We arrived in Goldsborough just in time for a late dinner, after our busy day of exploring we decided to get an early night before venturing out to look at the remains of the Gold workings in this area. After breakfast in the campervan during which we were entertained by the resident Wekas, something a bit like a large flightless rail, we set off in search of gold, or at least the remains of the gold mining.
The campground was on Waimea Creek and as we approached the stream, we came across the present day gold mining rules for the area.
After poking around in the creek for a little, we decided that gold fossicking wasn’t for us and so we set out across the river in search of the track that would lead us to some of the disused mines in the area. We followed the Goff’s Track along the river for a while before it turned and climbed steeply up the hillside.
As we made our way up the steep slope, it was hard to imagine that back in the gold rush, around 1865, this was the route that people would take on a daily basis to get from the settlement in Goldsborough up to the mines in this area. The track eventually looped back towards the campsite, passing by a tunnel that had been carved into the rocks to help keep the mines dry.
Once we got back to the campsite we headed a short distance down Waimea valley to the Tunnel Terrace area. It was easy to see how this track got it’s name as we left the road and immediately entered a small miners tail race tunnel.
As soon as we came out of the first tunnel we found ourselves on a series of tracks that wove through the forest, past old mine tailings and occasionally heading back through tunnels.
The final tunnel was large enough for even Eric to stand up in, and continued for quite a distance. As we walked through the quiet forest, some distance from anywhere it was hard to imagine how much activity there must have been in the forests around here as people built the infrastructure for the gold mines.
We made our way back out to the campervan and continued south along the coast to make one final stop before heading back over the pass to Christchurch.