Waiuta lies along a gravel road in the hills that line the Grey Valley, between Greymouth Māwhera and Reefton. It was once a gold mining town but now is a tourist attraction, showing the remaining buildings, structures and machinery that were part of a busy and thriving industry on the West Coast.
The fascinating story of what is now a ghost town but was home to more than 600 people from 1906 to 1951 is compelling. All that remains now, aside from a few buildings, chimneys and rusting machinery, are the glass negatives that produced photographs taken by Joseph Divis, a miner who emigrated to New Zealand from what is now the Czech Republic and who was an experienced photographer. His home in the town is about to be reopened after reconstruction and preservation, joining other buildings that have been preserved for posterity.
It must have been a hard life but one that was not without its routines and comforts. There was a drapers shop at Waiuta, and an hotel. There were gardens, recreation fields and even a whippet racing track. A walk around the town’s area is signposted with marks for important buildings such as the church and hospital.
Further along the track lie the remains of what was New Zealand’s deepest mine – 879 metres – where the miners ate their lunch 200 metres below sea level. The Prohibition Mine and Ball Mill site offers a view across the Grey Valley.
The header image shows the ruins of the Ball Mill up at Prohibition Mine.
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