Sunday, March 6, 2005 (Murchison – New Zealand SI)
My morning text message. A small car but it
drinks lot of petrol. Throwing the map to the wind. A more natural spring but
still not the real deal. Our home from home. Rodeo on the river. Panning for
gold is an acquired art and just avoiding the sandflies is hard enough. Being
shadowed as we travel around the planet.
Day 363 (173). Being the earlier riser of the
two of us, Sandy was up and about this morning long before I was even awake. She
thoughtfully sent me a text message to my phone to wake me up. I got up and
packed in quiet seclusion by myself – my much-preferred
method.
After a banana breakfast, we were packed, in the car and on our way under bright
and sunny skies. Our destination for this morning’s drive would be a small
town on the other side of the Lewis Pass called Murchison. The guidebook tells
of the possibility to go panning for gold there, which neither of us have ever
done. I made sure to fill up the car (or rather the fuel tank) with fuel and was
quite shocked at the NZ$32 (€18,56) price tag for the three quarters of a
tank of petrol. Okay, it’s still very much cheaper than back in Europe but
it does seem like a lot of money for fuel given the fact that we’ve only
been here in New Zealand for a few days. For such a small car, I would have
expected a bit better fuel
economy.
Although we had to pass through some mountainous terrain to make it through the Lewis Pass, the roads were not nearly as windy as the drive from Kaikoura to Hamner Springs and we passed through some truly spectacular scenery on the way. At one point, we stopped at what seemed like the highest point of the pass where the wind was blowing up a storm. The force of the wind took us both by surprise.
As when we opened the car doors, the resulting whirlwind that swept through the
car took hold of our map and sent it hurtling into the skies and out of our
reach. We both waved goodbye to it and took a photo for
prosperity.
About half way between Hamner Springs and Murchison is the isolated Mauria Springs resort. I had mentioned to the hostel owner in Hamner Springs that I was a little disappointed at just how false the Hamner Thermal Reserve pools were and she told me that the springs at Mauria are a more natural setting. We stopped at Mauria and went to take a look at the springs and they did at first look seem to be the real deal but on closer inspection, they turned out to be fabricated baths with realistic looking boulders placed around the edges of each pool. We left without taking a dip. The rest of the trip up to Murchison was otherwise uneventful save for the odd stop here and there to admire the scenery.
We found our hostel pretty much immediately upon entering the small town of Murchison. It’s actually nothing more than a ground floor house that has been converted into a hostel. The only person that was in the house when we arrived was a guest that was sitting in one of the armchairs reading a book. A notice standing on the floor had a phone number printed on in with an arrow pointing to a phone on the kitchen counter. I called the number and spoke with a child, presumably the owner’s son, but the kid told me that his Dad was out playing golf and wasn’t due to return for several hours.
I told him that we had just arrived and needed to check in and he told me that
he would send over a van, whatever that meant. Shortly thereafter, a van did
indeed arrive and the cleaner woman came in with an armful of fresh linen. She
checked us in and relieved me of NZ$50 (€29) for tonight’s
accommodation. Whilst she proceeded to make up all the vacant rooms, we wandered
over to the information office to ask about gold panning and other activities
here. Apparently, gold is still commercially mined here with the riverbeds and
riverbanks teeming with small flakes of the yellow metal. This weekend has also
found Murchison hosting its annual Buller Gorge river festival. Just a short
drive out of town down on the river, a river rodeo competition was still in full
swing so we decided to grab a bite to eat and head on over there to take a look
see for ourselves.
We managed to find a place to park on the narrow dirt track off the main road and made our way down to the river. With no actual path to walk on, the climb down there from the dirt track was quite an exercise in navigation in its own right. The rodeo was taking place in one of the rapid sections of the river with about a hundred spectators and canoeists altogether. From what we could see through our layman’s eyes, the participants were navigating their way through the rapids whilst performing tricks as they went. It was quite entertaining for the hour or so that we were there but the sun was beating down on us so we slowly made our way back to the car. Sandy was exhausted by the climb so by the time we made it to the dirt track, I had to go and get the car to come and collect her.
Since we were now very close to where we could partake in a spot of gold
panning, we drove over there to see what we could see. There are actually
several attractions all in one at this little spot just off the main road. A
metal swing bridge just wide enough to carry a single person spanned the river
which, for a small fee of NZ$5 (€2,90), we could cross to the other side
and back. On the other side were some walking tracks and some old, derelict gold
mines. There was also a jet boat operator there and, or course, the gold
panning. For NZ$10 (€5,80) each, we would receive a bit of tuition on the
art of gold panning using a gold panning bowl and a small spade and then sent
down to the river’s edge to try to pan for our own gold. With the cost of
getting across to the other side of the bridge, I had to pay a total of NZ$30
(€17,40) overall. Panning for gold is definitely an acquired art but after
our few minutes of tuition, we managed to find a few scrapes of gold at the
bottom of our pans. The real trick, however, was maintaining concentration on
what you were doing whilst being besieged by literally hundreds of pesky little
sandflies. They look innocent enough but when the land, which the frequently do,
they bite and we hadn’t thought to bring any repellent. By the end of our
brief tuition, Sandy had to go back over the bridge to buy a bottle of
repellent. There was simply no way we could have continued
otherwise.
After dousing ourselves all over with repellent, we set about trying to pan for our own gold down by the water’s edge – where the bloody sandflies were at their most populous. Irritation from the persistent flies aside, we did manage to scrape together a few flecks of gold. Indeed, it is everywhere all throughout the sand and shale of the riverbanks. Our own attempts at panning, however, left much to be desired and I found myself giving up on it in favour of just trying to pluck the golf flakes right out of the sand directly with my fingers. I think I got much more sand than I did gold so tomorrow I’m going to bring a very small flat object, like a screwdriver, to simply lift the bits of gold out with. I reckon that will be much more efficient.
By the time we were finished with panning for gold, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was now persistently raining. Slowly but surely, we were getting soaked through to the skin. We made our way back to the hostel to clean up. After preparing and eating dinner, we spent the rest of the evening talking with various other hostel guests. One in particular, a Dutch man, looked awfully familiar and it transpires that Murchison is now the fifth place on our travels that he has been in the same place as us – Koa Tao & Bangkok in Thailand, Siem Reep & Phnom Penn in Cambodia and now Murchison in New Zealand. It’s a small world after all.
After a banana breakfast, we were packed, in the car and on our way under bright
and sunny skies. Our destination for this morning’s drive would be a small
town on the other side of the Lewis Pass called Murchison. The guidebook tells
of the possibility to go panning for gold there, which neither of us have ever
done. I made sure to fill up the car (or rather the fuel tank) with fuel and was
quite shocked at the NZ$32 (€18,56) price tag for the three quarters of a
tank of petrol. Okay, it’s still very much cheaper than back in Europe but
it does seem like a lot of money for fuel given the fact that we’ve only
been here in New Zealand for a few days. For such a small car, I would have
expected a bit better fuel
economy.Although we had to pass through some mountainous terrain to make it through the Lewis Pass, the roads were not nearly as windy as the drive from Kaikoura to Hamner Springs and we passed through some truly spectacular scenery on the way. At one point, we stopped at what seemed like the highest point of the pass where the wind was blowing up a storm. The force of the wind took us both by surprise.
As when we opened the car doors, the resulting whirlwind that swept through the
car took hold of our map and sent it hurtling into the skies and out of our
reach. We both waved goodbye to it and took a photo for
prosperity.About half way between Hamner Springs and Murchison is the isolated Mauria Springs resort. I had mentioned to the hostel owner in Hamner Springs that I was a little disappointed at just how false the Hamner Thermal Reserve pools were and she told me that the springs at Mauria are a more natural setting. We stopped at Mauria and went to take a look at the springs and they did at first look seem to be the real deal but on closer inspection, they turned out to be fabricated baths with realistic looking boulders placed around the edges of each pool. We left without taking a dip. The rest of the trip up to Murchison was otherwise uneventful save for the odd stop here and there to admire the scenery.
We found our hostel pretty much immediately upon entering the small town of Murchison. It’s actually nothing more than a ground floor house that has been converted into a hostel. The only person that was in the house when we arrived was a guest that was sitting in one of the armchairs reading a book. A notice standing on the floor had a phone number printed on in with an arrow pointing to a phone on the kitchen counter. I called the number and spoke with a child, presumably the owner’s son, but the kid told me that his Dad was out playing golf and wasn’t due to return for several hours.
I told him that we had just arrived and needed to check in and he told me that
he would send over a van, whatever that meant. Shortly thereafter, a van did
indeed arrive and the cleaner woman came in with an armful of fresh linen. She
checked us in and relieved me of NZ$50 (€29) for tonight’s
accommodation. Whilst she proceeded to make up all the vacant rooms, we wandered
over to the information office to ask about gold panning and other activities
here. Apparently, gold is still commercially mined here with the riverbeds and
riverbanks teeming with small flakes of the yellow metal. This weekend has also
found Murchison hosting its annual Buller Gorge river festival. Just a short
drive out of town down on the river, a river rodeo competition was still in full
swing so we decided to grab a bite to eat and head on over there to take a look
see for ourselves.We managed to find a place to park on the narrow dirt track off the main road and made our way down to the river. With no actual path to walk on, the climb down there from the dirt track was quite an exercise in navigation in its own right. The rodeo was taking place in one of the rapid sections of the river with about a hundred spectators and canoeists altogether. From what we could see through our layman’s eyes, the participants were navigating their way through the rapids whilst performing tricks as they went. It was quite entertaining for the hour or so that we were there but the sun was beating down on us so we slowly made our way back to the car. Sandy was exhausted by the climb so by the time we made it to the dirt track, I had to go and get the car to come and collect her.
Since we were now very close to where we could partake in a spot of gold
panning, we drove over there to see what we could see. There are actually
several attractions all in one at this little spot just off the main road. A
metal swing bridge just wide enough to carry a single person spanned the river
which, for a small fee of NZ$5 (€2,90), we could cross to the other side
and back. On the other side were some walking tracks and some old, derelict gold
mines. There was also a jet boat operator there and, or course, the gold
panning. For NZ$10 (€5,80) each, we would receive a bit of tuition on the
art of gold panning using a gold panning bowl and a small spade and then sent
down to the river’s edge to try to pan for our own gold. With the cost of
getting across to the other side of the bridge, I had to pay a total of NZ$30
(€17,40) overall. Panning for gold is definitely an acquired art but after
our few minutes of tuition, we managed to find a few scrapes of gold at the
bottom of our pans. The real trick, however, was maintaining concentration on
what you were doing whilst being besieged by literally hundreds of pesky little
sandflies. They look innocent enough but when the land, which the frequently do,
they bite and we hadn’t thought to bring any repellent. By the end of our
brief tuition, Sandy had to go back over the bridge to buy a bottle of
repellent. There was simply no way we could have continued
otherwise.After dousing ourselves all over with repellent, we set about trying to pan for our own gold down by the water’s edge – where the bloody sandflies were at their most populous. Irritation from the persistent flies aside, we did manage to scrape together a few flecks of gold. Indeed, it is everywhere all throughout the sand and shale of the riverbanks. Our own attempts at panning, however, left much to be desired and I found myself giving up on it in favour of just trying to pluck the golf flakes right out of the sand directly with my fingers. I think I got much more sand than I did gold so tomorrow I’m going to bring a very small flat object, like a screwdriver, to simply lift the bits of gold out with. I reckon that will be much more efficient.
By the time we were finished with panning for gold, the weather had taken a turn for the worse and it was now persistently raining. Slowly but surely, we were getting soaked through to the skin. We made our way back to the hostel to clean up. After preparing and eating dinner, we spent the rest of the evening talking with various other hostel guests. One in particular, a Dutch man, looked awfully familiar and it transpires that Murchison is now the fifth place on our travels that he has been in the same place as us – Koa Tao & Bangkok in Thailand, Siem Reep & Phnom Penn in Cambodia and now Murchison in New Zealand. It’s a small world after all.
Posted: Sun - March 6, 2005 at 11:54 PM
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