LAST FALL I RECEIVED AN INVITATION to join my sister and brother-in-law on a New Zealand holiday. After 16days of tramping around on the South Island, here are some characteristics that have made me a fan, (1) There are less than a million people living on the South Island of New Zealand. (2) There are no poisonous snakes or reptiles, bears, wolves, skunks or other odiferous animals. (3) New Zealand is English-speaking with an easy-to-use dollars and cents currency. (4) New Zealand has a rich history of gold mining. This last bit of information came as a surprise to me. Since getting involved in recreational gold mining, I have become in avid reader of historical accounts of discoveries and gold rushes around the world, but I had never read any accounts of gold in New Zealand. This has been a well-kept secret. The most significant wisdom for a modern day prospector and placer miner is to "follow the history." If the old timers did not find it, don't waste your time. It's not there. If they found it there, it's still there.
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