Naseby

Naseby's own sign describes it as 2,000 feet above worry level, which tells you most of what the village thinks of itself. It was a gold town of about four thousand miners in the 1860s, is a few hundred now, and kept a compact centre of mudbrick and stone buildings surrounded by a forest of larch and Douglas fir planted to stabilise the sluiced ground. Its distinction is ice. The Maniototo basin is cold and still enough in winter that outdoor curling has been played here since the 1870s by Scottish settlers and their descendants, and Naseby now has the country's only indoor curling rink alongside outdoor ice, a luge track and a natural ice skating dam - which makes a village of a few hundred the national centre of a sport. In summer the forest carries mountain bike and walking trails, and the old sluicings and water races are walkable.

History

Gold was found in the Hogburn in 1863, and at its peak the town had about 4,000 miners, eighteen stores and 14 hotels. It was proclaimed a borough in 1881, then New Zealand's smallest by area, and the Mount Ida Chronicle was printed here from 1869 to 1924 (Wikipedia, Naseby, New Zealand).

The main sights

• The mudbrick centre - the compact 1860s village core.
• The curling - indoor and outdoor ice, the sport's national home.
• The forest - larch and fir planted over the sluiced ground.
• The old sluicings - workings and water races on the walking tracks.

When to go

June to August for curling, ice skating and the luge - that is when the village is doing its distinctive thing. Summer for the forest trails.

Practical notes

Winters here are severe - this is one of the coldest inhabited parts of the country. Services are limited to a hotel and a cafe. Curling and luge need booking in season.

Nearby

Ranfurly and the Rail Trail are south; St Bathans is north-west.

Key facts