I think I may have the same book
Anyway, don't give up. I have been picking up rocks and stones here at the Redcliffe Peninsula for a few months now and on Monday finally found my first agate.
The beaches on the peninsula were reported to have chalcedony, jasper and agates. I know the chalcedony part is true, because once you know what to look for you see that the beaches are literally littered with the stuf. I have 3 2lt containers now, full to the brim, just from my daily dog walk collecting. If I go out specifically looking for the stuf I could probably fill a 10lt bucket per day.
The jaspers and agates have eluded me till now however, despite specifally searching for them. This changed earlier this week, when I decided to follow a little low quality chalcedony vein and found the face of what I thought was another limey piece of chalc still embedded in the rock. As I pulled it out of the hole it looked cracked so I looked into the hole and sure enough, 2/3rd of the stone was still in there. I'm glad I had another look at it, because after cutting and partially polishing it up yesterday it just turned out to be a real treasure, totally different from anything I've so far picked up and polished. I'll post a pic later, when the sun's shining.
Just keep looking and remember that you don't know what you have until you actually cut it open and have a look inside.
