I have been meaning to explore the Bannockburn Sluicings for quite a while. Images taken this summer (see Recent Images) show the desolate man-made beauty of our own ‘wild west badlands’.
The sluicings are just a few minutes from Cromwell, Central Otago. They are an easy walk from the carpark near Bannockburn – but are best experienced late PM on a clear sunny day. A couple of hours walking through the towering cliffs and deep valleys really does remind you of the badlands seen in the movies.
By way of history this is not a ‘natural’ landscape but was made by goldminers back in the late 1800s. They used powerful water cannons to blast the gold from the hills – leaving behind the harsh beauty of what we see today.
Well worth a visit!