Following the Dreams of the Cornish Miners

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TUESDAY April 10

There is a story in Cornwall of a young heroine by the name of Grace Darling and one of the first miners in the Waitekauri Valley brought her name to the Goldfields. Journey back in time as you walk along a wide road leading off the upper Waitekauri Rd into the Grace Darling Valley.  The track follows the stream past two battery sites toward the Grace Darling Mine. Once at the Grace Darling battery site, where the bones of the old cyanide tanks are still visible, you continue through groves of putaputaweta to the Central Battery site where you can stand on the interesting mound of the mulloch heap and visualise how life must once have been.

Be prepared to get your feet wet as there are four stream crossings each way that are easy and shallow in good weather.

Duration: 5 hours

Track Grading: 4

Start Time: 9.00am