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Reefton Historic Trust Board offers historic
tours around Reefton and nearby Blacks Point.
Take the opportunity to wander around the
town's historic area with entertaining and
informative guides, delve into the history
and hear some of the stories from the ancestors
of today's Reefton residents. Starting with
a tour of the Reefton visitor and interpretive
centre, you can visit many of Reefton’s
historic public buildings including the
School of Mines, Oddfellows Hall, Reefton
Courthouse and St Xaviers Anglican Church,
browse in some of the 1870s shops that have
been carefully adapted for today's use,
and enjoy a cup of billy tea and girdle
scones with the Bearded Miners.
The tour can extend to the Cornish settlement
of Blacks Point just 2 km east of Reefton.
In Blacks Point you can visit the Blacks
Point Museum, the Gold Stamper Battery which
was used to process the ore containing the
gold, wander past some of the lovely miners
cottage and cottage gardens, and along the
15 minute Golden Fleece Walk through beautiful
beech forest accompanied by tui and bellbird.
Specific tours can be developed to meet
your interest or time available. The route
and tour time for the Heritage Reefton /
Heritage Reefton & Blacks Point tour
can range from half an hour through to three hours for the full Reefton and
Blacks Point experience.
Tours include morning or afternoon tea with
the Bearded Miners. Catering for morning
and afternoon tea, lunch, etc is also available.
Enquiries and bookings
can be made by contacting Ronnie Buckman
or Paul Thomas
03 732 8633 or 0274 424 777, email
info@reeftongold.co.nz or via the Reefton
Visitor Centre on 03 732 8391.
A 'Historic Reefton' walking
brochure is available from the Reefton Visitor
Centre which allows
visitors to walk independently around Reefton
guided by the brochure route guide.
'Around the Globe' Gold Mine Tours
These personalised tours offers visitors an opportunity to delve into Reefton's gold mining heritage and explore New Zealand's newest opencast gold mine, the Globe Progress, currently being mined by Oceana Gold. The mine itself is just 6km south of Reefton within spectacular Victoria Conservation Park, known for its diversity of beech forest and its geology.
The tour is about experiencing Reefton's distinctive hardrock gold mining history that produced 2,000,000 oz of gold between 1870 and 1951 and living some of today's history in the making as you travel right into today's gold mining operation.
Commencing in Reefton itself, Reefton today is introduced and a tour of it's historic area sets the scene of the town's beginnings. The Blacks Point Museum's gold crushing battery is the next stop where the historic gold mining methods are explored then on 'up to the Globe' climbing 300m in just 3.6km.
Arriving at the mine you travel along the haul road to the lookout over the open pit for an aerial view of the giant excavators working to load the ore and waste rock onto the 93 tonne dump trucks. The next stop is the processing plant to see the large ball mill operating and visit the control room, ending in a short walk along the old miners track, the Union Track.
Returning back to Reefton, the tour concludes with a coffee at The Broadway Tearooms & Bakery.
Transport is in a 20-seater 4WD bus and takes approximately 2 1/2 hours. Price is $45.00/adult, $28.00/child, family discount (2 adults and up to 3 children) $120.00, group discounts for 15 people or more.
All visitors need to meet Oceana Gold's dress code of long sleeved shirts, full-length trousers and sturdy walking shoes. The tour will provide health and safety gear of hard hat, safety glasses and hi-vis vest.
Enquiries and bookings can be made by contacting Ronnie Buckman or Paul Thomas
0274 424 777, 03 732 8633, email info@reeftongold.co.nz or via the Reefton Visitor Centre on 03 732 8391.
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