Hey all. The wife and I are headed up to the Collingwood area this weekend and are planning to stop at one of the Aorere River public areas. Any suggestions on choosing between area A or B, and which methods have been most successful in these areas? I’m set up to crevice, sluice, or snipe but I bet the water is cold this time of year 
2 Likes
Nice one 49er. Happy hunting out there.
.
Made it up the Aorere this weekend and had a go at both of the public areas as well as tramped a bit with the missus up the Heaphy Track. What a gorgeous area. I wouldn’t mind having a place up the valley with a bit of a farm.
Area B was a rough go with only a small bit of river bank truly accessible from the parking area at the start of the Heaphy Track. I did ford the river (twice) but it was a up to my chest and swift so it was a bit dodgy. I would have had some trouble if I didn’t have my 1.3 m steel pry bar to lean on. Only found a few small specks in the sluice (maybe 5?) and about a million sandflies. There were some clam and other shell fossils in the bedrock around there. You might be able to collect a few if you have a rock hammer and chisel.
Area A was much better with plenty of opportunity for crevicing and potholes to clean out and sluice. Also, the bugs were much more tolerable. See photos below.
Here’s a sample of what the bedrock looks like. Nice potholes and grooves in the slate make a perfect natural catch during floods:
Yours truly, all decked out in my river finery:
Best pan of the day:
The total take:
7 Likes
Nice colour! So the water isn’t getting too cold yet then?
LOL. It was very cold. I was planning on camping, but wussed out after getting wet. That material is from 24 buckets classified.
