Archives for March 2021

NZ Ghost Towns

During the various gold rushes around New Zealand in the latter decades of the 19th century, a number of towns flourished to provide provisions and services to the miners who set them up. A small number have survived to the present day but the majority have disappeared into the mist of history. It is estimated there are 70 ghost towns on the West Coast alone. However, although they no longer exist, there are poignant reminders that once people lived and died in these forgotten towns.

LYELL

In 1862, a pair of Maori prospectors found gold in Lyell Creek on the West Coast of the South Island but kept their find to themselves.  Six years later, two Italian miners found gold in quartz veins on the banks of the same creek. This resulted in some of the richest discoveries in New Zealand mining history. read more