Shantytown

This mineral started the nation.
Gold has been found in three main areas of New Zealand. With its discovery came the massive Gold Rushes of the 1860s and its prosperity launched many modern settlements and industries.

Studies
We witness the land and water movements seeing how these work together to accumulate and extract gold. Illustrated lectures, museums, tours and information centres give us the opportunity to speak with locals involved with the industry see the machines involved.

We explore the different extraction methods made for various conditions - involving: sluicing, dredging, panning and chemicals.

We learn of the fortunes and the losses.  Enthralling stories help us see the frailty of life among the gold fields.

We can visit old ghost towns that litter the areas where gold rushes came and went. In the South Island we see dying towns and others that are surviving and changing with its fortunes.

In some places guests pan for their own gold. This helps them understand its properties.

See more about Gold in:-

 Mining and Milling Zone

Gold Rush Settlements

Adventure & Desert Zone

Arrowtown Museum

Main Population Zone