It was a cold, wet day in the Teviot Valley on Saturday, but that did not deter 25 teams from scouring the countryside for gold.
They were given a set of cryptic clues which led them around some of the valley's historic gold-mining sites as part of celebrations to mark the 150 years since gold was first found in the area.
Their hunt culminated in a community gathering in a Roxburgh park where the billys were boiled, damper was cooked and people huddled around fires to keep warm.
The winning team was the Amelia Hinton Party.
The title of Best Dressed Miner went to Cliff Parker and Alex Gordon, Best Dressed Wench went to Janet Weatherall and Shontel Tumai, and Best Dressed Toe-Rags went to Ruby Parker and Sophie Duncan.
Winner of the Miners' Pie baking competition was Raewyn Lane.
Brigitte Paterson and Barbara Withington won the photography competition.
Mrs Withington, the organising committee chairwoman, said prizes ranged from money and accommodation to a gold nugget worth about $100.
Andrew Young and James Woodhouse are credited with the first discovery of gold in the Teviot Valley, at the junction of the Teviot and Clutha Rivers in 1862.
They were lured to the area after Horatio Hartley and Christopher Reilly discovered gold near the junction of the Clutha and Kawarau Rivers.
According to Te Ara encyclopedia, by 1920 mining activities in the area had practically ceased.
