News and media
Long Hilly Track opens
Southland's newest loop track explores little-known gold-mining relics at the southern tip of the Longwood Range. Much of that gold-mining history is Chinese.
The Long Hilly (Round Hill) Track begins on Round Hill Road, 15 km west of Riverton, and goes past tailings and old sluicing pipes, then through a tramway cutting to the old earth dams. 19th century alluvial mining needed high pressure water, and the dams, poised 60 metres above the sluicing nozzles, provided that high pressure water - at a price.
Southland District Mayor Frana Cardno will open the track at 10 am tomorrow, Saturday March 29. Chinese historian Dr James Ng will outline the history of the area.
This 3-km loop section is day visitor standard, but the high-quality track is also the entry onto a more demanding Te Araroa route which follows the even course of a water-race 14 kilometres north to Cascade Road. That race, financed by Charles Port, was built by Chinese, who tunnelled through spurs and built trestles to keep the water flowing from far-off sources, and the dams full.
The Chinese settlement at Round Hill was nicknamed Canton and was a busy small town throughout most of the Round Hill mining operations.
Funding for the Long Hilly Track came from the Lotteries Commission ($15,000), the Stout Trust ($17,000) the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs ($15,000) the Community Trust of Southland ($70,000, but with some of this money budgeted for other Te Araroa links), the Southland District Council ($30,000) the Southland Conservancy of the Department of Conservation ($5,300 plus a good deal of in-kind advice and equipment) and Environment Southland ($500).
Te Araroa Southland Trust did the project management, working alongside DoC, whose volunteer teams also cleared much of Ports Race. A Christchurch City Care youth team did much of the early Long Hilly track work, and the final loop was completed by SouthRoads.
