Gabriel’s Gully

After leaving Kaka Point and Nugget Point we headed inland again, and had a one night stay in Balclutha so I could buy a couple of balls of wool – I wasn’t happy with the ones I had purchased in Ashburton. From there, the next morning, we headed further inland towards a place called Gabriel’s Gully.

It is said that Gabriel’s Gully was one of the first sites where gold was discovered in New Zealand. In this case, it was discovered by a Mr Gabriel Reed, in May 1861. It was only a matter of months after that the whole area was a sea of tents, where miners all had a small claim, marked by mounds of earth, where they dug for gold. Gabriel Reed said that he found gold by digging in the soft earth, to a depth of about 2 1/2 feet until he hit a layer of slate, and there was the gold glistening like stars in the sky.

Bruce and I went for a trek following the gold trail. The track was supposed to be an easy grade, but no, it climbed and climbed to a height of 120 metres – almost twice the height of Shakespear cliffs at home, over about 800 metres! It was a narrow track at times, and covered in a lot of leaf litter, so we weren’t sure what terrain was going to be underneath that layer. Sometimes it was firm ground, other times mud. However, we managed without falling or tripping.

We took the dogs with us on the walk which was about 2.8 kilometres long and they seemed to enjoy it. There was an open metal set of steps at one point, and both dogs flatly refused to go down them, so we had to carry a dog each.

When we got near the top we were able to see across the gully. Hard to believe it was all mined, and a sea of tents!

There were various signs along the way pointing out areas such as caves used for storing gunpowder

We made it back in one piece, and the dogs settled down for a sleep, while we drove further down the road for a look. There was a freedom camp next to the water storage lake for the gully. It was beautiful, and there was a couple and their kids camping there.

Our camp for the night was the Equestrian Club, just outside Lawrence, and that was a delightful park over property. I took the dogs for a walk the next morning and met the most beautiful horse, who just wanted lots of affection. Hunter certainly wasn’t keen on the idea, and Beau wasn’t sure, but I enjoyed it.