Restored miner’s huts on Bonspiel Station. Maori hunting parties passed through the area after they settled on the Otago coast about the 1200s and the first Europeans were farmers and those heading for the Dunstan goldrush in 1862. Payable gold was...
Map of Moa creek. ODT Graphic
Sarah (left) and Sue Falconer stand beside a Promote Dunstan heritage sign recently installed at the old Moa Creek Hotel, which is on their property, Bonspiel Station. The Promote Dunstan project involves 12 information panels being installed around...
The Ida Valley cemetery, also known as the Moa Creek cemetery, overlooks a golden Central Otago setting. There are 16 marked graves on the cemetery mound but a geophysical survey several years ago suggested dozens more unmarked graves were in the...
Headstones and fenced surrounds (left) mark gravesites at the Ida Valley-Moa Creek cemetery. A restoration project about 15 years ago, led by descendants of those buried at the cemetery, built stone walls and a gate, fenced off graves and restored and...
Chinese headstones stand at the cemetery. Ground already covered by European miners was reworked by Chinese miners from about 1870.
Porches, outbuildings and old couches add character to the old Moa Creek Hotel and shop. The hotel, built in 1912, was delicensed in 1973; a corrugated iron hotel existed before that on land that was prone to flooding. The general store was thought to...
One of the latest installations in a Promote Dunstan project is a reminder of the rich history of the Moa Creek region. Pam Jones explores some of the region’s landmarks and remains.
