Clutha Gold Trail & Gabriel's Gulley

Monday 7 July

It may have been chilly and foggy overnight (my cold nose woke me up - thank heavens for our diesel heater which we switched on pronto) - but the sun was trying hard to break through.

Louis got down the bikes and we set off to explore the Clutha Gold Trail cycle track.

An early stop to chat with Ruby (8 month old Staffy cross) and her mum then on through Lawrence to pick up the trail.

There were some fascinating Gold Rush historical items on display at the Bellview Wetlands Reserve (sadly closed except at the weekend) and a huge stamper battery which was used to crush bigger rocks to extract the gold from within.

We cycled about 10-12 km towards Beaumont & Roxburgh until we hit the Big Hill railway tunnel which was pretty cool!

Stopped for a picnic at the end of the tunnel, with views up towards the snowy ridges of Old Man Range.

Heading back into Lawrence along the same trail, we stopped to see the Chinese encampment - the gold rush drew many Chinese to the area and they usually kept to themselves. This space includes an old pig oven (the large cylinder in the centre of the photo above) where they roasted whole pigs for high days and holidays.

Back in Lawrence we met a lovely guy called Roger and his gorgeous Border/Cairn terrier Frankie - had a fascinating chat with him about the house he was building in Wānaka (DOC hut chic for the win!) and lots of canine cuddles with Frankie.

Took a detour and cycled up to Gabriel’s Gulley, site of the first gold discovery in NZ in 1861. You can still pan for gold in the stream running though here, and if you go exploring the valley, there are warnings to avoid tunnels, pits and collapsing ground. But more importantly, we discovered OJ the Goldie and had fun throwing pine cones for him and chatting with his owner!

Back home to Banjo, for chill out time, more sparkly lights and burgers for dinner - nom nom!