The 'RIP Cuzzy Bro' hunt.

It's been a sad week for the family. My cousin, Joel, son of my Uncle John to whom this blog is dedicated passed away in Brighton, England a few days ago. Thoughts are with the rest of the family in Brighton.

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To blow away a few thoughts and get some one on one with myself I got out my Beach Cobra and spent an hour or so in Henderson Valley Park. A little of the beaten track but a testament to the West Auckland Parks division. Relatively rubbish free, nice clean bark and some very swish equipment installed, though no swings?

It took a while to locate any targets and just as I was thinking it would be a somewhat barren day the Cobra burst in to life and I had a flurry of signals. Mostly spending and as I said very little trash.

So I had a good hour or so and came out with dollars spending......

.......I just found this post like this left half written.I must have forgotten to finish it as I was sent to England to represent the family at my cousins funeral.......I left the next day. It was sad but really good to be there and catch up with a lot of my English family. Thanks to all of them for looking after me so well.


 I would have taken my detector with me but everything happened very fast.

Though I did have some contact in the global detecting world. Whilst in England I visited the house in which I grew up and the owner who had bought the place off of my Mum & Dad still lived there and remembered me.  had metal detected the garden and had found a range of toy trucks and soldiers that I used to have wars with in the front yard. He gave me a truck, that I half remember but maybe I just wanted to, hmmm. Also a good friend up in the North of England, Neil is an avid detectorist so if I ever get over there again I will endeavour to find a Roman coin or to under his guidance.

A quick recap of the past while

This is the first post for a while due to several reasons.The main one being I have been oversea's to attend my cousin Joels funeral. It was Joels father, John, who inspired me to start metal detecting after introducing me to treasure hunting when I was very young. Joel on the few times I met him was a kindred spirit we had a lot in common even though 12000 miles apart. Joel was a tremendous guy full of life and laughter. Sadly no more.

 RIP Cuz and Uncle John.

On return to New Zealand shores my long running back injury then became a hindrance in my treasure searches. I found myself only able to do short hunts up to a 30 minutes. On top of this my PC had decided to die. It has still yet to be resurrected and is in surgery at this very moment. I am typing this up on a very slow lap top which will not allow me to upload pictures. Hopefully I will have it up and running shortly.
I did keep a brief record of my hunts but nothing too startling was found to really justify writing a pictureless narration. All I found was just mainly spending :

Sept 3rd Waima Park Woodlands $6.00
Sept 6th Moire Park, Massey  $6.40
Sept 8th Triangle Road $1.70
Sept 15th Zita Maria & Sarajavo Reserves 0.90c
Sept 17th Ranui Domain $3.90 and an old key

I then went up to my favourite haunt Beachlands to house sit for my brother for a few days. The weather was brutal and having a dog, Nellie (not allowed on beaches much but never more than two feet away from me) in my care I only got out twice on the last two days of my stay the 2nd & 3rd of October. The stormthat week had been huge and I covered the same part of Maraetai Beach as I normally do. The first day during a 90 minute hunt I found $3.90 spending as well as 7 old decimals, 2 x 1 cent, 1 x 2 c,  2 x  5 c, 1 each of 10 & 20 cents. I also found another alum key to add to my growing set of alum keys. Tent pegs were quite common too!
The next day was just a 30 min stroll as my back was giving me some proper gyp. I found another $2.10 spending, also another old 20 cent. Amid all this were two targets that were my finds of the week. They were a 1916 silver 6d and the very last find a 1922 English penny, totally battered, but a nice find and a cool way to end the day.

I also found a dog tag bearing the name 'Marley' with a mobile number inscribed as well as the mutts name. I rung the number and agreed to drop the tag off at the Maraetai coffee shop by the wharf where the owner went every Sunday. The cafe owner knew the dog and the owner concerned and gave me a free coffee. Much appreciated.

I'll post pictures when I am able.

It seems the storm had helped uncover some coins that have been hard to detect until now. This whole beach definitely needs more time on it than I spent. I will return
  .

Tornado Reserve

My lack of blogs for a couple of weeks is due to the fact I have been having my computer fixed (thanks Jim) and what with guests, visitors, parties and the wet weather my adventures have been few this last fortnight.
I did managed to visit Tornado Reserve in my travels, a quiet little park near the Westpark Marina. It seems quite a while ago now.
The hunt was far from exciting finds wise. I was there for about an hour on one of the more drier days that we have had lately, it was a good way to catch the last of the summer sun.
The finds were  few but I managed another Allen key, another zip part, a small piece of silver chain and $1.30 spending.  The usual washer and jeans button also turned up.

In the interim I have followed up a request I made to detect a local racetrack now owned privately and the written permission should be here soon. Something to look forward to for the lads in the near future.

See you out there.

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.

Wet, weird and nuts.

The rain was lashing down and there was little sign of it relenting. Time for a detect I thought. It wasn't cold just very wet but the rain is my friend.
So just after lunch I headed back to Western Springs park, next to the zoo, where yesterdays dramatic events took place.

Lakeside Park almost ended up Inlake Park

 I had a good feeling about this place after yesterdays hasty nibble.

One of Auckland's secrets

I started with a few coins around the edges of the playground and then headed to check around a tree. I found a zip puller, then another, another.....a few nuts, screws, coins, a zip puller, then another....It just kept going. About three zip pullers to a nut or screw and in between the odd coin.  Obviously not a park Erica Jong would visit for her entertainment. There were a few outer lying zip pulls but the majority of zips were mainly spread over about three square metres and all spaced apart, not two together and obviously been lying there a while. It was weird. Maybe somebody dropped a zip pull sample bag or is it some poor child's zip pull collection.

Detector Art.

The Zip Pulls posing for group photo.

 There were many nuts bolts and washers spread around left, I assume, by the parks department. A little pink heart shaped pendant, a tent peg, a billabong button and a hair grip were the rest of the non numismatic finds.

Shiny things, a pendant and a button. And appropriately a iron question mark!

The spending I found added up to $6.10 and I also picked up four earlier decimal coins, two 20 cents, a ten and a five cent. Twenty coins in all, a fruitful park indeed.

Coinage from the Lakeside Park

I was soaked through and had been at it for a over couple of hours and the rain never once stopped. I wanted to beat the rush hour traffic home so I decided to call it a day.
Driving home I pondered how all the zip pullers had ended up under the bark and  I'm still pondering. Never had so many nuts and bolts either. So a strange day, a wet day but a very enjoyable day.

See you out there.

A Tee for Two

I've been studying a 1941 map of Auckland, kindly sent to me by fellow detectorist  J C Allen, looking for potential detecting sites. I found a few, a disused brickwork site with the remains still visible on Google earth, a couple of wharves that no longer exist and a few other interesting anomalies that need to be investigated. 

The North Western motorway has since been constructed cutting through the center of the map and changing a few land marks. It reminded me of what I knew, that the municipal golf course, Chamberlain Park, was partly dissected by the new motorway. It was a course I played many times during my youth. The clubhouse and first tee and from memory a practice putting area and maybe the eighteenth green were all stranded on the North side of the motorway. A new clubhouse, situated on the far side of the course, was built and the holes rearranged, totally changing the course.

The old club house, white building, 15 mm left of the red badge, top centre.

After a waiting for a day when we could visit it together Gareth and I were finally both free today. The previous weeks downpours would have softened the ground nicely and under a beautiful blue sky we set off late morning to check it out.

Ye Old Club House Under a Vivid Blue Winter Sky

The Old First tee shelter interior, home now to graffiti exponents 

The ground was soft and the old stone shelter was sadly in disrepair. The roof was collapsing and it was a blackboard for graffiti artists.I remember sitting in there, rain teeming down, waiting to tee off. That would have been 37 years ago.
Ahhh memories.

Well it was one of those days that didn't pan out as I expected. We arrived full of expectation and began to swing over the small area I had defined by research and personal knowledge. 

A happy Gareth on arrival at the first tee, unsuspecting of the fate that would befall him.

The targets were very few and Gareth with his better discrimination (AT Pro) only picked up a couple of promising signals. I usually dig everything, excepting bark in parks, so my first two signals produced a bit of twisted wire and a nail. I also dug down to concrete slabs in two different holes which maybe we thought pointed to an old pathway. I was beginning to think that the land had been scraped and refilled when the motorway was built. Lots of small scoria rocks and loose stones. None the less after three holes, the last, revealing an old squashed tin can I was still happy to dawdle on.

The old first hole fairway, a par 4, now a 4 lane motorway.

Not so Gareth who suddenly on his first hole was struck down by a rash on his forearm. It was so limiting for him he could not dig another inch. He stopped and put his stuff away and came to watch me. After a while, to get him involved again, I suggested that we visit a park close by that I have yet to search. No digging required and it's a popular park. He was still uncomfortable but I talked him into it.

We were there 2 minutes and Gareth's arm obviously was giving him a lot of pain. I saw a few scratches on it but otherwise it looked fine. He left to sit in the car. I was reluctant to stop as the day was amazingly beautiful and this park was proving loaded with signals but a minute later Gareth needed a Doctor and can we go now please. Grrr. I was just in a happy park mood. I had my home coin, a $1, so we actually could go home, but I had only traveled a few steps into the bark and uncovered the coin, a part of a brooch, a Zip puller, a watch clasp, my first four targets that did not require a dig. It promised so much. 

The Park I will visit Tomorrow, With or Without Ol' One Arm.

It was hard to leave but mates is mates and one dying of 'poison ivy ' or 'something that might have bit me' or 'the Velcro strap on the AT Pro' or 'scurvy' or ' arm flu' needs attention so I took him to a chemist. Where surprisingly he was not put down but emerged with a tube of savalon.

We arrived home, being gone only a couple of hours. Not a complete waste of a day just a tad disappointing that the old first golf tee did not show any great signs of being laden with treasure and with the overall brevity of our hunt. If anybody with better detectors and fitter mates go and have a look at the golf tee off area let me know how you got on. I think myself the area either has been previously detected or noting the composition of the soil, it is more likely been filled since the motorway came through. So a lot of research, well a little bit, high expectations and a bit of twisted iron to show. But hey tomorrow I'm free so I'll go back and finish the park and maybe spend the day in other parks in Mount Albert. Will Gareth come? It all depends on how the amputation goes.

A couple of minutes work. Before my audition for Shortland Street.

See you out there.

Orewa's Beautiful Parks

An Overcast Orewa Beach Almost at High Tide

I spent the afternoon in Orewa, 25 kms north of Auckland, a popular beach resort for both locals and visitors. I took both my Cobra Beach Magnet and I also had a friends Garrett ACE 150 on hand.

It was overcast and almost full tide (bad planning) when I arrived at the beach just after noon. I spent a while wandering up and down the fast incoming waterline with no success just a modicum of trash.

As the beach had all but disappeared I moved on to the two parks that are on the grass promenade. Pickings were much better there. I pulled $3.90 spending out of one and $1.90 out of the smaller park. Nothing much else to report, just spending. I then moved on to a sand based volley ball court but it was as barren as the beach. Not even a rusty nail.

The Orewa Beach Park No.1 

After a break for sustenance and a quiet time to enjoy the surroundings I drove into inner Orewa and found three parks. I already knew that Orewa was home to some very beautiful things and I can now number the Orewa parks among those. All three very spacious with the surrounding grass a wonderful shade of green and a lovely mixture of exotic and native trees complementing the serene atmosphere that the parks emanated.

Park whose name will be updated Soon

Murrays Eaves Park  

The parks as usual enabled me to uncover a few interesting items. A miniature pen knife surfaced which I think belonged to the owner of the small harmonica I found a few days ago. American one cents coins were in abundance,  two examples turned up in different parks. One is 1987 the other 1982 but they are not the same size.

My own two cents worth.

One being a little smaller than the other. A 5/16th's alum key was unearthed, as was an old currency one cent piece and a very cheap ring engraved with O's and X's. An oblong setting for a stone, probably an old part of a brooch, also emerged. It is very heavy for it's size and Richie reflex reckons it could be gold. I'm not to sure of that but I'll hang with that idea it till it's proved other wise.  Another $1.60 spending was also added to the haul. Two other initially bland items had cause for a second look. First was a piece of flattened metal that was once spherical, imprinted with a design that looks like Asian symbols, I seem to remember I had a toy cowboy pistol in my youth with similar designs running up the length of the barrel. So part of a toy gun?

The Triadic Symbol As Yet Undeciphered.

Another, as yet unrecognised, item is some sort of nozzle. It is hard rubber with a metal spout. When cleaning it a small round gauze fell out of it which makes me think it is part of a filter for a boat engine or such like.
A complete chain link and a couple of tent pegs made up the day's take.
I used a Garrett ACE 150 at a couple of the parks without head phones and the bleeping attracted a following of children. I tend not to dig to far down into the bark but the kids were keen and at one stage I had three excavations going on as the young ones enthusiastically carried on digging after I had moved on. Ten year old Chloe uncovered a ten cent and the whole day was worth the look on her face as she proudly displayed her treasure to her Mum and older brothers.
All the finds have been professionally photographed with my new camera but typically I have mislaid the download USB cable so cannot throw the pictures up yet but will do ASAP.

The days all sorts

So at 5.30pm as the sun rapidly disappeared I meandered home, another enjoyable hunt under my belt. A range of interesting finds and $7.40 spending.

See you out there!

Ken Parker's 'Four Swing' Park

Nellie very enthusiastic after an exciting hunt.

A quick afternoon detect while getting some milk and walking Nellie. I spotted another park unknown to me on the way to the shops. It could just be seen from the road.  The Ken Parker park is accessible only by a couple of walkways. It consisted of only four swings and that was it. I'm sure Ken deserved better facilities at his park.

In about 15 minutes I managed to release a few items from the bark, nothing startling, but I thought I would blog it anyway. The weed mat was again a problem but I was not digging just scraping away the bark with my shoe. Any signal that was below the bark was left to excite others.

So the finds were as follows. A welding rod, a small piece of brass piping, a Bic lighter, two washers, a key that opens cans of corn beef which always snap for me, but not this user it seems and 30 cents cash.

Small takings from a small park.

See you out there.

Beach Life

Bit of beach what I did  (park in far distance)

Sunday morning, left home at 7.00 am to enjoy some MD use on my last full day here. I headed to the beach at Maraetai once again. "I pulled $1.10 out of the two parks there before hitting the north side of the wharf, the less popular side for bathing, but not totally ignored by the beach goers. I wandered the 150 yards down to the wharf sticking to the dry sand collecting another ten cent and two twenty cents in my travels. So after an hour and a half my finds included spending adding up to a $1.60, half a shackle, a wee button and an old style wooden peg like Mum used to use.

What I found where I did

I was getting a little hungry and intended to head home but something made me go and have a quick look on the south side of the wharf. I've gone over this part of the beach many times and rarely have I come away empty handed. But I suppose I was hoping for too much after combing the area on Friday but on I went. I'm glad I did. in just under another hour I had secured a small piece of jewelry which I suspect had broken off of an brooch, a key, a fish hook, and another $5.40 in spending.
The best find was a very small coin very encrusted and in poor condition. It was about 6 inches down.

New Zealand 3d coin (uncirculated)

 At first inspection I thought it was an old one cent coin but it did seem too small to be that. After getting home I ran the coin under cold water and some of the gunk fell away revealing a 1946 (I'm pretty positive on the date) threepenny piece. A very cool find which must have been sitting there for many a year. Who knows how many detectors have gone over the top of it without reading it or bothering to dig. It was hard to spot even down to the last grains of sand in my basket.

The key looks like it was freshly dropped and who knows what inconvenience the loss has caused.
The small round piece of jewelry has a solid white stone like setting which looks powdery but doesn't powder. A marble sort of substance.

If it was John Key I would have left him buried.

So home to a late breakfast just as a small but blustery squall swept over the area. My timing was good.
A few nice things plus $7 spending and it's only eleven in the morning.

See you out there.

A Pleasant Morning in the sun

From here t'wharf 'n'Back.

Up and at 'em early doors. Had breakfast at the beach before kicking off at about 8.30am.  The day had dawned fine and it was shirt off time and people were already swimming and diving off the wharf. I started down the beach a little more than normal and followed the dry sand to the wharf then walked back on the wet following the tide out.  I did this circuit twice covering the couple of hundred meters in about an hour and fifteen each sweep.

First trawl.

The first walk bought in 90 cents and also my first tent peg for a while. A square plastic lined lid for a small square container and a bic lighter part wrapped the first trawl.





The second wander finds consisted of a fish hook, lot's of fugly iron bolts, nails etc, a drill ratchet and a miniature Harmonica. A few more tent pegs and $1.10 spending.

Detector Art - 'Catching Sounds'.
Second Trawl.

The miniature harmonica, after cleaning the sand out could still make a tune, so I sat busking for a while. Which was going well until the local policeman dispersed the crowd.
It was time for lunch and while munching some very over priced hot chips I let my creative side burst forth and I held a 'Detector Art' exhibition.
It didn't draw the same crowds as the busking so I shut the gallery and headed on to the only park I have not yet searched in this neck of the woods.
The Omana Reserve Park park. It is a very attractive park and one can see it is well looked after. The views from the hill it sits on are very pleasant so I sat enjoying that view while I imbibed a very over priced bottle of Rochdale cider to wash down those gold plated chips.

A Nice Colourful Park

The View  towards Waiheke Island.

Omana Park park was quite a busy park with lot's of children enjoying the facilities. I waited a while and the couple of families that were in my way sauntered off to take advantage of the public BBQ and though the park had emptied somewhat, the smell of steaks sizzling away was quite distracting. The park was not a full of treasures as I expected but a few finds surfaced in the time I was there. A knife, stainless,  a few coins, and the usual nuts, nails and staples found in parks all over the world. 

Omana Park, Park  Liftings

It was nearly 1pm and time to call it a day and get back to Nellie, my best friend, at the moment, who will be wanting to take a walk herself.

Another incredible Days Haul

The day had flown and although not that much to show off once again the mere fact of being in such a beautiful place is ample compensation.

To sum up, $3.30 spending, a harmonica, 3 x tent pegs, a fish hook, a drill ratchet and a knife all recovered in four hours. Who needs a day job?

Good fun.

See you out there.