NewZealand ZealandWalk Walk New
Bannockburn Sluicings NZ’s own Above and opposite page above: The barren landscape on the uphill track at the Bannockburn Sliuicings. Historic Reserve.The landscape devoid of any vegatation.
6 Walking New Zealand, issue no 281 - 2021
T
he Bannockburn Sluicings Historic Reserve, just a few kilometres south-west of Cromwell can’t be experienced from a distance. You have to walk it to understand it. What looks desolate from the entrance turns into a rough, raw and rewarding walk through a valley of caves, tunnels and rock tailings left untouched since abandoned by the last of the mining men. This vanished landscape is New Zealand’s own wild west: The Bannockburn Sluicings are the scarred landscapes of a short-lived gold mining era. This is a desert made by water, large scale water blasting left a landscape transformed by human kind s pursuit of possibility. As an iconic heritage site, the www.walkingnewzealand.co.nz
