Mining for gold was reliant on water power from water races high in the hillsides overlooking the site with numerous sluice guns carving out vast areas of the hillside.

Gold Mining Equipment
The power generated by the sluice guns is demonstrated as part of every tour of the site alongside the operation of one of a very few stamper batteries (used to crush the gold-bearing ore) still functioning in New Zealand.

Chinese Village
A replica Chinese Village and miner’s store and shacks evoke a period long since gone. Chinese migrants (mainly Cantonese) were drawn by the gold rush of the 1860’s and left everything familiar to them to come to a foreign (and sometimes hostile) country that few of them ever returned from. See how they lived and learn how they became an important part of New Zealand history.

Gold Panning
No tour of Goldfields is complete without the chance to pan for gold and there is still plenty of gold for those patient enough to try their luck.