Gold mining
Day 197 – Matamata, New Zealand
This day has revolved around the gold mining theme. (Well, until we left for the Mount.) First, we went to the Karanhagake Gorge. The hills surrounding the Gorge were exploited in the 19th and 20th centuries by several gold and silver mining companies. They are now riddled with tunnels and shafts, and are still being considered for further exploitation.
The path follows a former tramway track a bit above the river before crossing to the opposite side on a suspended bridge. There several flights of stairs rejoins old tunnels, rail tracks still present, into which “windows” give a good overview of the paths below. A flash-light is necessary at this point, as the tunnels between two windows are not lit!
Karangahake Gorge – Bridge
The path ends with the remnants of the battery, the place where the ore was roasted (into massive kilns using massive amounts of wood), crushed, then treated with cyanide to separate the gold from the ore. (The process was without a doubt healthy, sustainable and environment-friendly.) I enjoyed learning about the process and the tools of the time.
After a nice lunch in a nearby refurbished hotel, we visited the Victoria battery, and more especially, what is left of its cyanide tanks. I found a certain poesy in the rusted, overturned, broken, tilting and corroded tank bottoms, held in a concrete cradle and in the way of being taken over by nature again.
Victoria Battery – Dystopian cloister
This is what I call a dystopian cloister, arches crowned by a tilted tank leading to a concrete garden square.
After the Victoria Battery, we went to see a strip mine in Waihi, Martha Mine. The mine itself has had a few landslides, so is actually halted, but nearby they moved the pump house used in the previous century to preserve it (apparently, putting heavy buildings near a shaft may lead to some instability), and in so doing replaced the original wood beams by metal beams to both brace the building and reproduce the original work.
Waihi Martha Mine – Lattice from an open roof
There is no roof, and walking at the ground level, it is impressive. The pump housed in there was used to pump the water accumulating in the mine out, and was also operating an elevator in the nearby shaft for miners.
The pictures are in the gallery here.
After that combinations of visits, we went in the direction of the Mount (known by its full name as Mount Maunganui, pictures here). It is an ancient volcano, nicely shaped, by small enough to be climbed as a pleasant afternoon walk -or, as is our case, walked around the base.
Mount Maunganui
It is lined with Christmas trees, and apparently their flowering is closely followed, as it is seen as proof that Christmas is near. (At least, they were shown on TV with exclamation over the flowers.)
Mount Maunganui – Christmas trees – The white is the burgeons, they open red, and of course the leaves are green: Christmas colours!
A good ice-cream with a waffle cone made by the waffle irons present in the shop made a good conclusion to that walk.
But the day wasn’t over, as after diner we drove into town to see the contestant of the Christmas light decoration contest. House, gardens and everything in between can be used as a base for lights, blown-up Santas and snowmen, candy cane and Rudolph-shaped garlands, and let’s not forget Santa and its sled on top of a crane or the Nativity set between camels. (The Magi weren’t far away.)
Of course, my favourite wasn’t a contestant: let me introduce you to the tyre snowman.
Matamata – Tyre snowman
