You could hear the sounds of pickaxes and other goldmining activities ringing throughout the Nevis Valley over the weekend, or so many people at the Nevis Gold 150 celebrations said.
About 1000 people turned out from Friday to Sunday to take part in the celebrations and swap stories of their goldmining ancestors, catch up with descendants of other miners or hear and see the history of the valley.
The festivities were officially opened by Central Otago Mayor Tony Lepper before he cut the cake and planted a claret ash to mark the occasion.
When gold was discovered in the Lower Nevis in 1862, the population of only a few farmers swelled to about 2300, one of the celebration organisers Lex McLean, of Earnscleugh, said. He described it as a "sea of tents".
Along with Graeme Stewart and Sam Graham, both of Bannockburn, and later, a committee of about eight people operating under the umbrella of the Otago Goldfields Heritage Trust, Mr McLean had been planning the weekend for "quite some time".
They had a replica of the old Nevis post office built and from it, postmaster Jim Robbie, of Alexandra, ran a postal service complete with Nevis postcards, personalised stamps, copies of The Nevis Buster newspaper and collection by Bill Sutherland, of Bannockburn, on horseback at 3pm sharp.
There were walking tours.
In a marquee there were displays of histories and photos of families who had lived in the area, put together by their descendants.
Opposite, a blacksmith demonstrated his art.
In another tent was memorabilia including a wedding dress, books, watches, and bottles from the time.
Gold panning was overseen by Pete "Nuggets O'Malley" Ritchie, of Bannockburn. Dressed to the nines in miner's attire, he taught young and old alike the art of panning.
Many were content to sit with picnic lunches and talk about their own histories in the region and meet descendants of other miners.
For some, their most vivid memories, whether personally experienced or retold from their ancestors' experiences, were of the cold endured by the miners and their families.
Ken and Ann Adie, who still live in Nevis, told of Ken's great-grandfather and grandfather coming home from work and sticking their beards in cups of boiling water to defrost, while putting their feet up on the stove top, no matter what was cooking, to defrost their shoe laces in order to get their boots off.
Ruth Lawrence, of Waikanae, is the granddaughter of Andrew Williamson, one of the original miners who went to Nevis in 1862, and recalled icicles forming inside houses.
