Wakamarina Access sought

Gold Fever Locations
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Hey Hey!! Long time “visitor”, first time poster here :rofl:
Names Jim, and iv got a story for ya… not a very big one so dont worry about fetching a beer just yet. Not even a very interesting story compared to the yarns iv read thru these forums over the years but anyway here goes.
I was brought up in the Valley as a kid, my parents built a Freamos house called “bluberry cottage” halfway between pinedale camp and deep creek.
They owned the “on the spot” next to the Trout for years aswell.
I have many many fond memories of being a waka child… One of my fondest was panning and sniping gold with the old man on the river and up at a spot somewhere on mountain camp creek.
The old man was full of gold yarns about there and down on the Arrow where he migrated north from…pretty sure most were a load of shit but one story in particular has been backed up by many of his mates over the years…
Before i was born Greame (my old man) managed to gather up enough gold from one crevice on the waka to have made both his and my mothers wedding rings. 14grams from a crevice 3meters long the story goes.

Now, 30years on… Me, a full grown adult, kids and beautiful partner. my spades abit bigger and my boots looking like dads ones…
Im not sure if this is smart or not and please correct me with a swift slap if needed but im wanting to do the same. I want to ask my partner in hand.
But before this i need a ring!!! And i dream of having that ring made souly from Waka Au. Au that i have put the blood sweat and beers into gathering with my own 2 hands (and the hands of my 8 year old son).
So off we went, loaded the car up with the dogs and my son and headed to pinedale…only to realise after a 12hour drive from Alexandra that its BLOODY CLOSED!!! (What the actual phuck bro!!! When did this happen???). My parents were married there on the flat down by the river in 89 so it seemed only fitting that be the place to start gathering my needed shiney stuff.

And Now, 2months later, i have moved back to marlborough and want to put my plan in to full effect. But there is not a single permit for sale nor available to stake my claim on so to speak and im starting to wonder if its a sign from the gods to not have to ask her the question :rofl:
But i get hungry come 6pm so i need to ignore those signs :rofl::rofl::rofl:

So here i am, ultimately begging for your help…

Im looking for access to a claim on the waka, somewhere i can take my son, dogs, sluice and spade and attempt to over time gather enough gold to have a good friend of mine make a ring for me to finally make this lass my wife.

I am happy to pay a % in gold, beers, $$, and/or eternal friendship.

Help a hungry man out :rofl:

Much love and happy digging!!!

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Hey mate, tough position you’re in. Have a look at the nzpam.govt.nz permit web map. All the wakamarina and some tributaries are claimed. However pretty much all the lower sections of tributaries up the wakamarina valley have gold. As do tributaries of deep creek. Be careful with land owners, make sure you get permission for access. Best of luck. Dig deep, look for bedrock

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Cheers mate! It is a tough one to sort out. Iv seen that all the permits are long gone bar 1 that is under application at the mo. I was hoping to get on to a claim so i can play by the rules (atleast show my son that theres a good boy way that we follow and a naughty boy way that dad follows when hes alone haha).
I do intend on getting a prospecting permit next year once im settled back in to the district, then ill be off like 3 week old meat.

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Well a good yarn give me a call and mayor you could tag along one day 0272280660 matt

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Hey matt im a relatively new person to the region only been here 2 years im a keen prospector that would like to find a claim owner who would be happy and grant permission for me to come and do some panning and sluicing would be happy to pay royalties of whatever is found ive done panning through nelson tasman and golden bay as well as down the coast its a hobby i enjoy alot and would like to find somewhere in this region i can indulge in my hobby would it be a possibility you could let me on yours or if you know of someone i could ask the same question ?

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Now I have seen & read this line of posts I am interested to hear how AUTisticPrick got on. The Waka is a fairly thrashed bit of ground, even from a dredging perspective.

It would have been a good idea to have done a search on the Pinedale camp before driving 12 hours as one would do to book online. You then would have found it was closed.

When I stayed there a million years ago, The young owner & his bride owned & ran it. He had a claim on that part of it & was running a 4” dredge in his spare time. A wee while later I learned his wife was a towny girl at heart & didn’t share his love for that lifestyle & they ended up getting a divorce & he had to sell up to pay her out. Bloody sad for him. Broke his heart twice. He let people staying at the camp have free access to his claim with hand held gear. When I found out what happened to him I was sad for him as he was a nice guy. Poor bugger.

My 2nd wife, yes been down that road myself which is why I felt sorry for this guy, & I went & stayed a night in a cabin at the Pinedale campground. Not on a gold mission but in that area on another mission. We went to the Trout Hotel for a meal that evening. I got talking to a local there about gold & the Waka. His name was Lofty Andrews. Some of you locals or local gold hounds have probably heard of him or knew him. He lived in an older place next door to the Trout. So stagger lurch distance from the pub. He invited my wife & I back to his place for more drinks & yarns. I ended up buying a copy of Gold In A Tin Dish off him. Then I found out the Pinedale camp ground people were selling them there & they were cheaper than what I paid lofty. The cunning bugger. The copies they were selling were cheaper as they were 2nds from the printer due to a blemish somewhere. They never told me what the blemish was as they said you will never find it. And I never did. So Lofty the cunning bugger was on selling their books & making on them. Good on him. I ended up buying the volume 2 book from them to complete the set.

He had some good yarns & his own good gold finds of which he showed me some. He invited me to go up with him on an adventure but as we had other plans, I thanked him but had to decline. He gave me his phone number & said any time, just give me a call first & bring a wetsuit. We need to paddle up on innertubes over some deep holes to get up there. A year or two later I gave him a call & no connection. I later found out he had died. :frowning:

Just to add a bit more to the yarn & why my wife & I, she may not have been my wife at that stage :thinking:, were up that way. My wife’s grandfather & his friend are buried on a small plot at French Pass settlement over looking the beach & sea. Her grandfather was the lighthouse keeper there. He & his mate went fishing on his day off over at D’Urville Island in a row boat. On there way back they got delt to by the notorious tidal current that the Pass is famous for. The boat got swallowed. Her grandfathers body was never found & his mates body was found on the beach the next morning below the light house. It was assumed he managed to get ashore but succumbed during the night.

My wife’s father was just 2 years old when his father was drowned. The grandfather & his young little family had not been long in NZ having arrived by boat from England. The only people they knew & had befriended was another couple on the boat coming over. So the now widowed women with a 2 year old toddler, alone & on the other side of the world & basically in the middle of now where with the only people she was familiar with being the couple on the boat on their voyage out here. Some how she made contact with them. They helped her out & that line of “family” are our friends today.

When we got to French Pass we pulled up at a picnic rest spot to have something to eat & use the toilet. There was an old codger cleaning them & my wife went to go in the women’s one but he was cleaning it & told her he had just cleaned the males one & to use that. We got talking to him and my wife told the yarn of her grandfather & did he know where the plot was. Not only did he know where the plot was but knew the story & was actually living in the old run down Lighthouse keepers house. How’s that for a small world. He took us to the plot which was just a short walk from where we were. The plot was almost a nothing with a fallen over make shift head stone & that about it. It was quite an emotional time for my wife, well the three of us really. As this old guy knew the history & was staying in the lighthouse keepers cottage perched on the cliff above the lighthouse. All automated now of course. So he kind of had a connection too. Between the three of us, as he helped too, we reinstated the plot. Adding a stone boarder & prettying it up & lifted the fallen headstone anchoring it back in place. Took a few photos so my wife could share with her sister & brother & the family of the friends her grandfather & his wife meet on the boat coming over here. Bit of family history.

When it was done the old codger invited us to visit the cottage where he was living & where my wife’s grandfather lived when he went missing when her father was just two years old. The place was a wreck. He was obviously quite embarrassed but it was nice of him to allow my wife to walk the foot prints & share the space & see the view of her grandfathers last place of his life. A grandfather she never meet. We walked through the house, down the path to the light house & down to the beach below where her grandfathers friends body was found. I don’t think the old guy was paying rent to stay there but he was allowed to stay there until he died. I think it is/was owned by DOC. Most likely pulled down now.

Got a bit carried away…. again. Sorry about that. But thought you might find that a little bit interesting.

JW :cowboy_hat_face:

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