Coromandel Area School

A group of 20 year 6 to 9 kids from Coromandel Area School came to visit.

They're doing a tour of the top-half of the South Island, travelling in 2 vans. Half of them had seen Reefton on the way here, the other half hadn't because they took the wrong road and got lost. (North Islanders!)

From here they were travelling on the Tranz-Alpine train to Christchurch - a great trip and a great experience for them all. Lucky Beggars.

Anyway, the Waiuta Mine was the 2nd. richest gold-mine in New Zealand. It produced more than enough gold to pay-off the entire national debt at any time in New Zealand's history. The only bigger mine in NZ was the Martha Mine in Waihi, Coromandel, where this lot come from.

One of my Great-Grandfathers was killed in the Martha Mine, he fell down the shaft.

I'm not sure how it happened, but his widow, my Gran Healey, later came on a boat to Greymouth, married Ted Healey, a carpenter, and they and my 5yo Grandmother went up to Waiuta in a horse and cart. That was in 1905 and they lived there for a few years while Ted was helping build the town. He actually built the Red Huts, a long-time landmark.

My Grandmother, Mattie, was a pupil in the school on the day it opened. She later lived in Reefton and died there in 1997, aged 97 years, so she saw Waiuta start and finish.

She was originally born in Arrowtown, near Queenstown, so she spent her whole life on goldfields.

Today's history lesson concludes.

cheers