Now that we are back at work and doing ordinary things, there doesn't seem to be much of interest to write about these days, so I thought you might like to know about the last tramp of the year that I did with the Matamata Walking and Tramping Club.
We went to Wairongomai, which is near Te Aroha. It has a history of gold and silver mining back in the late 1800's to the early 1900's. There are a few mine entrances at the side of the tracks. They aren't safe to go into in case of rock fall. They are often filled of water too. Also there are steep inclines, which were used to shift the ore. The railway trucks were loaded up with ore and sent down the rail track on the inclines. The weight of the trucks going down, pulled up the empty ones. There is work being done to recreate some of the lines. The huge winch at the top of the Butler Incline has been rebuilt.
There are a lot of tracks around the valley. We chose to do the high level walk, with the addition of the May Belle Incline. There is a track going up beside the incline, so we walked beside it rather than on it. Still very steep though.There are signs that the incline is being reinstated with railway sleepers propped up on the side of the incline.
We passed by a dilapidated hut called Hayes Hut. The roof has fallen in, but you can see the bed made out of wood with wire to hold the mattress. Hayes was an old miner who used to live there.
Wairongomai town was at the bottom of the valley. At it's height. 2000 people lived there. The water wasn't very good and many babies died because of it. People came from Te Aroha to watch the fighting that went on in the street, from the safety of the local pub. Eventually, in the 1920's, the whole town was taken away, as the gold and silver had mostly gone. There is no sign of the town now.
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| A waterfall on the way |
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| May Belle Incline |
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| A view |
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| A tricky part of the path. It crosses the top of a waterfall. |
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| The site where the Wairongomai town was. |
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