Across the Taieri Plain

Before The Pigroot stage road to the gold fields opened in the mid 1860s, miners followed the Old Dunstan Road. Highway 87 parallels part of this historic route west from Dunedin.

Mosgiel district. Colonists who settled on the fertile Thieri Plain prospered during the gold rush by supplying provisions for the miners. With their proceeds the settlers built large homesteads and developed farms where they improved stock breeds and pioneered new farming methods.

Many colonial buildings of the 1860s and 1870s are still in use in Taieri farms and communities. The country's oldest woolen factory, operating in Mosgiel since 1871, was the first major industry on the Taieri Plain. The handsome East Taieri Church is another one of R. A. Lawson's many splendid designs; built in 1869, the brick and stone church is elaborate by Presbyterian standards. The 1877 manse and cemetery are nearby.

Outram Gold seekers forded the Taieri River at Outram; today, you'll find an attractive riverside picnic area here. Taieri Historic Park features colonial buildings, moved here from other sites. In the town itself are a number of restored 19th century buildings.

The road north. West of Outram, traffic to the gold fields took the hilly Old Dunstan Road. Highway 87 follows the prospectors' route northwest to Clarks Junction; from here the rugged miners' track branches off to climb steeply over the mountains to Paerau (Styx) and other former digging sites.

Highway 87 continues north to Middlemarch, tucked in a valley below the Rock and Pillar mountains, then follows the Taieri River toward Kyeburn. In Macraes Flat, 19 km/12 miles southeast of Hyde, sturdy old Stanley's Hotel still serves thirsty travelers as it has since gold mining days.