The Tuia Mātauranga Pōkai Whenua GeoTour follows the footsteps of early explorers of Aotearoa New Zealand taking you to places where leaders of the past searched for food, resources and ways to adapt and survive in this new land.
Use the Pōkai Whenua GeoTour as your classroom to explore the stories of the past, in the present, to preserve what is unique in Aotearoa New Zealand for the future.
Collect the codewords to get the Geocoin puzzle pieces.
To be able to complete this GeoTour and receive your special Geocoin collectable, remember to take a note of the codeword placed in the cache. This will need to be recorded in your passport which can be downloaded here.
63 of the 150 Pōkai Whenua GeoTour caches will contain a randomly placed special FTF token (a replica of the Tuia Mātauranga GeoTour commemorative coin). This is yours to keep! If you find more than one, you might consider leaving it for the next person who finds the cache.
KAWARAU STATION
One of the earliest pastoralists to arrive in the Bannockburn area was F.G Alderson to his Kawarau Station, which was taken up in 1858 on behalf of the Australian and New Zealand Land Company. John Douglas went into partnership in 1862, where a survey map shows the 92 acre pre-emptive right for the station, with the homestead and the station buildings, a house, storemen’s house, and stable stand in close proximity, with the woolshed across the creek, a little way off. They took over the leases and held them in trust until the 1890s when they were put into the company’s name and there remained until they expired in 1910. Originally the station grazed around 20,000 sheep, as well as a considerable number of cattle and horses. Until it was subdivided in 1910, its operation continued to be associated with the various forms of the Australia and New Zealand Land Company. The station was over 206,000 acres in area at the time of its forced breakup. At this point it was divided into sixteen smaller holdings, many of which still exist today. The area containing the old homestead retained the name Kawarau, but was reduced in size to 11,900 acres. After a few ownership changes, it was bought by John Anderson in 1927, whose son Richard continues to run the station to this day.
Kawarau Station Homestead Kawarau Station Woolshed
GOLD!
The land, sparsely populated from 1858 by pastoralists, a few station workers and sheep, was to be changed beyond all recognition within the space of five years. The discovery of gold at Gabriel’s Gully in 1861 was followed by a stream of gold-seekers, who spread feverishly into the valleys and hills of Central Otago. The early rushes were also responsible for a dramatic increase in population. During the last half of 1861 the population of Otago rose from less than 13 000 to more than 30 000 people, more than half of the influx coming from Australia.
Bannockburn Sluicings the 'Rip and Bust' mine
WORKING TOGETHER
It happened that the Kawarau run was situated on one of the richest goldfields in New Zealand, so that the mining and pastoral industries developed side by side to their mutual advantage, and with very little friction owing to the tactful and reasonable attitude adopted by the station managers.
The station was of fundamental importance to the mining population, as it provided supplies, particularly mutton, when there were no other sources available. Stock was brought into town weekly, killed and sold from what became known as Slaughteryard Hill, across the road from the present Bannockburn Hotel. The station also supplied bread and certain groceries at very moderate prices to anyone in the back country who could pay for them. Any reliable man was allowed to fence off and occupy a small area of land provided it did not interfere with the workings of the run, and provided the rabbits were kept down. In addition the residents were allowed to run a few cows and horses, and in some cases goats, which had spread early into the backcountry. When they became too numerous they were mustered into the homestead and slaughtered or sold to anyone for milking.
Miners in turn also provided labour. The station advertised in December 1866 for 16 good shearers, indicating a large flock at the time. From the earliest times rabbits were a major problem. Trapping and poisoning was constant, employing some fifty rabbiters, two packhorse teams and one or two poison makers in the winter. Annually 500 000 skins were processed and sold to the London market, with not a lot of profit from them. Generally speaking there was no exception taken to settlers wandering at large over the run and killing such rabbits as they chose.
Bannockburn Store circa 1905 Horn and Anderson- store receipt 1885
By the 1930's the gold boom had completely died down. It's greatest importance is that it brought to Central Otago men and women who had every qualification as successful pioneers, including the energy and individual enterprise. Without this the rugged mountains and swift rivers would ever have been an inspurable barrier to man's progress. In the early1900s irrigation practices brought about the planting of vineyards and orchards, bringing with it a lovely greener landscape, a stark contrast to the old mining areas we see today, one being Bannockburn Sluicings. Take a walk (approx 2hrs) around them to learn more about the miners from various Information boards placed along the tracks.
There is a choice of safe parking around the vicinity of GZ