Hunting in New Zealand ( Lots of NZ Photos in this thread)
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Wildcat
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Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Oh dear Ankh.... VB Victorian Bitter = Australia.....
That 'track hoe' or excavator as I call it looks like one that was owned by a chap that wanted to be a silent partner with me and my brother. He would supply the machine and we would work the spot while he would be the silent partner and just rake in the shares. As soon as I saw the machine I shuddered and ran.
The Cat
Oh dear Ankh.... VB Victorian Bitter = Australia.....
That 'track hoe' or excavator as I call it looks like one that was owned by a chap that wanted to be a silent partner with me and my brother. He would supply the machine and we would work the spot while he would be the silent partner and just rake in the shares. As soon as I saw the machine I shuddered and ran.
The Cat
russau
Gold Member
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
it sure would be cool to goto New Zealand to see my friend Trev Alty. and maybe get some NZ gold to boot!
it sure would be cool to goto New Zealand to see my friend Trev Alty. and maybe get some NZ gold to boot!
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Wildcat
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Re: Hunting in New Zealand
My memories of NZ beer are, Speights 3 star, DB (Dominion Bitter) and due to the fact I have just had a couple of Woodstocks, I can't remember any more.
NZ is certainly a beautiful country, but when you live there you take it for granted. I enjoy my trips back there occasionally and last time took my new wife who loved it. She is an Aussie country girl. (way to go)
I must renew my passport in case I decide to go for another trip....
The Cat
My memories of NZ beer are, Speights 3 star, DB (Dominion Bitter) and due to the fact I have just had a couple of Woodstocks, I can't remember any more.
NZ is certainly a beautiful country, but when you live there you take it for granted. I enjoy my trips back there occasionally and last time took my new wife who loved it. She is an Aussie country girl. (way to go)
I must renew my passport in case I decide to go for another trip....
The Cat
dave wiseman
Hero Member
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Kiwi JW,are you the chap from Jack Langs old Forum?........Dave.
Kiwi JW,are you the chap from Jack Langs old Forum?........Dave.
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
G'day Dave, Yes I am the one & the same JW from Jack Langs old forum. Bloody good sit this one.
Cricky Ankh...... where the hell did you get the notion that Kiwi's, New Zealanders, were church going none drinkers. I reckon we are probably the biggest drinkers per head of population than any other country on this planet. Fancy relating VB to a kiwi beer, & fosters & goanna's. Yep Speights, Pride of the south for over 120 years. My beer of choice. There is of course Waikato, Lion red, Tui, Montieths a west coast beer that goes back to the gold rush days, DB (Dominion Brewries) Mac's ale etc etc I could go on & on & on......But I wont
Here are a few more pics. This one is an old school of mines building that is slowly rotting away
Mt Cook New Zealands highest mountain. This was taken in the middle of summer
A Glacier on the West Coast of the south island
An old grave stone in the Skippers Cemetry. Struck a chord with me as I was the same age as the father & my son the same age as the son who was killed at the time I took this photo
Lake Tekapo, south island
The Remakables Range, & Lake Wakatipu Queenstown. NZ
Detecting an old miners hut
The result
Berdans in the bush
A quartz reef running through a creek & up the bank. It has had samples cut out with a petrol powered cutting blade by the looks of it
That will do for now.
JW
G'day Dave, Yes I am the one & the same JW from Jack Langs old forum. Bloody good sit this one.
Cricky Ankh...... where the hell did you get the notion that Kiwi's, New Zealanders, were church going none drinkers. I reckon we are probably the biggest drinkers per head of population than any other country on this planet. Fancy relating VB to a kiwi beer, & fosters & goanna's. Yep Speights, Pride of the south for over 120 years. My beer of choice. There is of course Waikato, Lion red, Tui, Montieths a west coast beer that goes back to the gold rush days, DB (Dominion Brewries) Mac's ale etc etc I could go on & on & on......But I wont
Here are a few more pics. This one is an old school of mines building that is slowly rotting away
Mt Cook New Zealands highest mountain. This was taken in the middle of summer
A Glacier on the West Coast of the south island
An old grave stone in the Skippers Cemetry. Struck a chord with me as I was the same age as the father & my son the same age as the son who was killed at the time I took this photo
Lake Tekapo, south island
The Remakables Range, & Lake Wakatipu Queenstown. NZ
Detecting an old miners hut
The result
Berdans in the bush
A quartz reef running through a creek & up the bank. It has had samples cut out with a petrol powered cutting blade by the looks of it
That will do for now.
JW
goldfever1978
Jr. Member
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
WOW! Those are some nice pics! NZ looks like a wonderful place to visit. Thanks for posting guys!
WOW! Those are some nice pics! NZ looks like a wonderful place to visit. Thanks for posting guys!
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Wildcat
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Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Hey Ankh. We aren't allowed to roast Goannas or Snakes, in fact it is getting to the stage we can't do anything... lol
Not that it dosen't happen!
We have a 40 acre bush property and always have to be on guard as the goannas used to try to get our chooks and ducks and eggs.
I lost a Indian Runner duck to a snake. Needless to say, even though it was too late I retrieved my duck.
We also have Guinea Fowl and dogs that chase the Goannas and give us warning they are around.
We have several deer in the area and a panther has been living around here too. Haven't seen him for a while now but my daughter has seen it near her place about 30 klms away. I believe there are a few about.
The Cat
Hey Ankh. We aren't allowed to roast Goannas or Snakes, in fact it is getting to the stage we can't do anything... lol
Not that it dosen't happen!
We have a 40 acre bush property and always have to be on guard as the goannas used to try to get our chooks and ducks and eggs.
I lost a Indian Runner duck to a snake. Needless to say, even though it was too late I retrieved my duck.
We also have Guinea Fowl and dogs that chase the Goannas and give us warning they are around.
We have several deer in the area and a panther has been living around here too. Haven't seen him for a while now but my daughter has seen it near her place about 30 klms away. I believe there are a few about.
The Cat
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
G'day Wildcat, Thats a very interesting yarn about your old uncle & his hard rock mine. You say "mad" uncle. Was that "madness" due to him using mercury to retort his gold from the crushed rock?? Do you, or can you put up some pics of the gold samples that he left you?? Be good to see.
That area wouldnt be in the Blacks/Ophir locality would it. I have been to the old Golden Progress mine site which still has the poppet head structure with cage still all intact. The only poppet head left over a shaft in NZ. I will have to rat out some pics of it. I wonder if it is on the same run of reef as it isnt too far from Ophir. Check this site out. Click also on the other areas in the left margin for other localities in Central Otago gold country. Enjoy http://www.centralotagonz.com/Central-Otago/Golden-Progress-Mine_IDL=24_IDT=294_ID=1543_.html
JW
G'day Wildcat, Thats a very interesting yarn about your old uncle & his hard rock mine. You say "mad" uncle. Was that "madness" due to him using mercury to retort his gold from the crushed rock?? Do you, or can you put up some pics of the gold samples that he left you?? Be good to see.
That area wouldnt be in the Blacks/Ophir locality would it. I have been to the old Golden Progress mine site which still has the poppet head structure with cage still all intact. The only poppet head left over a shaft in NZ. I will have to rat out some pics of it. I wonder if it is on the same run of reef as it isnt too far from Ophir. Check this site out. Click also on the other areas in the left margin for other localities in Central Otago gold country. Enjoy http://www.centralotagonz.com/Central-Otago/Golden-Progress-Mine_IDL=24_IDT=294_ID=1543_.html
JW
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Wildcat
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Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Hi JW First of all my old Uncle wasn't mad. Just cranky because he considered the hole dangerous and we went down in it. He didn't think we would find it but we spent lots of time shooting rabbits in the hills and came across it. I will post some pics later today but my camera is not good at macro shots.
Hi JW First of all my old Uncle wasn't mad. Just cranky because he considered the hole dangerous and we went down in it. He didn't think we would find it but we spent lots of time shooting rabbits in the hills and came across it. I will post some pics later today but my camera is not good at macro shots.
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Hi there Ankh, Hey no problem putting up these pics & yarns. Glad you enjoy them. We are a friendly bunch down under & only too happy to share golding matters & experiances. This is a very good site & covers a wide range of all sorts of every thing. Very good to see the goss on the different detectors & peoples opinions. I am very tempted to get either a gold bug 2 or a GMT to complement my minelab gp 3000 to find the small gold at the surface. Although my 3000 does a pretty good job of finding small stuff as well.
Wildcat, Thanks for the pics of your uncles specimens. Very nice. Similar to some species I found up the Carrick Range at Quatzville just above Bannochburn when I was down there end of last year. Mine didnt have the amount of gold that your bigger piece is showing though. You may be interested to see this map & have a bit of a nosey at this site in general.
http://www.ophirgold.co.nz/map-aug07-big.jpg
When was the last time you were there & did you know of this company?
I will see if I can find some more pics from here in NZ to share with you guys.
Happy golding
JW
Hi there Ankh, Hey no problem putting up these pics & yarns. Glad you enjoy them. We are a friendly bunch down under & only too happy to share golding matters & experiances. This is a very good site & covers a wide range of all sorts of every thing. Very good to see the goss on the different detectors & peoples opinions. I am very tempted to get either a gold bug 2 or a GMT to complement my minelab gp 3000 to find the small gold at the surface. Although my 3000 does a pretty good job of finding small stuff as well.
Wildcat, Thanks for the pics of your uncles specimens. Very nice. Similar to some species I found up the Carrick Range at Quatzville just above Bannochburn when I was down there end of last year. Mine didnt have the amount of gold that your bigger piece is showing though. You may be interested to see this map & have a bit of a nosey at this site in general.
http://www.ophirgold.co.nz/map-aug07-big.jpg
When was the last time you were there & did you know of this company?
I will see if I can find some more pics from here in NZ to share with you guys.
Happy golding
JW
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Wildcat
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Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Jw when you go thru XXX, there is a gravel road that branches off to the left before you go up XXX Hill and goes along to the river. If you drive along there you can see heaps of workings on your right that go up into the hills. Workings are in most of the gullys. What a lot of folk dont know is that the farm land on the left of here used to be covered with shallow prospect holes too. I am certain there would be nuggets in there. As you go up XXX Hill there is cultivated land over a gully on your right about 2klm up. I have picked up a few nuggets in there and also, over the road, there are more workings in the gullys where I have picked up quite a few nuggets as well. A lot of this property was owned by XXX. I have also in the past visually specked the odd rock with gold lying on the surface behind XXX. There are very extensive workings in there in places. (and a few deep unprotected holes if you are driving around) North east of the little Stone house used to be all shallow workings but it has been flattened and I never found much in there.
Hope this gives you some clues. As for when I was there last, probably around 2 1/2 years ago now. BTW I used a GB2 and found lots of little nuggets in the workings, but I believe the 3000 I had seemed just as sensitive. If you already have a 3000 I wouldn't waste money on the GB2 as I really don't think you will gain any advantage.
**EDITED TO STOP IDIOTS TRAMPLING EVERYWHERE WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION**
The Cat
Jw when you go thru XXX, there is a gravel road that branches off to the left before you go up XXX Hill and goes along to the river. If you drive along there you can see heaps of workings on your right that go up into the hills. Workings are in most of the gullys. What a lot of folk dont know is that the farm land on the left of here used to be covered with shallow prospect holes too. I am certain there would be nuggets in there. As you go up XXX Hill there is cultivated land over a gully on your right about 2klm up. I have picked up a few nuggets in there and also, over the road, there are more workings in the gullys where I have picked up quite a few nuggets as well. A lot of this property was owned by XXX. I have also in the past visually specked the odd rock with gold lying on the surface behind XXX. There are very extensive workings in there in places. (and a few deep unprotected holes if you are driving around) North east of the little Stone house used to be all shallow workings but it has been flattened and I never found much in there.
Hope this gives you some clues. As for when I was there last, probably around 2 1/2 years ago now. BTW I used a GB2 and found lots of little nuggets in the workings, but I believe the 3000 I had seemed just as sensitive. If you already have a 3000 I wouldn't waste money on the GB2 as I really don't think you will gain any advantage.
**EDITED TO STOP IDIOTS TRAMPLING EVERYWHERE WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION**
The Cat
PAULWYO
Full Member
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
great pics from every one.
great pics from every one.
Re: Hunting in New Zealand
G'day Wildcat and JW,
Great pics and info guys. I must say you're exceedingly generous with your info, and as my better half and I are going to spend a couple of weeks around QT over Xmas, we might go on over and try our luck. I'm running a 4500 and have found a few sub-grammers and a couple of one grammers in Otago, (I'm from Dunedin) but in all my decades pottering around with gold, I'm still to crack an ounce...in total!!!
To the best of your knowledge, are the local cockies fairly amenable in giving permission to wander their paddocks?
I'm currently using the CT 10x5 mono and think I've got it fairly well sussed, but would it be worthwhile running the CT mini UFO? I've had it a while but only tried it once on the 4500 and am having a bit of trouble balancing and quieting it down. If the diggings are quite shallow I'll probably stick to the smaller coil, but would like to crack the virgin UFO!
Again guys, thanks heaps for your postings, and I'll let you know after xmas how we got on.
Rick.
G'day Wildcat and JW,
Great pics and info guys. I must say you're exceedingly generous with your info, and as my better half and I are going to spend a couple of weeks around QT over Xmas, we might go on over and try our luck. I'm running a 4500 and have found a few sub-grammers and a couple of one grammers in Otago, (I'm from Dunedin) but in all my decades pottering around with gold, I'm still to crack an ounce...in total!!!
To the best of your knowledge, are the local cockies fairly amenable in giving permission to wander their paddocks?
I'm currently using the CT 10x5 mono and think I've got it fairly well sussed, but would it be worthwhile running the CT mini UFO? I've had it a while but only tried it once on the 4500 and am having a bit of trouble balancing and quieting it down. If the diggings are quite shallow I'll probably stick to the smaller coil, but would like to crack the virgin UFO!
Again guys, thanks heaps for your postings, and I'll let you know after xmas how we got on.
Rick.
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Wildcat
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Re: Hunting in New Zealand
Hi Aloysius
I have never been refused entry, but then, I used to be a local. All you can do is ask and you don't have to travel far. I mainly used a 10" Joey mono loop but for the deep stuff I only ever went as big as a 14" Nuggetfinder mono which is a superb coil. Ask at thexxxHotel at xxx who owns what and they should be able to help. That is a good area to carefully check the heaps as I have picked quite a few off them in the past.
If I can help more I will. This will give you an idea. x The little shearing shed shown near the fork in the road is one shown in my photos. Sadly the cloud mucks up the Google image or I could tell you more.
**EDITED TO STOP IDIOTS TRAMPLING EVERYWHERE WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION**
The Cat
Hi Aloysius
I have never been refused entry, but then, I used to be a local. All you can do is ask and you don't have to travel far. I mainly used a 10" Joey mono loop but for the deep stuff I only ever went as big as a 14" Nuggetfinder mono which is a superb coil. Ask at thexxxHotel at xxx who owns what and they should be able to help. That is a good area to carefully check the heaps as I have picked quite a few off them in the past.
If I can help more I will. This will give you an idea. x The little shearing shed shown near the fork in the road is one shown in my photos. Sadly the cloud mucks up the Google image or I could tell you more.
**EDITED TO STOP IDIOTS TRAMPLING EVERYWHERE WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION**
The Cat
strickman
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- Jan 27, 2008
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must be nice 
,wish i was there!
,wish i was there!dave wiseman
Hero Member
Great stuff JW.....
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Wildcat
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Just goes to show, new blood and confidence breeds results along with a touch of patience and expertise.
Congratulations John and we will discuss further spots around there before you go next time. Maybe I might be able to meet you there next time but there are a lot of ifs at this point. At least you have a starting point for next time.
Dont you just love that super quiet ground? If there is a signal, it is usually gold. And no long grass, snakes, or lantana to deal with.
Gotta love NZ.
The Cat
Congratulations John and we will discuss further spots around there before you go next time. Maybe I might be able to meet you there next time but there are a lot of ifs at this point. At least you have a starting point for next time.
Dont you just love that super quiet ground? If there is a signal, it is usually gold. And no long grass, snakes, or lantana to deal with.
Gotta love NZ.
The Cat
Hoser John
Gold Member
Love the pix and stories and lets thank the real culprit for all the largess--NEW DETECTORS ROCK THE NUGGETSHOOTING WORLD--gotta love science-tons a au 2 u 2 -John 
G'day Hoser John, Thank you. It was a buzz to say the least. Hope the coming year is good to you on the gold front.
Wildcat, Yes an absolute bonus that the ground has never been worked for gold EVER except for your uncles hard rock mine at 300 odd meters away. Working by himself on that smaller scale just plodding away has left no junk around. Not like up here in the Coromandel where the hills have been honey combed to death by many a company for many a year by the old day hard rock miners & the ground everywhere is just a mess with their iron rubbish & junk of all sorts of crap that drives you nuts when trying to detect.
The Coromandel was never known for alluvial gold & certainly not for nuggets. It was all quartz crushing country & the best you could hope to do with a detector it to find a good quartz specimen piece. Sadly for me the junk has got the better of me & I have all but given up detecting up here.
Here are a couple of little specimen bits I have found with a sluice box in a Coromandel creek
*****......I did find a few .22 shells & lead bullet heads from rabbit shooters & some pieces of metal shards that have probably come off the blade of an excavator as there has been a bit of prospecting lately by some gold companys & hence the turned over boulders I mentiond earlier. My mate found quite a few shotgun pellets with his Xterra 70. Shows the sensertivity of his Xterra on those shallow close to the surface targets but sadly for him the gold was a bit deeper into the compacted shatted schist. So yes it was a pleasure detecting there compared to up here. I will put up some more pics at a later date of the surrounding country taken from on this property. Stunning scenery.
Happy golding all
JW
Wildcat, Yes an absolute bonus that the ground has never been worked for gold EVER except for your uncles hard rock mine at 300 odd meters away. Working by himself on that smaller scale just plodding away has left no junk around. Not like up here in the Coromandel where the hills have been honey combed to death by many a company for many a year by the old day hard rock miners & the ground everywhere is just a mess with their iron rubbish & junk of all sorts of crap that drives you nuts when trying to detect.
The Coromandel was never known for alluvial gold & certainly not for nuggets. It was all quartz crushing country & the best you could hope to do with a detector it to find a good quartz specimen piece. Sadly for me the junk has got the better of me & I have all but given up detecting up here.
Here are a couple of little specimen bits I have found with a sluice box in a Coromandel creek
*****......I did find a few .22 shells & lead bullet heads from rabbit shooters & some pieces of metal shards that have probably come off the blade of an excavator as there has been a bit of prospecting lately by some gold companys & hence the turned over boulders I mentiond earlier. My mate found quite a few shotgun pellets with his Xterra 70. Shows the sensertivity of his Xterra on those shallow close to the surface targets but sadly for him the gold was a bit deeper into the compacted shatted schist. So yes it was a pleasure detecting there compared to up here. I will put up some more pics at a later date of the surrounding country taken from on this property. Stunning scenery.
Happy golding all
JW
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