie's first foreign coin of the year. 








The Badge

Later in the day we stopped for a coffee at Milford and couldn't resist having a quick ten minute poke around. After two or three false alarms I dug up a gold coloured metal badge? It was about four inches down and it was cool to see the gold glinting in the sun as I pulled it out of it's hiding place. It has the same pattern exactly on both sides and has a Greek letter Phi capped with a crown sitting on a small diamond, with wings either side. It looks like there might have been a pin attached to it where an edge of the plating was bare at the tip of the middle of the crown but I'm not sure.



 Any ideas on where it comes from would be appreciated. It is conundrums like this that add to the enjoyment for me.



So nothing really amazing but two very interesting finds that made the rushed detecting worthwile.

See you out there.

Last day on the Pohutukawa coast.



Maraetai Wharf

I was up early and off to the Maraetai wharf. I kind of feel a bond now with that section of the beach. It is a very pretty place to be and especially rewarding in the early hours. I left 6.45am. A kayak went sweeping past, a couple of dog walkers come joggers and a father passing on his fishing skills to a young fella on the wharf were the only signs of life. I arrived before 7am collecting a hot coffee and a bun from the bakery on my way.  It was right on full tide which cut down my options and search area. The trash from yesterdays huge crowd was not too bad but it would be nicer if all the people could take home their rubbish instead of walking away and leaving it on, under and around the sand.
Well, I spent 45 minutes swinging and for once even though I got good vibes when I arrived the pickings were slim. I dug every target as usual with bottle tops heading the list of finds by a long way with tent pegs in second place. I struggled to uncover only 30 cents with two battered coins. I know the tide was all wrong and I did wish to wade out a bit but my friend would not have appreciated me handing back a water logged Garrett ACE 150. The thing that gave me most joy was the young fella on the end of the wharf excitedly shouting out "I got one" and you could hear the pride in the father voice as he talked the fish in as his wee lad bought a medium size snapper on to the wharf. The first of many I expect.
I had to leave and pack my car to be in the city (I hate that word) by midday for an appointment. So I leave Beachlands after a nice break and of course my detecting fever has returned.

I have ordered a machine from the States but I'm sure they consider 'customer service' a foreign phrase.

Ignorant and unhelpful. I just hope I got the one bad salesman who really did seem like a lump of iron compared to a gold nugget. After blocking my money for two weeks they then informed me of no MasterCard facility and made me use Paypal. At the end of the day the extra fees charged and the exchange rate change fluctuation cost me an extra 70 odd dollars. I ordered in early December and still no word of the goods being packed and on their way. They seem to offer a good deal but the company must search long and hard to be able to employ such a drongo as the guy I initially dealt with. It's almost like he wanted to push you to beyond the edge of frustration before he acted. I'm actually dreading the possibility of having to deal with after sales service. Still I've made my bed now.



The Garrett Ace 150
my friend for the last week or so.

 So I think my stay here has produced about $25 cash and a few other interesting but not valuable items, I leave a happy man. The Garrett Ace 150 did what the manual said and I would recommend it as an entry level detector. I think with this machine you have to dig every signal as I found most coin finds were indicated as Iron or pull tabs. That's maybe why I still had success after the ATPro guys had done a half days sweep in the area. I'm looking forward to getting a machine with better discrimination modes though, I think headphones might help too.

I'm going to ask if I can keep a lend of the ACE150 till my new detector arrives

Till next time.