Welcome to the club: Whanganui Rock and Mineral Club going strong after Covid blip

Whanganui Rock and Mineral Club president Zane Hair (left) and secretary Bruce Taylor with (from left) a 2-million-year-old whale vertebrae, calcite crystal and iron pyrite. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

After a slight dip in numbers during and after the Covid-19 pandemic, the Whanganui Rock and Mineral Club has uncovered something better than fossils and rare stones.

Members have built a tight-knit community of like-minded people.

The Whanganui Rock and Mineral Club is for amateur fossil hunters and enthusiasts who are looking to share their findings, identify minerals and learn about other discoveries.

The club meets on every second Tuesday of every month on level two, 76 Guyton St, on the corner of Victoria Ave.

In the meetings, members share things they have found within the month and often examine rocks, fossils and minerals with cutting equipment and specialised gear.

There are often special guests, such as carvers, geologists and other fossil hunters.

The club also organises field trips to locations of interest, with access to private land, hosts other clubs and attends national shows.

Zane Hair is the president of the club and Bruce Taylor, the former secretary, is a heavily-involved member.

Hair’s interest in fossil and rock hunting began when he was 8, after he discovered a human skull.

Taylor joined the club four years ago, when the club was struggling with just six active members.

Hair said Taylor was instrumental in reviving the club.

“It would probably have diminished, so full credit to [him],” Hair said.

“Bruce put in a lot of work and kept the club alive.”

Taylor said Covid hit the club hard because they were forced to move out of their long-time premises and into the new one and key members moved away.

“A lot of clubs are struggling because their members are ageing out.”

Taylor is the co-owner of Kai Iwi Beach Holiday Park and Hair is the manager.

They said they meet other amateur fossil hunters passing by and show campers the collection of fossils and rocks at the park.

Zane Hair with his moa bones. Photo / NZME

The club is now thriving, with 30 active club members from as far as Foxton and Feilding, with amazing collections.

The club is believed to be the oldest and longest-running in the broader region, after encouraging other clubs to be established, like Taranaki and Palmerston North.

There are 16 active rock and mineral clubs affiliated with the National Association of New Zealand Rock and Mineral Clubs (NANZRMC).

The rocks in the Whanganui area can range from over 5 million to 23 million years old, dating back to the Miocene age.

Taylor said Whanganui is only about 1.5 million years old so the fossils found are very recent.

The club welcomes anyone and new members do not need to have knowledge about fossil hunting, curiosity is enough, Hair said.

“Whanganui has got some amazing fossils.

“If you have got a love for fossicking, it’s the place to come if you want to figure out the local area.

“It’s a place, if you are a rock hound, to meet other rock hounders.”

The club is credited for providing Wellington’s Te Papa Museum with scientifically significant fossils.

“It’s guys like us and in the rock club that actually go out and do the field work to find these things,” Hair said.

“Sometimes it can write New Zealand’s natural history.”

Taylor once found a seal skull, which is now in the museum, that helped show that the evolution of seals came from New Zealand.

Taylor said there is no specialised spot in Whanganui to find fossils and rocks.

Quartz, jasper stones and pakohe (argillite) are amongst the most commonly found stones in the region.

Hair said when he started rock hounding, he had lots of rocks but no gear to get inside.

Now, the club has all the gear and rock hounders are able to see what it is that they have found.

“For somebody starting off, the club is a great place for them to come and see what’s inside of these things,” he said.

The club is looking at hosting a gem show in Whanganui, which it used to do before Covid.

Hair said the club is looking forward to making new discoveries in 2026.

To find out more, contact wanganuirockclub@gmail.com or phone 06 342 9658.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.