Leader: Kate Krawczyk
The ten of us set out on a stunning, crisp June morning to explore the historically rich gold fossicking areas of the Howard Valley. We parked on the side of the Howard Valley Road, not too keen on braving the four-wheel drive tracks, and set off for the Hills.
After only an hour-and-a-half of walking past the Louis Creek goldfields with its relics and gold tailings two stories high, we reached the historical Booth’s Cottage situated in a small forest clearing above Louis Creek on an old miners’ track.
The cottage was built by Sid Booth and Ray Clarke in 1933 during the Depression when both were on the government Gold Prospecting Subsidy Scheme. It was the family home of Sid and Eva Booth and their son Teddy for over 10 years. Sid was often away mining or doing other work for months at a time and Eva and Teddy stayed at the cottage.
A telephone line was connected to the hut in the 1940s. Bulbs and other plantings from the family’s garden and a variety of artefacts including old footwear and bottles are visible around the clearing and inside the hut. The hut was restored in 1995 and Ted Booth participated in the restoration work. It is hard to imagine anyone living in the cottage as it is very cold, the ceilings are low and it is so isolated in the wilderness!
We decided to carry on up to the ridgeline and met up with the Poriko Road to create a loop back to our vehicles. We found a rough track with flagging tape and headed on up.
At the top we came upon a caravan fully set up with solar panels, a clothesline etc.! Seems like this is a popular place to live because only a kilometre down the track there was another little caravan with smoke piping out of the chimney and a truck parked nearby.
One has to ask, “What are these people doing up here in the middle of nowhere in the cold and dark of winter? Why would they possibly want to live in such a cold and isolated place?” We didn’t stop and ask anyway; chances are they come up there to get away from people and the last thing they want is the Nelson Tramping Club knocking on their doors!
Along the Poriko Road we tramped and tried to find a tiny patch of warm sun to have our lunch. At this point we split into two groups – one group to carry on down the Poriko Road to the cars and the other group, who wanted a bit more of a challenge, to bush bash and navigate down a spur, along a creek (and through it a few times near the end!) back to the cars.
Participants: Kate Krawczyk, Margie and Mal Silich, Mel Venn, Simon Garton, Sue Henley, Chris Louth, Dan McGuire, Roger and Maureen Cotton.