St Bathans

Like the miners in the 1800s, we were lured to St Bathans to discover gold.  Well actually, the history surrounding the discovery of gold to be exact.

The Creation of St Bathans

St Bathans began as a boomtown known as Dunstan Creek way back in 1863.  In less than a year, there were 1,000 miners living in the then known Dunstan Creek and a further 1,000 in the surrounding district.

Three years after Dunstan Creek was formed, the name was changed to St Bathans, after the first surveyor of the district.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, we love exploring these towns and settlements.  To learn, discover and explore a little of what these areas were like in the early days.  We are always learning new things and that’s what travel is all about.

St Bathans Domain

We chose to stay at St Bathans Domain (NZMCA #8716).  This is a large flat area where you can camp for free and is administered by DoC.  It is dog friendly but usual rules apply as there is stock in neighbouring paddocks.

There is non-potable water and a long-drop toilet available.

It is conveniently located next to a walkway which will take you to the Blue Lake (approx 500m) or into the township (approx 1.2km).

We were completely alone on our first night but we were joined by a small number of tenters, many on cycles.

The St Bathans Domain in itself can boast quite a history.  Many of the miners in the area came from Ireland so the highlight of the year was the St Patrick’s day picnic that was held at this very domain.  It was also the venue for the annual Boxing Day Races, Gymkhanas and annual games between St Bathans and nearby Cambrian.

The Blue Lake

As mentioned earlier, the path from the Domain will take you to the start of the Blue Lake Loop Walkway.  This is a short 2km walk but there is also a longer more strenuous loop around the entire lake which is 3.5km.

Kildare Hill

It is hard to imagine that this beautiful serene lake was actually the location of a large 130m high mountain called Kildare Hill.  In 1864, deep shafts were sunk into the hill to bring the gold-laden rocky slush to the surface.  A major sluicing operation took over, pretty much obliterating the hill to below ground level.

Hydraulic Elevation

John Ewing (responsible for the creation of Pinders Pond through sluicing) had arrived in St Bathans.  He brought with him the knowledge and equipment to introduce hydraulic elevator sluicing to raise the gravel and burrow even deeper below ground.

By the time mining was abandoned in 1933, it was the deepest hydraulic mining lift in the world at the time.  It consisted of two vertical lifts, one of 165ft and another at 60ft. 

The locals called it ‘The Glory Hole’.  More than 2,834 kilos of gold was extracted from the three largest mining operations.  These were Vinegar Hill, the Kildare Mine (Blue Lake) and the Scandinavian mine at Surface Hill.

When the operation was dismantled the massive hole was flooded, giving us the Blue Lake we see today.

Lunar Landscape

The scars of the past were evident as we wandered the well-formed track.  White clay cliffs loomed overhead which indicated where the original ground level was prior to the extensive sluicing.  Some of the landscape took on quite a lunar-like structure and appearance.

The white soil made quite a startling contrast to the deep blue of the nearby lake.

Mining Relics

Littered along the track were relics of the mining era.  Water was vital to the sluicing and hydraulic elevation operations and we could clearly see evidence of the old rusty pipes that carried water from many kilometres away.

Walkabout

We managed to score a great pamphlet called ‘Walk Around Historic St Bathans’.  This is a great way to conduct a self-guided walking tour of the inner township of St Bathans.  It had points of interest and told a story of each of the historic sites.  It gave some fascinating insights into the town and how it must have looked way back in the 1800s.

By the late 1860s, St Bathans was well established with 15 hotels, a number of gambling and dance halls and many businesses.

Many of the original cottages are still being used as private residences and have been lovingly restored.  Other evidence of structures that made up the town was now non-existent or just ruins being overtaken by mother nature.

Some of the more ‘intact’ structures included the following buildings:

St Bathans Post Office

This elegant two-storied timber building standing on a prominent site in the historic town is actually the third version of the post office.  Initially, it was not much bigger than a dog box (as described by locals) and was inconveniently located up on a hill.  In winter the locals had to wade through a sea of mud in order to gain entry.

This grand old lady was opened in 1909 and continued to operate as a post office until 1937.  It was then turned into a private residence until 1981 when it was taken over by Dept of Lands and Survey.  It is now owned by DoC.

Bank and Gold Office

This building was one of three banks in the township.  The Bank of New South Wales opened in 1864 and was combined with the Gold Office.  I could just imagine the miners lining up with their gold takings for the day.

It has been quite a transient building.  The original location was across the road by the old tennis courts.  It was then moved to Oturehua in the 1970s, only to be brought back to St Bathans by DoC in the 1980s.  Maybe they could have saved themselves a whole lot of work and left it where it was!

The Public Hall

Located beside the Vulcan Hotel, The Public Hall was built in 1880, formerly known as Ballarat Hall.  While the two front rooms were initially used as gold offices, the main hall was the centre of the town for meetings.  The Masonic Lodge held its first ceremony here in 1902.

It has been the venue of countless performances and entertainment.  It is unusual in that it has a sprung floor, quite advanced for the times.  I stood there visualising the dances that must have had that place pumping.

Being located next to the hotel must have been very convenient as the men escaped for a cold bevvy between dances.

The Vulcan Hotel

Probably the most prominent landmark of St Bathans, the Vulcan Hotel.  The well-preserved hotel was originally the Ballarat Hotel, constructed in 1882.  Its name was changed after a fire destroyed the original Vulcan Hotel further down the street.

It was originally built from iron but was reclad with the sun-baked bricks that we see today.  The adjoining small pool room was erected in the 1960s.

There have been many reports of overnight guests experiencing a ‘presence’ of the resident ghost who seems to hang around Room One.  Nicknamed ‘The Rose’, it is thought that it is the ghost of a prostitute who was strangled in the room more than a century ago.

We did call in for a lovely coffee and later for a cold bevvy.  Although we did not feel any ghostly presence, we did sit there and soak up the ambience that can only be gleaned from most of these historic pubs.  There are plenty of photos on the walls of days gone by which helps paint the picture of what the town was like in its hey-day.

Old School Ruins

Always a sucker for old stone ruins, we walked up to where the old school stood.  Constructed in 1875, it had to be extended in 1885 to cope with an increasing role.

Unfortunately, huge cracks appeared in the building after a severe earthquake in 1943, forcing the school to close.  Classes resumed in the Post Office building until 1949.  

Sadly it is past its prime and I doubt that no amount of restoration will ever be enough to bring this piece of history to life again.

Our Walking Tour Continued

There were many more fabulous buildings to discover as we continued our self-guided tour through the township.  These included a couple of churches and cemeteries. 

Our walking map and stories depicted life for the occupants of these dwellings and buildings. 

Time seems to have stood still in this small town and it took little imagination to picture the numerous stores, banks, blacksmiths and hotels with their dancing girls, and hundreds of diggers here in its hey-day.

Cambrian(s)

Just 6km from St Bathans is the little settlement of Crambian(s).  I don’t think I’ve visited somewhere which is known by so many different names.

It is debatable as to whether it has the (s) on the end so I have bracketed it to cover both bases.  Google maps and some literature have the (s) on the end but all the road signs (and locals) don’t.  It was also known as Welshman’s Gully (a lot of Welsh miners worked the area), and Four Mile (the distance from St Bathans).  Cambrian(s) has also earnt the name of ‘The Village of Trees’, which becomes obvious closer to the old settlement.

History

The town was originally settled by Welsh gold and coal miners in 1863, around the same time as St Bathans.  Very little evidence of the once-bustling town remains.  There is a collection of original mud-brick cottages dotted along the road, now privately owned.

Records show that there were around 200 miners who made Cambrian(s) their home.  The town then consisted of a hotel, two stores, a church and a school.

Cambrian School

We stopped off at the Cambrian School.  The restored school building first opened in 1885 and contains a large number of pictures and copies of historical documents relating to this 1880s gold mining town.

You can easily spend quite some time fossicking through all the information on display.  I loved the line up of the old school desks, books, school bags and pianos.  It just felt like the children could be coming through the door any minute to start their day’s lessons.

We’re so lucky that locals have the passion to keep these memories alive and maintain special places like this.

Cambrian Common Forest

This small unassuming settlement can boast some pretty famous names.  We drove past the gatepost of artist Grahame Sydney (love his paintings!), the residence of former All Black captain Anton Oliver until we reached the Common Forest and the home of Bob Berry.

Bob, one of the region’s longest-term resident, was responsible for the planting and his cottage sits opposite, behind the sign “beware of the hug”.

It was very peaceful and serene as we wandered the freshly mown lawn which surrounds yet another historic cottage, overlooking a tranquil pond. 

The former teacher started planting here in 1980.  His goal, to help Cambrian become the “Village of Trees”.  I think that he is well on his way to achieving this.

Homestead Camp

We had been researching the access road into Homestead Campsite to decide if it was viable to tow the caravan in there for a couple of nights.

As usual, there were quite a few different opinions on whether it was doable so if in doubt, take the ute in there first.

It is approximately a 30-minute drive (28 mins) from St Bathans, pretty much on dusty gravel roads.

This is a basic campsite and is located in the Oteake Conservation Area. The isolated campsite is the ideal base for mountain biking, hunting, fishing and tramping in the nearby St Bathans and Hawkdun Ranges.

The road in stretches in a long straight line, as far as the eye can see.

The rolling mountains, soared skywards and I can imagine it would be absolutely breathtaking in the winter months when they would be layered in snow.

The camp area is exposed during windy conditions as the large plains offer little protection from the winds that funnel down.

Access

Access would certainly be doable towing our caravan.  Yes, there is a ford to cross which would be weather dependent and something to take into account with a low vehicle. 

We decided to carry on to do the loop around, travelling along Home Hills Runs Road, encompassing Falls Dam.

Scroll in and out on the map below to follow our route back to St Bathans Domain.

Falls Dam

Home Hills Runs Road

There are two parts to our trip into Falls Dam.  Firstly we traversed Home Hills Runs Road from the Homestead Campsite.  There were 3 fords to cross so it’s not a road I would recommend for low vehicles.  They were manageable due to lower rainfall so I can understand why the road is often closed during the winter months. We passed a bridge that had been partly washed away so there’s certainly some serious water that passes through the Manuherikia River, which feeds the Falls Dam. 

Manuherikia River

This river also provided much-needed water for the gold mining operations throughout the greater area.  A massive water race was constructed early on in the gold rush days.  One of the longest water races in NZ still provides precious water for irrigation in and around the Maniototo area.

The scenery and structures along the way, features in many paintings, including Grahame Sydney.  I can certainly see the attraction for artists to replicate the beautiful backdrop for some of these cribs and barn buildings.  The Hawkdun Range making a jaw-dropping backdrop for some pretty amazing scenery.

There were a few gates to open and close as Home Hills Runs Road traverses the farm station it is named after.

Oteake Conservation Park

We then entered the Oteake Conservation Park which is a massive 65,000-hectare playground with tracks galore for trampers, 4WD enthusiasts and mountain bikers to enjoy during the summer months.

A side road took us to the shores of the lake which has been formed due to the building of the dam.  There are a handful of fisherman’s cribs dotted along the shoreline which has obviously been here for many years.

I have to say, “what a spot”!  The expansive water stretching out amongst the parched, tussock dotted landscape looked very much like an oasis in the desert.

The Dam

The actual Falls Dam is situated on Loop Road, 10km east of St Bathans.  Keep a lookout for the sign Fiddlers Flat Road, which takes you to the dam wall.  If you don’t want to do the entire loop, then this is an excellent trip from St Bathans.  The road is just as scenic with the Hawkdun Ranges as a backdrop.

The power-house was opened in 1935 during the depression years, to provide irrigation and power.

The decision was made to construct a gravity dam using rockfill.  There were two reasons for this.  Firstly it would require more manpower than a concrete dam, something the government were keen on doing seem the country was in the heart of the Depression Years.  Secondly,  there was a possible future raising of the dam to provide more storage.  A rockfill dam could still be raised if required.  A concrete face was built on the upstream wall.

The circular concrete spillway was constructed and a vertical shaft.  This was to be nicknamed ‘Glory Hole’ and acts a lot like the drain in a sink.  When water gets too high it spills into the drain to prevent overflow.

The construction of the dam started after the completion of Poolburn and Idaburn Dams.

Workmen’s Camp

The working gangs of men were housed in a tent city on the flats close to the dam.  These tents were an ‘upscaled’ version of previous working camps as they had wooden floors.  There was also accommodation for married workers (lucky wives – NOT).

There was also a cookhouse and post office established for the workers.

All that remains are some of the foundations and chimneys of a couple of houses built close to the edge of the cliff overlooking the river below.

Pioneer Generation

In 2003, Pioneer Generation completed the installation of a small hydroelectric station at the dam.  The generator uses the water which is surplus to irrigation and also the discharge from the dam for irrigation schemes on the Manuherikia River.

Summary

Our three-night stay at St Bathans Domain did the area justice.  It gave us time to fully explore the town and it’s surrounding areas.

It is a place that epitomises the gold rush days that is such a big part of Central Otago’s history.

Click on the link below to see a video of our highlights while staying in St Bathans.