We had not really intended to spend all day in Coromandel Town, but events rather overtook us - we have had such a fascinating day, and there is a lot more to see.
We began by eating our breakfast outside on the deck in the blessed sunshine - which didn't last long, unfortunately. After packing and checking out, we made our way to the Driving Creek Railway. Driving Creek had originally been covered in kauri trees, and was comprehensively logged. Hence the name; the creek was dammed fairly high up the hillside to make a lake and the logs were rolled down the creek to the lake. When the lake was full with water and logs, the dam was opened and that drove a mass of water and logs down the hillside to the harbour, for easy collection. So it was given the name Driving Creek.
The clearing of the forest and resulting erosion revealed some gold-bearing rocks, so then the area was mined for gold. Once the mining came to an end, the bush was cleared for pasture. In 1961, a man called Barry Brickell decided to give up being a teacher and become a full-time potter in a rural setting. He bough some land at Driving Creek, and in 1973 started to build a narrow gauge railway to carry clay and logs for his kiln. He brought in local contractors to do the major earthworks, but he laid the track himself.
In order to re-pay the bank, the railway became a very popular tourist attraction. It has expanded to nearly 3 km, and has taken Barry Brickell 32 years to build. This is the station.
We had to wait until the 11.30 trip, but there was plenty to see, and at 11.30 we set off. We sat near the front of the train. The ride takes you through thick forest. There are a number of viaducts on the route, this is the first.
It is hard from my photo to see how high it is, because the slopes have been re-planted with native species, including kauri trees. Here, the main things you can see are tree ferns. The most celebrated viaduct is the double-deck viaduct.
The train passes along the lower deck, then spirals round a hill, climbing all the time, and re-crosses the gorge at the higher level. Here you can see we are at the higher level.
Instead of tight corners, the track uses reversing points; the track is built in a Y shape.
The train above has just come down the right-hand slope of the Y and down to the base of the main stroke of the letter. The driver has just got out to change the points. The the train will then proceed up the left arm of the Y.
The last reversing point, atop a high ridge, is a platform which projects out over a void.
If my photo hasn't printed too small, you can see the track sticking out on what looks like part of a bridge. This is the train driving out onto this platform
The driver has to get out (on the left, the right is hanging over nothing) and walk to the back of the train, then he will reverse it out.
At the end of the track, the highest point has a viewing platform (called The Eye-full Tower) where you can get out and take pictures. Even on a rather dull day, the views are wonderful.
After our ride, which we really enjoyed - I think it was one of the highlights of our holiday - we found a picnic spot to eat our lunch, then went off to the Gold Stamper Battery. We found there was a tour at 2, and worked out that there wouldn't be time to go elsewhere for the night, so we rushed back to the place we had stayed in last night to book ourselves into the same room for tonight. When we returned to the Gold Stamper, we discovered a group of about 20 teenagers had arrived for gold panning, so we agreed to return at 3.
We went to the museum while we were waiting. It has the most amazing collection of stuff. This is a model of the Gold Stamper Battery, which was convenient, since the real one is too large to make a sensible photo.
There are some wonderful old photographs of the town through the ages. Everything is somewhat jumbled together, and some of it reminded me of things I have taken to the tip in the past. Maybe I should have found a local museum! There were lots of objects I loved, but my undoubted favourite was this.
At 3, we went back for our stamper battery tour. The stamper machine is powered by this huge water wheel.
It crushes the quartz rocks. They are ground small, and pass down a channel to be mixed with water to make a slurry.
Here you can see a couple of the channels down which the rock slides, and at the bottom right of the picture is a tank of the slurry. Mercury is added, and it forms an amalgam with the gold and silver. The geologist giving us the tour filled an old plastic water bottle with the mixture, and we watched it settle. It was very heavy, and we after a short while we could see the mercury at the bottom, with a yellowish gleam on its top surface. That's the gold.
The mercury amalgam is removed and it is boiled in a retort and condensed and re-cycled. What's left behind from the boiling process is a mixture of slag, gold and silver. The gold and silver can then be separated by heating and electrolysis.
We were chatting there for ages, so it was nearly 6 when we left. The sun was shining again and the weather was beautiful, so we hurried to take a few more photos while the weather was nice. This is a view over Coromandel Harbour.
After supper, the rain started again, so heavily that conversation was impossible. We are hoping for a dry day tomorrow.
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