Pipeclay Gully, the site of alluvial gold mining, was our next stop. Bannockburn Sluicing Historic Reserve is one of the best examples of the hydraulic mining operation and how it has reshaped the landscape. In order to get the gold whole rivers were diverted, dams were built, and men literally moved mountains, destroying everything in the way, to wash out the precious metal.
Early Maori travelers would be surprised by today's landscape; "All the gullies and creek bottoms of the low country, consisting of considerable areas of flat land, watered by pleasant streams, were covered with shrub, matagauri, tea-tree, ribbonwood." James Crombie Parcell describes a landscape very different from the one we found.
Now, the hills are lined with vineyards.
Looks more like a desert than a lush forest.
Vineyard on an adjacent hill.
Menzies Dam - about the size of a football field - brought much needed water to the miners. The reservoir was enclosed by a wall about two meters high on three sides, built in 1868.
Today, rabbits (and rabbit droppings) are a huge problem in the area, as they have no natural predators. In the 1990s a few farmers illegally brought in a virus to kill the rabbits. Although it was pretty effective, the numbers have since soared once more.
We attended a few wine tastings, not too bad!
Destroyed hills.
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