A RESTORED MINER’S COTTAGE YOU CAN STAY IN!
As luck would have it, our
“Stargazer”
columnist Alastair Brickell owns
a historic miner’s cottage which has been restored and renovated. It is
available as a holiday rental on their Stargazers B&B property.
“Built in 1894, the cottage was owned by John Carroll, who taught
at the Kuaotunu School of Mines, also located on the property”,
explains Alastair. (See #129-130 on the historic map, page 19.) “But
sadly nothing remains of it today as it was eventually dismantled and
shipped to Auckland.” It was one of only four Schools of Mines
on the Coromandel with the other three at Waihi, Thames and
Coromandel serving today as great local museums.
During the renovations in August 2011,
a TV crew filmed the cottage as well as
the Kuaotunu Hall
for a documentary
series
Descent From Disaster.
“One of
Mr. Carroll’s sons, Terence, born in the
cottage in 1898, died of Spanish Flu
off Sierra Leone en route to fight in
WW1 on the troop ship
Tahiti
. See
tvnz.co.nz/descent-from-disaster/s1-
ep6-video-5527724.
It was through Alastair that we learned
there were also shafts nearby with
‘ore-roasting ovens’ in them. That lead to
another article (see previous page), as we learned more.
Find out more at
COFFEE’S THE ‘ROAST’ NOW
Another type of roasting has replaced the previous ‘ore roasting’ on
the old ‘Try Fluke’ land – Coromandel’s award winning
Coffee LaLa
.
Owners Mark Tugendhaft (pictured) and Nedilka Radjkovich have been
fresh roasting their popular coffee for
customers here since 2002.
Their children used to play in and
around the shafts when they were
growing up. “The shaft area is now quite
overgown with bush”, says Nedilka,
“and too dangerous to explore after so
much water has weakened the structure
over the years.”
They found a couple of trolleys and
wheels from the old mining days which
are now exhibited at Mercury Bay
Museum in Whitianga.
While in nearby Kuaotunu, have a cuppa
or purchase a bag of their coffee at
Luke’s Kitchen Cafe or order online at
What’s left to see??
KUAOTUNU’S
MINING AREAS
The refurbished 1864 miner’s cottage at left
is available to rent through Stargazers B&B.
Besides enjoying the Stargazer Tours offered
on the property, the guests in the photo
above are also having a ‘gaze’ at the old mine
tunnels, located just behind the cottage.
MORE TRY FLUKE, BUT NOW AN ART STUDIO
Nearby is the ‘Try Fluke Studio’. Artist/ceramicist Lutz Gaebler works,
exhibits, teaches and lives with wife Ursela and family on the old mining
land. The battery and the Kapai-Vermont ore kilns
(see previous page)
were actually located on this property.
Immigrating from Germany in 1981, Lutz headed straight to the Coro-
mandel. One of the first people he met was Alastair Brickell of Stargazers,
who kindly went out of his way to give him a lift to Rings Beach.
Lutz bought Simpson’s book
This is Kuaotunu
shortly after arriving. (He
told us that being unfamiliar with the area, he mistook the map in it for
a current one and was perplexed when he couldn’t find the butcher or
the other businesses listed in the village – who would think a bustling
town would have all but disappeared?) Discovering that the author was
still alive, Lutz met with Alf several times to learn about the area and his
historic property.
The studio is open by appointment, and Lutz is happy to direct interested
guests to a few existing mine shafts. Email Lutz at
see his studio information on the Mercury Bay Art Escape website.
OLD KUAOTUNU TAILOR SHOP NOW IN WHENUAKITE
Also a research ‘fluke’, while identifying buildings in the old street
photos, Rebecca Simpson told us that the tailor’s shop was one of the
few buildings that has been preserved. It was dismantled and moved to
Whitianga where it was home to an old boot shop, a haberdashery, and
served as offices for a solicitor and a real estate company.
Popular local artist Airdrie Hamilton had her eye on it for years and finally
convinced the owner to sell it about 2 years ago. She then moved it to
their farm in Whenuakite where it received a bit of refurbishing and is
now her charming cottage studio. Call for an appointment to view her art
and her ‘historic’ studio
(see photo on page 51). Ph (07) 866-3705.
Some Kuaotunu mine area property owners will allow visitors to see the
abandoned mine shafts, but first, please seek permission before entering
onto any private land.
IN COROMANDEL TOWN
SEE A HISTORIC GOLD STAMPER
BATTERY IN ACTION
To see a fully functioning gold stamper battery, tour the
Coromandel Gold Stamper Battery Centre
, founded in
1900 to stamp ore for dozens of local mines.
The batteries are not just exhibits; they still crush ore, and
extract gold. Try your luck panning! (Nominal Admission fee.)
Location: 410 Buffalo Road, Coromandel Town.
Hours: Winters closed Fridays; other hours by appt.
coromandelstamperbattery.weebly.com/index.html
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COROMANDEL LIFE LATE AUTUMN/WINTER
