Wood's Creek

 

I was going through some old photos and realized I hadn't posted these ones from before we moved to Greymouth when we came down here for a week to check out the town. These are from a bush walk named Wood's Creek that use to be a popular gold mining area which opened in 1865 during the gold rush era. There are still remains of tunnels that were dug out and the occasional piece of mining equipment. So enjoy these photos, I don't really think each one needs a caption.

New Lyell Cemetery

In between Greymouth and Murchison on the side of the road in amongst bush and mountains is this little wee cemetery.  

Back in the day from 1862 there was a huge cold rush in this area after Maori prosectors started finding gold in the creek. There are many unmarked graves here and most of them have headstones that are falling apart. This one is known as the new cemetery but there is a much older one that I will need to visit.

The town grew quickly reaching to a population of approx 2000 by the 1880s and it was a stopping point on the main road through the Upper Buller Gorge. Back then I would imagine how hard it was getting a horse and cat through the dense bush.

Cliff Street was the main thoroughfare and included banks, hotels and newspaper offices. The Saint Josephs Church was built in 1876 for the large amount of Irish and Italian miners.

 

Around 1901 the population of people had gone down to about 90 and by halfway through the 20th century the town was abandoned.

The town which was located across the road is now a campsite and walkway. Some of the residents include people such as Joshua Barclay who was born in 1839 in Ireland, Catherine Byrne born 1839 in Ireland and Aveline Broderick born in 1893.

In 1869 two Italian Miners named Antonio Zala and Giorgio Zanetti discovered gold in quartz veins  and their mine was worked on from 1872 until 1912. It really is a very peaceful area with the odd car driving past on the road and the Buller Gorge is usually a very misty place.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, Wordless Wednesday.

Blackwater School

When we first moved to Greymouth 2 years ago we visited the old abandoned gold mining town of Waiuta (I'll share the photos in another post) and on the way there along the long country road was this old school which was in use when the town was occupied. 

Blackwater School was built in 1913 for the small mining, sawmilling and farming community in the area. When the local mines closed, the population of both Waiuta and Blackwater fell and the school eventually closed in 1949.

 

Recently the building was given to the community and the Blackwater School Restoration Group was formed to oversee the restoration and maintenance. Considering it was abandoned for many years I think it's in pretty good condition.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Peter's Mural

So last Thursday my daughter and I drove to Westport with a friend. Our specific aim for the day was to visit some op shops - I didn't find anything in particular that I liked but I did see this mural on the side of one of the small buildings. Painted by artist Peter Hollis it depicts a scene of gold miners sluicing for gold at Soldier's Creek in Reefton around the 1860s/1870s. This mural is based on a drawing by Hugh Boscaven. Most of the West Coast of New Zealand is well known for it's gold mining history.

Linking up with Monday Murals.

Gold rush

Right smack bang in the middle of town is this small monument dedicated to Greymouth's gold rush history. 

In 1854 gold was discovered here in the Grey district which bought 29,000 diggers by ship and across mountain passes to Te Wai Pounamu (the place of Greenstone). Many never made it as floods and shipwrecks were frequent. Bodies washed up on the beach and in most cases many were recorded as unidentifiable. At that time the area was known as Mawhera Pa which was accepted by Maori who arrived here 1000 approx years ago. Storekeeper Reuben Waite sailed up the Grey River in 1864 with 70 gold prospectors and a contract to precure 40 tons of coal from further upstream. 3 million ounces of gold was extracted during the gold rush. Greymouth was one of the busiest ports in the country with the gold financing alot of the growth. Westland's coal fire the furnaces that industrialized New Zealand.

Linking up with Through my lens, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Discovering Goldsborough

Last weekend B and I went on a mini roadtrip to Goldsborough (near Hokitika). This little spot use to be a well known gold mining area in the old days. These days it's quiet place people can go camping and/or fossick for gold bits and pieces only along the river bed.

B walked further up to see if there was anything he could see, we hadn't taken along our panning eqipment so we will have to go back at some point. This is how low the rivers are on the West Coast as Summer has been extremely dry, we desperately need some steady rain here.

Something nice I saw were some stone sculptures people had made along the river bank.

The river ran quite a distance and from what we discovered from the map there are a few tracks through the land and hills.

Although there wasn't much water I still managed to have a little paddle and rest my hot feet which was nice.

 

  

These last photos are the contents of a shed near the bridge that show many of the artefacts that have been found by people over the years from the gold mining days.

Linking up with Through my lens, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world and Wordless Wednesday.

Westport BNZ

Westport is one of those towns that was first settled in the 1800s by immigrant gold and coal miners. This building on the main street has been around since 1867 and was used by the Bank of New South Wales (which is in Australia) until 1967. These days it is used by a different bank Westpac.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs.

Kumara Bank of New Zealand

Kumara is about 20 minutes south of Greymouth on the way to Hokitika and it's one of those little towns originally put together by gold miners. This building was built in 1870 with a manager and one bank teller working within. By 1876 there were at least 3 other banks in the town; this one, the Union Bank and the Bank of Australasia.

Linking up with Skywatch Friday and Tom's signs.

Ross Goldfields Mural

 

a closeup

These 2 murals are on the side of the Goldfields Information Centre in Ross, just outside of Hokitika. They depict the old mining days in the 1800s when many immigrants came to the West Coast to try their luck in making a fortune.

Linking up with Mural Monday.

Autumn in Ross

I was out in the little town of Ross last week with B while he was working and this is where we ended up taking photos of the historical buildings and scenery.  Ross is about 20 minutes out of Hokitika and was once one of New Zealand's most profitable gold mining towns in the 19th century. This is the old Bank of New South Wales (named after an Australian state) which the miners would've exchanged their gold for money at.

Linking up with Through my lens, Travel Tuesday, Tuesday Treasures, My corner of the world, All Seasons and Wordless Wednesday

Waikino Station Cafe

One place I was itching to visit since we lived in Tauranga was the old Waikino Station Cafe - located within the Karangahake Gorge Region and just off the main highway. I use to think this was still an actual railway station but it turns out it is now a vintage rail cafe.

Unfortunately because it's Winter here the cafe was closed so the closest I could get was taking a photo from the front over the tracks.

The construction was first started in 1900 and was opened in 1905 for goods and passengers. This would've been quite an isolated area, these days it's in the middle of the countryside within the Karangahake Gorge so it would also probably been used to cart stone and rock from the railway within the Gorge itself.

So here's how it would've first looked in 1905. In 1952 the station stopped operating and in 1961 it was closed. Good to know now though that it's been used for something good.