I want to intro the munchkins (8 and 10) to the wonderful experience of gold fossicking/digging and all the wondrous adventure that comes with it, all in a relatively safe experience. I am not willing, as the only driver, to go all the way to central Otago… despite wanting to show them Arrowtown, the Kawarau gorge, queenstown etc…
Obviously I need Public fossicking areas, that will give us a little color, not worried about amounts, just the experience.
Can I please ask for suggestions in around the West Coast area. We will camp, that’s part of the entire adventure. Powered tent site though… LOL
I was thinking Greymouth as that area seems to have fossicking areas around there. Ive looked over the nzpam site for locations (Gold fossicking)… but I know the best knowledge resides in this site. I’ve been following along for many years.
Thoughts, advice, suggestions? We will want to do this over a week… as mentioned, camping. just to scare them totally and build those awesome memories.
If you have been following this site for many years then you will be very familiar with posts done on Slab Hut Creek & Goldsborough. Both have gold & DOC camp grounds & are public fossicking areas. Ideal for what you are asking.
Good on you for wanting to get the kids out there.
The search function on here too…also goggle…which links back to paydirt…for shits and giggles I panned some nice flakes at the greymouth motorcamp by the beach, where a wee creek cuts through with my dinner plate lol
Look at the location format on here each public area is talked about on there, shamrock might be a good spot for you and the kids good camp ground and creek right there and always get abit of the old gold to
Goldsborough is a great spot easy to get into the river i always get colour when i go there. Great camping spot always people there to have a yarn with. Slabhut creek is also bloody good with another great campground.
Others have recommended Slab Hutt and Goldsborough which I totally agree with, however I would also throw in Nelson Creek into the mix, the creeks are much smaller and easier to traverse especially for younger ones and once again if you what you are doing will most likely get colour maybe even get something bigger as it isn’t hit quite as hard. It also has a great family friendly campsite.
Really all of the sites on the coast can work but some of the others can be far more full on.
whereever you end up going take mozzie repellent they are out in force and your kids wont survive a day without hearing lets go home the mozzies are eating me bad…so yep you prob already know this but heads up there out there now and there hungry as hell you can even get nets to go over your head from hunting and fishing and get tropical stregnth they are killer i swear
sandflies are the main problem ive had on the coast. trouble with those little buggers is you dont know they have attacked until they have started having a feed and its to late to flick them off by then. then just wait for the itching to start. wasps have been an issue to in some places
The sandfly problem is easy to deal with. All you need do is take a decent semi auto shotgun of 12 gauge or greater. Punt guns are ideal but need a swivel mount.
Take all the shot out of the cartridges and load them with black sand.
The reason for that is that lead shot along waterways is now illegal…you have to use steel shot.
Black sand is the next best thing to steel.
While your at it change the smokeless powder for blasting powder.
Wait until the mozzies and sandflies are attacking in massed squadron formation then let rip into the middle of them. It will decimate the little bastards.
The blasting powder also produces a flame about 30 feet long - this alone will have certain effects on the mozzie population similar to the affect the Faulds ammunition dump had on the sheep copulation (oops population) in rural England when some stupid bastard, name unknown, was suspected of fiddling with a shell fuse and managed to blow himself, 70 of his mates and fuck know how many sheep to purgatory in the biggest non nuclear explosion of WWII. It also left a large inverted pimple which can still be seen on the landscape but so to would 6.5 million pounds of high explosive if you let it off in your own back yard.
Anyway what the black sand shot failed to do the flame certainty would and the acrid smoke cloud would keep any survivors away for an hour or two. In fact the smoke clouds from these cartridges are so dense that you can have naked sex or indulge in a hand trolley job ten feet away from the next camper ( who will thank you for getting rid of the mozzies and sandflies) without them even noticing.
The burning native bush from the shot discharge will keep the entire camp cozy and warm and keep any surviving pestulences away for at least a week.
Never did have any trouble with mozzies or mosquitos over there - as an alternative buy citronella sticks. They are effective but no fun.
Really great summation Sluice… And I totally appreciate all the advice prior to yours. I’m getting a great picture. Time to do some booking. Hope I’m not too late
I have done the same thing at the camp site around the Inangahua River - Actually finding gold is not an issue really the problem, once you have a bit of experience and done your research. Found it in the kawarau gorge, only prob was the shot-over jet stuffing up my panning. Washed away a beaut of a gem, clear quartz with pyrite fleck in it… next time I put it in my pocket!
Oh ok… well it was one of those danfangled Hamilton jet boats zooming people up and down the gorge while we were there… Memory is a bit blurr these days… must admit.
