Author(s): Mike Johnston

Marlborough | Secondhand

The History of the Wakamarina Goldfield In a narrow valley about midway between the towns of Nelson and Blenheim, New Zealand, gold was found in 1864 by settlers prospecting the gravel bar at Wilson's Beach, on the Wakamarina River. Canvas towns sprang up along the valley, populated with goldminers and their followers, but the Wakamarina was never a large goldfield, by area or yield, so whilst a few claims paid very well indeed, most camps appeared and disappeared in a short time. This is the goldfield associated with the most infamous crime of the times - the robbery and murder of five Wakamarina men on the Maungatapu Track to Nelson.

In volume 1 Mike Johnston has compiled an entirely fresh and full history of this famous goldfield. This volume is an ex library

In volume 2 Mike Johnston completes the account of the region's goldmining history that he began in Volume One with the Wakamarina. He describes the tantalising nature of Eastern Marlborough gold and the dogged attempts to extract it, despite the area's rugged landscape, dense forests, frequent floods and muddy tracks - and often poor returns.