An Invitation To Join Historic Places Central Otago On A Heritage Tour Of  The Northburn Gold Diggings, Bendigo Station And  Lindis River Area on Sunday 13 OctoberAn Invitation to join Historic Places Central Otago on a Heritage tour of  the Northburn gold diggings, Bendigo Station and Lindis River area on Sunday 13 October

Tour starts at 9am at the Big Fruit on SH8B at Cromwell
BYO Lunch at Lindis Hotel ruins

On behalf of the committee of Historic Places Central Otago we welcome you to attend a guided tour of the Northburn, Bendigo and Lindis River area and finishing the day with a relaxed wine tasting at the Tarras Country Café.

We will meet at the Big Fruit on the main highway SH8B (near the Golden Gate Hotel) at 9am prompt.

Our first stop will be at the spectacular Northburn Gold Diggings, which are extensive and the best of their type in Central Otago.  We have permission to drive up to the digging’s as it is a steep track and would take too long to walk. For those with conventional cars they may need to hitch a ride up this track in a 4WD as it is quite steep.  We will have enough vehicles to arrange this.  John Douglas will be our guide at this site.

Next stop is the Bendigo Station museum and old shearers quarters converted into a unique event centre.  Lots of old photos to view.  Bendigo is also the ex home of Shrek the Sheep.  John Perriam is our heritage host at Bendigo.

We then travel up the valley towards the Lindis Pass and the interpretation panel at site of the first Gold discovered in Otago.  We then cross over the Lindis river up Old Faithful Rd to the very well preserved ruins of the Lindis Hotel.

Our guide for the area is the irrepressible Gerald Goodger from Merivale Station whose family have farmed in the region for 100 years.  Gerald is an inspiring guide and will relate interesting facts and anecdotes about the area from rabbit skinning to being the last enrolled pupil at the Lindis school.  The tour is worth it just to hear Gerald’s legendary knowledge and recall of the past.  Keith Hinds who has been involved in the conservation of the stonework of the Hotel and will take us through the processes involved in its conservation.

At the Lindis Hotel we will lunch and enjoy this delightfully tranquil area and there is the opportunity to walk to Wattie Thompson’s cottage and the original Lindis gold diggings.  It is a great spot for those wishing to cast for trout during the extended lunch break.  There is a toilet at the Hotel site.  There is also shelter in the old stables which is quite an experience.

We will visit the site of the old Lindis School, again guided by Gerald and then we have permission from the Lucas’s to inspect the old stone cottage on their property.

We then travel back and through Merivale Station onto the boundary of Long Acre Station and visit a cottage ruin that has a unique round chimney.

Also on Long Acre is an enclave of a large stone sheepyard and catching race.  The construction is similar to the yards we saw on the Roxburgh Tour with through stones as part of the construction.

We will finish the tour with an optional wine tasting at Tarras Country Café.

There will be local wines from Lindis river, Swallows Crossing, and Maori Point and possibly a Waitaki wine to taste.  Cost is a separate $5 per person payable to the Tarras Country Café and refundable on the purchase of wine at the tasting.

Cost for the tour is $15 per person for HPA members and $25 for non-members.

For those joining  HPA  and paying for their membership on the day we will only charge the members rate relative to the membership enrolment e.g. individual or family.  Membership forms will be available on the day.

To register your attendance, or if you require further information about any aspects of the tour please contact:

David White – Chairman,  Historic Places Central Otago:

dwhite.goodies@clear.net.nz  or 03 445 4777