Panning for gold

Goldfields Mining Centre

Today is another rainy dreary day and a good day to go back and fill in some blanks.  The biggest omission took place on our drive to the Milford Sound about ten days ago.  As you may recall we headed out but as usual Dan and Annie planned a few sightseeing stops along the way.  On the road from Wanaka to Queenstown we passed through a beautiful gorge created over the eons by the Kawarau River from the always present snow runoff. I mentioned this ride in a previous posting. This time we stopped at the historical Goldfields Mining Centre. Gold was discovered in New Zealand just a few years after the gold rush in California of 1849.  In fact many gold miners left the California mines and headed to New Zealand to seek their fortune.  The conditions here were as primitive and difficult as California but the pot at the end of the Rainbow apparently made up for the physical pain involved in seeking fortune. The Goldfields Mining Centre is situated high on a bluff above the river with massive statuesque mountains in the background. A beautiful sight for us to observe but treacherous to mine. For a while the gold was plentiful and the small community grew to 100’s of men. All known mining techniques learned from the Californians were put to use.  The controversial method of water blasting was used to cut through the rock and debris resulting in plentiful results. Some would call this damaging the environment and it probably was but all these years later looking at the sight you really don’t notice it. When we arrived we parked on one side of the river and crossed a very sturdy bridge to the other. The “old” way of crossing was sitting on a very small platform and then being pulled over by hand to the other side. This device is still in place and looks like an easy way to die. These people were determined. We took the tour offered and it was excellent! The guide gave us a blow by blow description of the extraction methods, describing the torturous workload. It was work, eat and sleep, day after day after day.   At the end of the tour he gave us a demonstration of panning and the allowed us all a chance to do it ourselves.  None of the group found any gold and it was back breaking work!  Annie brought a delicious lunch which we had while sitting in an ancient building and then headed out for a short walk around the perimeter of the entire site. A difficult walk because of the hilly terrain but well worth it.  We passed the Chinese encampment built out of rocks. These had been destroyed over the years but re-built to give us a look at the way they lived back in the day. Yes, even the Chinese journeyed all the way to find their fortune. They were hard workers but not treated well and were pushed out to the periphery to eat and sleep. We were at the gold mine area for about three hours and found it very enjoyable. You can read more about it at www.goldmining.co.nz .   I think it would be worth your time.  

                                                         Iris and Annie panning for gold

                                                       The way across the river

Water blasting

                                                                 Kawarau River