On the Road to Dunedin via St. Bathans

We left Christchurch with a private driver named Jamie Dalziel, who was a fairly famous New Zealand snowboarder in his day. As we headed toward Dunedin, he took us through several small towns. The first was a small gold-mining town named St. Bathans. When they found gold, they used the sluice method to wash the gold out of the mountain. Apparently there is quite a vein of gold still there, but the government is not allowing commercial mining, though panning for gold is a hobby for many there. In the 1960s a woman named Sharon took it upon herself to try to save some of the buildings in St. Bathans, and although she passed away just before the Council approved her plan, it is coming to fruition. They are trying to restore the post office and the hotel has been restored, complete with a haunted room.

They also had some funky art work outside. We thought their sculptures were very fun.

I especially liked the sculpture of the man made of chicken wire. Creative people really amaze me.