Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → Otago → Bendigo Ghost Town

Location: Cromwell area, Otago, New Zealand

Time Required: 1-2 hours

Red Tape/Notes: Access is off the SH8 at Crippletown; take Loop Road up the surprisingly steep hill (and be thankful we have cars, unlike the miners who had to walk this route!). Download the Walk Cromwell brochure to your phone before you go – it’s quite fun to follow along the description of the track from Welshtown since the brochure will tell you little tidbits about the things you’re seeing. The DoC brochure is also nice to look over, but doesn’t provide as much route-specific detail as the Walk Cromwell option.

What’s Nearby?: Lake Alta and the Remarkables, Rob Roy Glacier Valley Track, Mt. Aspiring Packrafting, Robinson Creek Canyon, Wilson Creek Canyon, Cross Creek Canyon

The Bendigo Scenic Reserve (it’s not really called Bendigo Ghost Town, I just thought it was more descriptive) offers a fabulous collection of relics from the area’s mining past. Unlike spots like the Brunner Mine Site, which have been largely restored, this area offers a collection of picturesque ruins – foundations and walls of stone huts, mining equipment, and incredibly deep mine shafts, sprinkled along a collection of trails running along the crest of the Dunstan Mountains. The relics make it easy to imagine what it must have been like during the area’s heyday, when gold was originally discovered in 1862 bringing at influx of miners and prospectors that would transition from alluvial gold to gold-bearing quartz reefs. Mining continued up until 1943, but various prospecting activities are ongoing from time to time. Childish but highly recommended activity: throw a small rock down the No2 Shaft. According to the Walk Cromwell brochure, it’s 178 meters (!!) deep. The rock will bounce noisily at first, then become softer and softer and two or three seconds after you think it’s done, you’ll hear a distant reverberating “boom” when it finally hits the bottom. No idea why it’s so satisfying. In case anyone was wondering, it takes just over 6 seconds for something to fall 178 meters.

Epic Travel → Asia & the South Pacific → New Zealand → Otago → Bendigo Ghost Town