Lawrence

In May 1861 Gabriel Read, an Australian prospector, found gold in a gully near the Tuapeka River and reported it rather than keeping quiet. Within months around eleven thousand people were on the field, Otago's population and economy were transformed, and Dunedin became for a time the largest and richest city in the country - the whole southern settlement pattern of New Zealand turns on that year. Lawrence grew as the service town. Gabriel's Gully itself is three kilometres out and is now a reserve: the hills around it were sluiced away entirely, so the landscape is engineered rather than natural, with a walking track through the workings, interpretation and a monument. The town has a broad main street of nineteenth-century buildings, a museum and the start of the Clutha Gold Trail. The rush lasted a few years and the population left; Lawrence has around four hundred people now.

History

Gabriel Read's find at Gabriel's Gully in May 1861 started the Otago gold rush, and within a year some 11,500 people were on the field, twice the population of Dunedin at the time. A town called Tuapeka was surveyed in 1862, became a municipality in 1866 and was renamed Lawrence after Sir Henry Lawrence, and the tune of New Zealand's national anthem was composed here by the schoolteacher John J. Woods (Wikipedia, Lawrence, New Zealand).

The main sights

• Gabriel's Gully - the reserve where the 1861 rush began.
• The sluiced hills - a landscape entirely reshaped by mining.
• The main street - nineteenth-century buildings from the boom.
• The Clutha Gold Trail - the cycle route starting here.

When to go

Any season; October to April for the gully walk. The museum has limited hours - check before relying on it.

Things to know

Gabriel's Gully is bare, reworked ground rather than scenery - the interest is historical. The town is small and quiet with limited services. Three kilometres out to the gully, so a car or bike is needed.

Nearby

Milton is east; Roxburgh and Central Otago are north-west.

Key facts