Bay Harbour: January 10, 2024

Bay Harbour News Wednesday January 10 2024
8
NEWS
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Retired builder
looks to sell
huge rock
collection
• By Dylan Smits
THE TINY settlement of
Birdlings Flat is home to New
Zealand’s largest private rock
collection.
But now, Vince Burke says it’s
time to pass on the 10,000 plus
pieces he has in his Gemstone
and Fossil Museum.
The 85-year-old has been
collecting rocks since he started
fishing with his father as a child,
but time is now catching up with
him.
Burke is now looking to sell his
collection, either in its entirety
or as individual items, which he
estimates is worth $650,000.
Burke opened the museum
at his Birdlings Flat property
in 2003 as a way to house his
steadily growing hoard.
With nearly every cabinet and
surface in his bach taken up by
the rocks, a new storage location
became necessary.
“My wife wanted them out.”
He built a museum building
on his property and moved the
collection in.
The same year the museum
opened, at age 65, Burke retired
from his career as a builder.
Since retiring, he has spent
numerous hours hunting for even
RARE FIND: The Gemstone and Fossil Museum’s agatised
or petrified log is a unique find. Weighing 86kg, it is the
focal piece of the 10,000-strong collection.
more rocks across New Zealand
to add to his collection.
“The passion only grew since.”
Burke grew up in Addington,
but he often stayed at his family
bach in Birdlings Flat.
During the 1970s, a wave of
interest in rock collecting swept
through the area.
“There was a guy who had quite
a collection in his garage, and I
think that triggered my interest a
bit because I was really fascinated
by the polishing of them.
“I think just the beauty of
a rock, that’s what got me so
passionate.”
Burke built his own bach
in Birdlings Flat in 1971 and
moved in permanently with his
wife Colleen in 2013.
Burke’s main interest is in
agates, a crystal-like, colourful
mineral formed inside rocks
when silica accumulates in gaps.
One of Burke’s most unique
discoveries is a petrified
log, which he says has been
preserved in agate for about 65
million years.
Burke and two other rock
enthusiasts found the log in
2007 while digging for agates
in a creek on one of his regular
rock hunting trips in the
Hororata hills.
“It’s one of the best finds we’ve
ever had. We didn’t know how
big it was until we started to get
it out.”
The monkey puzzle tree log
weighed 86kg due to the agate, so
the trio had to tow it out of the
creek and roll it on to a truck.
Burke said he will likely
donate the log to the Canterbury
Museum due to its rarity as the
only fully intact agatised log
known to him in New Zealand.
Riverbeds are the best place to
go agate hunting according to the
rock hunter.
“What you’re looking for is
a chunk of glass. The glass is
an agate. So it shines and it’s
translucent.”
Burke said exploring areas like
the Ashburton River, Rangitata
River, Mt Barrosa and Mt Somers
have all yielded exciting finds.
Burke doesn’t let his age stop
him from rock hunting. He
regularly goes on trips with his
friends from the Canterbury rock
club in search of new additions to
his collection.
“It keeps me pretty fit and
active, and I really do like getting
out there.”
ROCK
HOUND:
Vince Burke,
85, has been
collecting
rocks since he
was a young
boy.
PHOTOS:
DYLAN SMITS
He is uncertain about the fate
of his collection.
Burke has approached the
Canterbury Museum and Te
Papa about donating it, but says
they told him they do not have
the space.
He also has the desire to leave
an inheritance for his three
children and four grandchildren.
“If I can sell the collection, I’d
sooner leave the children some
money, then a pile of bloody
rocks.”
If he does not find a buyer for
the whole collection, Burke said
he will try donating a few rare
pieces to museums and sell the
rest individually.
• The Gemstone and
Fossil Museum, on Hillview
Rd, is open from 9.30am to
5pm, seven days a week
Coastal Pathway should be a safe place
IN RESPONSE to letters to your
paper I would like to say how
great the shared Coastal Pathway
is.
I am a cyclist and a walker so
understand the issue from both
sides.
All users, cyclists, walkers,
dog owners, skateboarders, etc,
should enjoy it whilst being considerate
to others.
Fast and confident cyclists
should use the road cycle lane.
Perhaps all path users should
use the highway code rules in
New Zealand – keep to the left
and overtake on the right side
when it’s safe to do so. If you are
overtaking then it is your obligation
to keep clear.
The Coastal path should be a
safe place for walkers, cyclists
who are not in a hurry or are
learning to ride and dog owners
who keep their dogs under
control.
If we all take responsibility
for our part and consider those
around us then all should be
sweet.
-Bob Gray
POPULAR: The final stage of
the 6.5km Coastal Pathway
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