West Coast Gold Country
Discoveries of gold along West Coast streams triggered a massive rush as prospectors of all nationalities flocked to the Coast. Full fledged towns complete with hotels, banks, bars, and shops sprang up almost overnight. In late 1864 only 800 people had settled here, but a year later the population had boomed to 16,000. By the end of 1866, some 50,000 miners had arrived in search of riches.
| Miners struck gold in such places as Blackball and Moonlight. In the Ngahere region, Nelson Creek, Red Jacks, and Notown were all thriving gold sites. But the boom collapsed almost as suddenly as it had begun.
After the rush to Addisons Flat in May 1867, most prospectors moved on to the new Coromandel gold fields, though mining continued in Westland on a sizable scale until the
mid 1880s. And all activity is still not over the Kaniere electric powered dredge continues to recover gold from the Taramakau River. Lake Brunner. Another inland destination is Lake Brunner, a favorite of anglers, yachters, and hikers. There's a picnic area at Moana on the northern shore (accessible from Highway 7). Mitchells, on the southern shore, is a fishing and boating center and the departure point for bush walks. The road to Mitchells veers north from Highway 73 at Kumara and follows part of the old 1865 miners' route through the Greenstone Valley. In Kumara you can examine historic items in the Holy Trinity Anglican Church; built by gold miners, the church has been in continuous use since 1878.
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