Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Reefton Sports Centre
( 03-732 8593; 56 Broadway; bike hire per day $30)
, where you can also inquire
about the legendary trout fishing in the environs.
Blacks Point Museum
(Blacks Point, SH7; adult/child/family $5/3/12; 9am-noon & 1-4pm Wed-Fri & Sun, 1-4pm Sat Oct-Apr, plus
school holidays during winter)
Housed in an old church 2km east of Reefton on the Christchurch
road, this museum is crammed with prospecting paraphernalia. Just up the driveway is the
still-functional
Golden Fleece Battery
(adult/child $1/free; 1-4pm Wed & Sun Oct-Apr)
, used for crush-
ing gold-flecked quartz. The Blacks Point walks also start from here.
MUSEUM
Bearded Mining Company
(Broadway; admission by donation; 9am-2pm)
Looking like a ZZ Top tribute band, the fellas
hangin' at this high-street mining hut are champing at the bit to rollick your socks off with
tales tall and true. If you're lucky you'll get a cuppa from the billy.
HISTORIC BUILDING
HISTORIC SITE
Waiuta
(
www.waiuta.org.nz
;
off SH7)
A once-burgeoning gold town abandoned in 1951 after the
mineshaft collapsed, remote Waiuta is one of the West Coast's most famous ghost towns,
complete with a big old rusty boiler, an overgrown swimming pool, stranded brick chim-
neys and the odd intact cottage, which face off against mother nature who has sent in the
strangleweed. Spread over a square kilometre or so of plateau, surrounded by lowland
forest and looking out towards the Southern Alps, Waiuta is a very satisfying place for an
amble. To get to there, drive 23km south of Reefton on SH7 to the signposted turn-off
from where it's another 17km, the last half of which is unsealed, winding and narrow in
places. Ask at local i-SITEs for more information and maps.
Tours
Reefton Gold Mine Tours
( 027 442 4777, 03-732 8497;
www.reeftongold.co.nz
)
Dig deeper into Reefton on a two-hour herit-
age tour ($25) taking in town highlights. The Gold Mine Tour (adult/child/family $55/30/
120) visits the local mine, where you'll get views over the pit-edge and see plenty of huge
machinery in action. Book at the i-SITE or the Broadway Tearooms.
CULTURAL TOUR
