Visits Naseby, the Kyeburn diggings, the old Hamilton site and cemetery, the Styx Gaol, Paerau Valley and the celebrated Serpentine Church - travels through Lord of the Rings, Rohan country and then past a variety of local farms.

Naseby
Visiting the sleepy township of Naseby today, it’s hard to realise 5000 ‘diggers’ (gold miners) once toiled on its gold fields after the Parker brothers discovered gold in 1863. The reminder of this frantic time is a wealth of surviving Victorian architecture, and buildings constructed from adobe (sun dried mud brick). Naseby was once the main centre of the Maniototo.

Kyeburn
The site of Maiseys Hotel, the stopping point for Cobb & Co's coaches on their journey to Naseby and the goldfields, is a short distance away from the Kyeburn River Bridge, SH85. The settlement itself has now disappeared. The Lower Kyeburn Cemetery is surrounded by trees and situated a short way up the Middlemarch/Strath Taieri highway (SH87).

Patearoa/Hamiltons
Once a small gold mining settlement called Sowburn, Patearoa in 1890 sported a post office, store, blacksmith, and a bakery/butcher. At Hamiltons close by, is an historic cemetery at the foothills of the Rock and Pillar, all that remains of goldfield opened at the end of 1863 and which produced 80,000 ounces of gold.

Paerau (Styx)
Further up the valley from Patearoa is the area known as Paerau (meaning 'many ridges'), home of the extensive Taieri River wetlands. Paerau was sometimes known as the 'Styx' and the historic Styx Hotel and Styx Gaol lie at the foot of the Dunstan Trail, the early route to the Central Otago goldfields. The Gaol was in fact a lock-up where the gold bullion was protected during the overnight stop.

Serpentine Union Church
At an altitude of over a 1000m and opened in 1873, this place of worship was the highest church in New Zealand, but was never popular for services. To the west is Long Valley or Golden Gully where the Golden Gully United Quartz Mining Co set up is water wheel and stamper battery in 1890. This has since been restored.