13th November 2009
This morning we headed for Waihi, about an hour north of Katikati where we stayed last night. This region has been associated with gold mining for over 150 years and there has been a gold mine at Waihi since 1879. In fact, the main street in Waihi has a large open cast gold mine called Martha Mine.
We headed for the information centre, and while the rain came down outside we delved into the history of this mine through a really interesting exhibition. The open cast mine which is 250 metres deep closed in 1952 but open-cast mining restarted in 1988 and is still producing gold, although only about 3g per tonne of rock.
The main landmark in the town is the derelict Cornish Pumphouse which orginally housed the steam pumps to remove water from the mine. When the new mining company resumed mining, part of the agreement was that they would ensure the survival of this historic building. So, when it began to lean due to underground mine workings, it was relocated to a safe site. This was done by moving the three storey building in its entirety on a set of specially designed rails a distance of 300 metres.
The Martha Mine is winding down operations and will close once mining is complete. The plan is to turn the open pit into a recreational lake. It is envisaged that this will take 5 years to fill with water from a combination of rain and run-offs from neighbouring rivers in times of peak flow.
There is currently a walking path right around the rim of this massive pit which takes a full hour to complete. We walked along part of it which overlooks the pit on the one side and features statues and exhibits such as one of the large catapillar trucks used to haul rock to the surface. A really interesting morning discovering this ‘other’ pit type.
Since the weather had begun to turn to rain again, we enjoyed a lovely scone with jam and cream and a hot drink in a local cafe before moving further up the coast. We drove to a secluded beach called Opoutere where there is a wildlife refuge which is a breeding ground for the endangered NZ Dotterel (we didn’t see any). The plan was to walk down to the beach and have a nice picnic lunch, but the sandflies had other ideas and started swarming us as soon as we sat down, so it was back to the car for lunching like Brits - from behind a car windscreen!
Tonight we are staying at a small backpackers in a place called Hahei, near Cathedral Cove. The beach is just a short walk down the road and the backpackers has great facilities with a big kitchen and living area, set in a beautiful location.
