Over the years I have had varying degrees of success in many locations around Otago and Canterbury mainly and one heck of a lot of fun as well.
Of course there are spots we always intend revisiting but for some reason or other we just never ever get there and so I have decided to play a little game with two of my intended spots where I know that goodies still lie waiting to be found.
I am going to put two photos on, one at a time and we will see how long it is before someone hits the nail on the head.
I did go back tot he first spot about ten years ago but found nothing because the beach had been covered up by sand but if the sand is stripped again as it was in the 1970s then I am sure that many finds would be made.
The first site was the site where I picked up about half a jar of silver coins, uncovered by the tide. I read in the newspaper at the time that quite a few gold coins, sovereigns and half sovereigns were found. I believe about 30.
I did not use a detector as I never had one then but there is also a lot of scrap metal there, steel and iron etc.
IF you happen to be passing by then I think it is well worth a visit. I will see who can work out where it is and later will confirm. The area I had most success here was along the arrow line between the two red stops.
To the left and just out of the range of this photo I found a near perfect 'Pure Bread Co. Timaru token but I do not think it was in such good condition that I think some one might have stolen it and then threw it away as I am sure that it would not have lasted the years beside the ocean without being corroded or covered in oxidation.
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hi lammerlaw
well knowing your history and where you have spent time in the past. I have a rough idea where you are. since I don’t live anywhere near there I wont spoil it for others
I would think maybe your treasures came of that ship that carried wool when it hit that reef. sorry no more imfo coming forward as others will short cut to get the location.
looking forward to your visit maybe on your way back from up north or some time. by the way stopped at otira pub in the weekend got talking to this guy from your way that done a lot of mining round your farm area long time back . bloody hell its a small world. take care with your recovery.
Hi Keith - right area I guess but wrong source of the goodies.
As for the recovery - only the good die young and according to that principle I have at least two hundred years to go. Your comment about Otira reminded me - My girlfriend of the time arranged with her father for me to have sex with her on the bar at the Otira Hotel during the summer of 79, Christmas Eve or New Years Eve if I remember correctly. Needless to say that being a puritan I refused the kind offer. Her old man owned the place…apparently. Do you know the name of the fellow you met who had been mining around my area? Could be one of several. Not a Land Rover owner? If it was then hes a good guy but I dont want to say anything nice about him on here as he trolls the boards and it will go to his head!
Hopefully I will get over one day - love over there - my sort of country. You know your welcome down my place any time - with or without me. Dont need the caravan - just you and Caz. Huge pig shot on my place a wee while back - not me but another fellow and also the largest deer I have seen which was shot by poachers.
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Put my comments in another place by mistake oops! Thanks for the fuel for the fire Lammerlaw, nothing like a bit of mystery and intrigue to get the old juices flowing. I live in the Ashburton area and it kinda looks like some of the beaches I have seen south of here !! Has really got the old brain working overtime. Love it, will have to go for a bit of a drive to check a couple of places out. If I,m competely wrong then at least I would have got out for a look around !!
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Yes indeed head south from Ashburton. If the beach is like it is in the Google Earth photo, and it was last time I was there, then only an excellent metal detector that can discriminate silver or gold coins in the remnants of tons of old iron, nails and rubbish would find anything BUT saying that I would love to check in there regularly and maybe my post is even inspiring myself to go there again when ever I am passing though when I do go past it is usually either in a plane or in a hurry to get from A to B.
Cheers for the heads up Lammerlaw, not working this week so may go for a drive and check acouple of places out !! How to reckon the x-terra 705 would handle the situation ?
I dont know that detector - at all - I know that my Minelab Xtreme would drive me crazy and as for my Goldbug and Garrett Deepseeker - I simply dont know. I was there when the beach had been stripped largely by storms and there was scrap metal poking one and more foot up in the air but it seemed to all be covered last time I was there so I think the sand might be quite deep.
If your are passing that way it IS a spot well worth calling in at ‘just to see’ and when someone hits the nail on the head as to correct location then I will give my last hint re the place BUT there is a downside as to how far you can go…more later.
I would leave it until I put the second site on as it is potentially better IF you can get permission and that is something I always considered but never asked now that the place has changed hands.
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I will wait with eager anticipation !! Always good to check out places you haven,t tried before ( if you can find them that is ! )
The second spot I have wondered about for years - I only scratched the surface and only one trip and that trip netted me two pockets full of silvers - a nice silver fern - a gold watch in going condition and I got so many pennies and half pennies that I threw them away as I had no room in my pockets at the time but more later including photo when the first photo has ‘run its course’.!
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Ah yes I know the place, knew it as soon as I saw it…im actually not far from it right now! Which is weird cos im from chch!! Ive had a wee play in the sports ground before but havent been on the beach as its not my kind of thing…feel like a bit of a spoil sport if I let the cat out of the bag…
IF the beach sand has washed down somewhat then you might be lucky. I know that the Council were not happy about people undermining the bank in the 70s BUT a lot of bottles and stuff came out of it. I never looked in the sports ground…the beach was too good back then. To the best of my knowledge the coins were guessed by some to have originated from Long Drops as the Night carts apparently dumped their ‘goods’ there int he old days but dont take that as gospel - only hearsay as far as I am concerned.
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If I remember correctly thats a pistol range between the sports ground and the beach…might have to check it out one day very soon!
I dont know - I do know that there was a rifle range about 2.4ks away if my memory serves me right. IF I have the location of the range right then I just measured it on Google Earth but my memory is hazy although I can remember who owes my money or has made promises to me very well - its called selective memory or priorities but in all seriousness I am just having a wee bit of trouble on Google Earth identifying the range as the area seems to have just changed a little from the 1970s.
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Ok I just cant resist and I really want to see the second photo! First of all thank you Lammerlaw for sharing such rare and fruitful spots…every detectorists dream…I have had a few of my own but they have had a right pounding over the years! Ok I think its the beach opposite the Caledonian sports ground in Timaru.
Yes indeed - you are quite right. When I got there the cream had already been skimmed and indeed the incentive to go there to look was the newspaper report that Gold coins had been found on the beach there. When I got there one Saturday there were people walking on the beach and people digging for bottles in the bank. Eventually the Council I understand banned digging in the bank because the road was either in danger of getting undermined or WAS getting undermined.
Regardless of the fact that I was the New kid on the block I still found a large number of silver coins none of which were of value from a coin collectors point of view as they were tarnished and somewhat worn if I remember correctly but at 20 times face value at the time I was more than happy at the outcome.
The second place will have to wait a while as I want to try to make the second one harder as I made this one too easy so might delete the photo I have and putting an almost impossible one on but slowly zooming out each day…or week… until someone gets it…in other words patience!
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This is the first photo of the second location - within the scope of this photo will be the spot I threw all the pennys and half pennies I found because I did not have room in my pockets for them!
This spot here is one spot I look at often and YES I do want to go back but in forty years have not been back. Unless someone else has put the hoover over it in the meantime then I would just love eight hours there. The person who controlled the place, more later, said that a very valuable item was lost there and showed me where…but I knew that I would be back and I was more than content with finding the large number of silvers so decided to leave off looking for that valuable item until my next visit - but there was no next visit…not yet.
mmmm think I know that little baron patch of dirt! No not really think I’ll have to wait for several enlargements before I’ve got any chance at that. Love the story though and looking forward to more clues!!
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Bobs my Uncle
By the power of goole, I have managed to precisely match the image to a larger map.
Cripey your dead out of luck but then again great try - gold teeth galore there I would think. The only definite thing you managed to find was my cousin - I think he was planted right where the centre of the cross is.
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