What a Heavenly day ...

... was the comment of one of the walkers as we headed along the track to view the ruins of this old goldmining town, Bendigo.  

Gold was found here in 1862, which brought hundreds of miners to the area.  In 1865 gold bearing quarts reefs were discovered, and the focus then went underground.  In 1875 it was said to be the richest gold bearing reefs in the Otago district.  Mining continued until 1943, when a government subsidy was withdrawn.  There are numerous mine shafts, tunnels, and plenty of remains, including stone huts, stamper batteries, water races, dams and pipelines, that are to be seen as we walked around the marked track.  This photo is of the remains of old miners cottages in Welshtown.

A nice cool drink at the Tarras Café completed this lovely walk today.  There were 14 of us in total.