Author(s): Mike Johnston

History

Aorere Gold not only provides a comprehensive account of New Zealand’s first gold rush in the Aorere Valley and subsequent rushes to other Golden Bay goldfields, but also the social history of the bay.

This thoroughly researched and well-illustrated 480-page book provides a vivid picture of the many challenges, hard work, lucky breaks and dire disappointments following the initial discovery of gold in 1857.

Dr Mike Johnston has spent over 25 years researching and writing the history of the western Nelson goldfields of which Aorere Gold is the first of three volumes. He combines his professional knowledge of geology with his comparable interest in regional history to weave an expert, fascinating and informative narrative of immense historical value.

Much anticipated and overwhelmingly good, Johnston's unsurpassable history fills a gap not only in the history of goldmining in Aotearoa but in the social history of Golden Bay. Full of meticulously researched detail (both historical and geological) but never losing sight of the overall picture, this well-illustrated 480-page book gives the best possible idea of the Aorere goldrush, which drew gold-seekers from the previous rushes in California and Victoria, local settlers and Māori, and from further afield, and served as a de facto first act to the rushes in Otago and the West Coast that followed.