A complete guide to the 22 sites that make up the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trail, a collection of important historic locations left behind by the early goldminers in Otago. The trail is managed by DoC. Included in the Guide are the once fabulously wealthy Gabriels Gully, the huge Earnscleugh dredge tailings near Alexandra, the memorial to the hundreds of miners who lost their lives in the great snowstorm of 1863, the stone cottage that took 20 years to build, the hill in St Bathans that was turned into a lake, the huge Bannockbum sluicings, a visit to parts of Old Cromwell that survived the Clyde Dam, a trip over the Skippers Road, a day in Macetown and a motorcycle journey over the Old Dunstan Road to the highest church in New Zealand, at remote Serpentine. The Guide also gives a history of goldmining and includes diagrams and explanations of the various methods used to mine gold in Otago, the role played by women on the early goldfields, and the plight of the Chinese miners on the goldfields.

Author Biography

Gerald Cunningham lives with his wife Susan in their 93-year-old mudbrick villa at Lauder in Central Otago. He retired in 2001 at the age of 55 to follow other interests. The Guide to the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trail is his second book on the magic that is Central Otago; his Guide to the Otago Rail Trail is a highly successful seller.