The Baton Falls (Nelson/Marlborough) Traditional Cache
The Baton Falls (Nelson/Marlborough)
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A little known waterfall off the beaten track.
Do not attempt after heavy rain as river will be uncrossable.
A great swimming hole here but mind the sandflies.
Park at S 41° 20.653 E 172° 41.418
Go to track entrance at S 41° 20.635 E 172° 41.438
Then make your way to cache. Please be careful as track is narrow, slippery and steep.
You may get wet feet.
A friend of ours does gold panning up and down this river and has had some decent claims for his efforts from time to time.
This is an exert from a book by J.N.W. Newport called "Footprints" about the gold miners in the 1800's.
‘The Baton gold was in small nuggets, some of which were hollow or contained sand . . . one nugget which weighed 18 pennyweights [18 grams] is still in use as a brooch. The largest nugget found weighed 36 ounces [1.119 kg] and came to light when McClean and Scaife were opening up a drive into the bank at the side of the Baton River. Tom Scaife was wheeling out a laden barrow and saw something shining in the load of earth. It was said that it (the 36 ounce nugget) was the only gold they got out of that particular venture. Scaife called at a house after he had been pig hunting and casually pulled the nugget out of his pocket—just as if it was an everyday occurrence! No doubt returns were patchy but some good strikes were made. John Taylor and Tom Driscoll once dug eight ounces in a morning.’
Obviously 36 ounces of gold is a lot of money in at todays prices!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Ng gur onfr bs lrg nabgure gerr, nyy or vg n ynetr Orrpu gerr.
Treasures
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