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Lammerlaws History - on the road to El Dorado - Part 1 - The Claim Years

Lammerlaw		Posted : Friday, 2 December 2011 4:28:18 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		You can all thank Kiwikeith for this - he made me think so I have finally decided to share a lifetime of gold fossicking - I never took many photos of the actual gold but may take some of whats left as the story comes to a close. THIS IS AN ON GOING RECORD OF MY TIME ON ONE OF THE THREE GOLD CLAIMS WE HAD SO PHOTOS WILL BE ADDED AS TIME GOES BY. All photographs have been retaken from the originals with my newest toy and being a big boy at heart I am not getting any work done as I potter with the new toy - the first decent camera I have ever owned!..I have absolutely no idea how to work the scanner hence this method of putting them on. To all of those who might think gold mining is beer and skittles it isnt - well it wasnt for me any way - It could be said I ruined my health because of it and yet with no real regrets because there were some great days with great people. Its hard to know where to begin I suppose but just to let you know that gold mining isnt all fun I shall show you the conditions I did gold mine in - I have dived into water with the ice and snow drifts of winter deep on the bank - today I dont know how I did it. These shots were all taken out gold mining at the hut or trying to get to our claim On a couple of occasions I did get caught in snow white outs and didnt end up where I was supposed to end up so it can be dangerous weather to be out in the hills in. Edited by user Friday, 23 December 2011 7:32:01 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

rgmcbrid		Posted : Friday, 2 December 2011 4:54:10 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 3/06/2010(UTC) Posts: 583 Location: Southland Thanks: 23 times Was thanked: 180 time(s) in 140 post(s)		Do you still have that rig?
		WWW

Lammerlaw		Posted : Friday, 2 December 2011 5:09:49 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Originally Posted by: rgmcbrid Do you still have that rig? The grey Landrover? - Its lying dead in the shed up at my place - since the photos were taken its been in three mine exploration holes so its a bit worse for wear!

kiwikeith		Posted : Friday, 2 December 2011 5:23:05 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Medals: Groups: Registered Joined: 28/06/2011(UTC) Posts: 648 Location: hector Thanks: 359 times Was thanked: 230 time(s) in 154 post(s)		yea thats right blame me atleast you drive a decent machine im on to my 17th landrover now dose that mean that they are no good and keep dieing

Lammerlaw		Posted : Friday, 2 December 2011 5:29:50 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Keith - this is my third Landrover - the fact that you are on your 17th show the difference between us - you have the sense to trade them in when they show signs of tiredness - the fact that I am still on my forth after having never been without one for 41 years is because I throw good money after bad, use binder twine, second hand parts, chewing gum, pop rivets, bars bugs, rubber bands, assorted bolts, nuts and screws and finally crow bars and hammers to beat panels and chassis back into shape then finally push them over banks and pillage them for spare parts...you can even recycle chewing gum! This Landrover had a chequered history - I had it three months and the head distorted so I got it planed then shortly after hydrauliced it under water - it was a diesel - I replaced the engine with a petrol one These photos were taken between 1977 and 1981 because it has a new roof! About 1975 or 1976 three cobbers and I decided to go have a few drinks at the pub then go spotlighting. One of my cobbers had just got out of hospital in Dunedin after a long stay - he drove his car accidently of course into a tree in the Octagon in Dunedin and went out through the windscreen and to caste insult after injury not only did his head take out his windscreen but it also came to a sudden stop against a tree - his head not the windscreen. He was so cut up and full of stitches that he looked like Herman Munster. In any case his mother put a curse on us by saying "Now you take care of Steve, you know hes just got out of hospital" It wasnt my fault we stayed too long at the pub - it wasnt my fault I was leaning on the truck door as we drove along a gravel road - it wasnt my fault the door opened - it wasnt my fault I fell out - it wasnt my fault I grabbed the steering wheel to keep me from going right out - it wasnt my fault the steering wheel made the truck slew sideways on - it wasnt my fault the truck rolled Steve went out through the roof and took it with him - a distant relative of mine broke his leg - I crushed my egg shell and have had migraines ever since - I also broke two ribs - I cant remember what happened to the fourth guy - maybe hes still in the ditch! Two of us including me with broken ribs rolled the truck back onto its wheels and drove to Waimate hospital - that was 11.00 pm - the nurses told us to go away! Thats how I know that these photos were taken after 1975 or 1976 The two blokes with me, one in the Landrover and the other standing beside it were both into gold mining in the 1960s. I find it strange that many of those who hunted with me, came gold mining and fishing were ex WWII servicemen but now are either too old or gone. The chap standing beside the door is one of the early fellows who skin dived for gold, John Dean - hes dead at the moment. His usual partner was a chap Stan Rainsford - hes dead at the moment as well. Stan was a gun smith - I remember that once in the 1960s he was welding beside a tray of gun powder in his shop - need I say more? He was another of the WWII servicemen whos gone west now. The chap in the truck is my father - he is still actively duck hunting but not into diving anymore for gold - he is an ex WWII serviceman himself and one of the few I know who is still out there doing it...in fact he not long ago bought himself a boat and a new 12g shotgun. Edited by user Friday, 2 December 2011 10:48:51 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

Lammerlaw		Posted : Saturday, 3 December 2011 9:37:22 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		We are still heading toward the claim but this first section is more 'getting there' - This is the hut we stayed in when working one of our claims - for over forty years we operated from this hut when working one of the three claims we once had. This group of photos with the exception of the third one were all taken during the 1980s - the third was was taken during the 1970s The top left hand photo shows shows my wife when she still professed an interest in what she wasnt interested in! The top right hand photo shows what looks like a creek - it was absolutely 'new' when the photo was taken - little did I know that within five years of this photo being taken I would own all the land behind the hut and when the new creek scoured to bedrock would recover a great deal of gold my best hours work being for 21 grammes - twenty years later it is hard to find any colour there at all. At least five forums members can attest to that! The bottom right photo shows yours truly - despite the appearance I am in total agony as I had just arrived back to the hut having walked a mile or so and driven four miles with a broken leg - from that night onward I was in plaster for six weeks so it was the worst gold mining season of the 1980s The dog - It was a professional cat and sheep murderer - I didnt mind the cats, although it did get me into trouble when it chased a neighbours cat from our yard ...to the neighbours...where it murdered and promptly disassembled the cat in front of the neighbours kids - the woman, quite unjustifiably so I might add went ballistic at ME - not the dog - I wasnt doing anything - it was the dog - In any case she screamed that the dog was a danger and she was worried about the health and safety of her kids so I informed her that in view of the fact that her sprogs did look like cats she might indeed have a problem - To this day I really cant understand why she called dog control. Dog control back then were sane and logical people unlike the Gestapo of today and were most understanding about it and agreed that if the neighbours cat was in our place and my dog chased it then nothing could be done about it other than to keep an eye on the dog. Up on the claim the dog also tore two sheep apart - I told the farmer and said I would happily pay but he told me not to worry and shrugged it off - He always had my total loyalty after that and it was with great sadness that a great friend and gold mining buddy, Geordie Welch, died a few years ago, well into his 80s and a few weeks before he was due to come for a couple of weeks gold mining with me on my property which I had purchased from him - and with Geordies death another ex serviceman of WWII crossed the great divide. Geordie could have been man powered out to work on the farms during the war but by his choice he served overseas having been seconded into the American navy serving in the Pacific. As for the dog - I had to put him down in the end which was sad but he was actually capable of tearing out of cyclone mesh netting to get at cats - from my perspective his intense dislike of cats it was a good thing as they were extinct in our neighbourhood and 'my' native birds were safe! The bottom left photo is the oldest and was taken the same day as I took the photo of the green truck with John Dean standing by the door. This hut had its stories to tell - one night when it was snowing outside and I had gone to bed - top bunk as always - the only way to be able to get anyone to look up at you I thought! - I had put too much coal on the fire so told one of my cousins to pour some kerosene on - I told him the kero was under the bunks in a bottle - I also told him to use a cup full - my brain took some time to register the fact that the bottle 'looked funny' - the wrong colour - it was white spirits but I cottoned on too late - its fascinating watching a sort of white billowing fog pouring out of the coal range and spreading out over the roof - the brilliant flash and explosion seemed to throw my cousin down and the lid of the coal range ricochet about the hut but surprisingly enough the stove remained intact and no one got injured. I dropped a gold nugget on the floor of this hut once - we never did find it...poetic justice probably determined that it fell down a hole where I once shot an errant beetle that wouldnt stop walking around in inane circles. Edited by user Sunday, 4 December 2011 5:37:44 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

nzpoohbear40		Posted : Saturday, 3 December 2011 3:09:50 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,482 Location: Matura Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 384 time(s) in 329 post(s)		great pics and story mate..that was a good looking dog to...i prefer dogs to cats...i dont hate them just like dogs better..
		Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/

chrischch		Posted : Saturday, 3 December 2011 6:19:14 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/08/2011(UTC) Posts: 811 Location: Christchurch Thanks: 192 times Was thanked: 105 time(s) in 104 post(s)		Great stuff......cant wait to read/see the rest!
		Fisher Goldbug Pro, Fisher F2, Garrett Propointer.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Saturday, 3 December 2011 8:40:44 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		From the hut where the previous photos were taken it was a four mile trip up the side of the mountain to our claim - looking back on it now I think I was totally daft even trying to get up the steep slope on occasions when there was snow or the track was wet and on several occasions I had nasty slides coming down the hill until Geordie Welch said to tie a large flat slab of rock to drag behind the truck as a sort of anchor! Why I didnt think of that I will never know! Edited by user Saturday, 3 December 2011 11:08:26 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

Guardian		Posted : Saturday, 3 December 2011 9:11:40 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 30/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 716 Location: Dunedin Thanks: 42 times Was thanked: 222 time(s) in 185 post(s)		Your stories are awesome Graham, and I can sooooo see you getting yourself into these interesting situations!

Lammerlaw		Posted : Saturday, 3 December 2011 9:45:58 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Originally Posted by: Guardian Your stories are awesome Graham, and I can sooooo see you getting yourself into these interesting situations! I was up there today - phoned you three times to see if you wanted to go but you wouldnt talk to me!!! Son got a 6 gramme plus nugget. Edited by user Saturday, 3 December 2011 11:15:21 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

Guardian		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 1:32:32 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 30/10/2011(UTC) Posts: 716 Location: Dunedin Thanks: 42 times Was thanked: 222 time(s) in 185 post(s)		Thanks for trying Graham. We had an early start with the kids Saturday sports - I don't want to talk about missing out again ~sigh~ but I will say David seems to be doing pretty darn well with his machine and when he showed me his finds the other week he sure seemed proud!!! Well done!!! Hopefully in the not too distant future we can compare machines!

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 10:57:20 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Up at the claim we also used to camp during the christmas period as we could be there for weeks on end. This saved going back to the old hut at the end of each day. These two photos were taken in January 1982 - NOT a good trip. This photo was taken a few minutes after the camp was set up and the day is just perfect - the next eight days were totally and completely abysmal - it only rained twice during the next week - the first rain fall was for the duration of the first four days of the week and the next rain fall lasted the next three days! We had placed several dozen bottles of beer, a couple of bottles of something else and a few bottles of lemonade in the creek to keep them cool - and it rained - and rained some more. The creek is a mere trickle beside the tent - was a mere trickle beside the tent - by the time I realised that the beer was in danger of being lost the creek was nearly waist high so it was shorts on, bare feet to feel the bottles - a rope around the waist so as not to get washed away and into the drink - I got over half the beer - when the creek went down I got two bottles nearly three foot above water level and when I could see the bottom after the creek went down there was broken glass every where...It has been said that the Devil looks after his own! The water when it was at its highest was flowing through the white and green tent and under the orange one When excavating for the tent I found a nice Chinese Ginger Jar and a Nichols of Lawrence Marble bottle so a bonus. On one day when the creek had gone doen a bit I waddled overland to the main claim in my skin diving suit but could only see the bottom of the river in an extremely shallow spot and from that one spot got 1 1/4 ounces of gold in a few minutes including a 19 1/2 gramme or 13dwt nugget. Edited by user Sunday, 4 December 2011 4:42:42 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

dthomas3289		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 11:02:12 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 1/03/2011(UTC) Posts: 5 Was thanked: 2 time(s) in 1 post(s)		Hey Greg heres a picture of the nicer bits of yesterdays gold. dthomas3289 attached the following image(s):

nzpoohbear40		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 11:23:33 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 14/07/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,482 Location: Matura Thanks: 26 times Was thanked: 384 time(s) in 329 post(s)		nice nuggets there dtomas.......i take it you are grahams son?
		Chris - Fisher Dealer http://www.puiakisupply.co.nz/

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 11:36:42 AM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Originally Posted by: nzpoohbear40 nice nuggets there dtomas.......i take it you are grahams son? Hi Chris - yes he is and I jolly well walked over the bigger one yesterday - it weights well over 4 pennyweight so not a bad piece at all - I have always know that there is good gold in this particular spot but for me a bit of a chore getting there and the gold is hard to get at - I did move a lot of the big rocks from the spot before 1994 with chemical persuasion missed that piece of gold obviously though it wasnt in the main crevice which goes down as a sort of angles wedge so hard to get into. After floods years ago I used to pick up the odd nuggety bit from the bedrock in this area. I am peeved off because just as he took the photograph on the right hand side there were a few raindrops and the sky looke dpositively sinister so I told him we had to leave as the truck was 2ks away across the mountain and we had two very steep clay slopes to drive out through so had to leave in a hurry...maybe next weekend! And the little shits already paid off more than half the cost of his Goldbug...in only two trips out! Edited by user Monday, 5 December 2011 9:07:41 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

welshy23		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 3:47:30 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Dust Groups: Registered Joined: 4/12/2011(UTC) Posts: 1 Location: Timaru		Lammerlaw, great work on the posts. Looking forward to seeing some more! I'll be down as soon as the dog can run again.

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 3:55:38 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		Originally Posted by: welshy23 Lammerlaw, great work on the posts. Looking forward to seeing some more! I'll be down as soon as the dog can run again. Is that you Sam W? - I asked David where you had gotten to when we were on the side of the mountain yesterday - you would have liked it - I got a small nugget out of that clay bank where david got his one - and David got his yesterday nugget where we came down from the hill down the gully just 100 yards up from where I retrieved the crow bar I had left there fifteen and more years ago. Some reasonably fresh deer sign on the top of the hill I noticed yesterday...and the irony is that I need the crow bar back up there! Edited by user Sunday, 4 December 2011 11:26:26 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified

Lammerlaw		Posted : Sunday, 4 December 2011 5:03:35 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 24/05/2011(UTC) Posts: 1,721 Thanks: 72 times Was thanked: 579 time(s) in 396 post(s)		The tent sufficed for a year but I then decided we needed something more substantial. Tenting up there has its risks in any case - apparently in the 1970s a chap up there with his girlfriend last saw his tent heading for parts unknown one night when it blew hard. I was also forced down to the hut in the late 70s as well due to high winds trying their best to carry a tent away. The young lad in my first photograph is my nephew Mark Enright - in latter years he often came up into this country on his own and with his friends as he loved it. The property on which this hut is or at least was situated belonged for many years to his grandfather and I understand his great grandfather. The other two chaps are friends - these two brothers came gold mining for some years and one still has his own key to my property which is next door. If your reading this Paul - it wasnt you by chance who bloody well shot a great big porcelain Confucius apart in my hut paddock and didnt clean the bust bits up...was it??? Well??? It was Marks death due to a tragic accident that largely bought a stop to our mining for many years - so another partner had gone west - his ashes are buried four miles from this spot. This hut held many memories - some not so pleasant! The bigger bloke with his arms folded (Paul) bought up one of those big bottles of black rum one day and arrived after I had already indulged in three bottles of beer - not good - I clearly remember looking at the bottle with an inch of rum in it and thinking something about "Oh dear - I think Im in trouble" - and I was - They were all well entertained by the technicolour yawns - I got the dry horrors, could keep water down, unconscious, had to be carted home and in bed sick and out to it for days. It was also in this hut that I learnt that alcohol and New Years Eve dont mix either - there were five of us - It was me who decided to celebrate the New Year by creating something spectacular - a gas bottle with a fire under it - the gas bottle didnt go off when it should so it got shot at by yours truly and then the fire ball rose gracefully into the sky...and came down in the tussocks so that was another crisis. I wasnt satisfied so another trick the same night was, in theory, to fill a lemonade bottle with gas, determining it to be full when it felt lighter and putting a fuse in it to see what happened - no one told me that the gas in gas cylinders is heavier than air...and there was another cooker boiling up water on the other side of the hut. The explosion and flash were a sight to behold - but better still four guys trying to kill each other in an effort to be first out of the door while I am holding a gas hose spewing fire out. Geordie Welsh couldnt make out where he had left his stock ramps either - until he spied them sunk into the ground as the door frame to this hut. Thats why the door frame on the outside has battens across it...a quarter century on and I think I still have them...somewhere? A few ounces of gold passed through the doors of this hut. The flat roof was a failure - the place leaked, but it was shelter until I removed it after the sale of the property and I wanted some of the material in it - its greatest claim to fame was making it onto the topographical maps! Edited by user Sunday, 4 December 2011 11:30:23 PM(UTC) \| Reason: Not specified Lammerlaw attached the following image(s):

kiwijw		Posted : Monday, 5 December 2011 10:14:25 PM(UTC)
Rank: Gold Ingot Groups: Registered Joined: 28/03/2010(UTC) Posts: 1,152 Thanks: 92 times Was thanked: 658 time(s) in 324 post(s)		G'day Graeme, Great posts & thanks for taking the time to do it & for sharing some of your history, adventures & finds. Hope there are many more to come... Nice slug your son found too. Well done. :) Shame the rain chased you away. Good luck out there JW :)

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