Gold!
New Zealand had it's gold rush in the 1800s and thousand made their fortunes as gold was discovered in the creeks and hills.
This blog may indeed spark the 21st century gold rush. At a location which shall be kept secret for obvious reasons, having endured thousands of sandfly bites (which itch like buggery) and sifting through endless bits of gravel in a river bed, Adam struck lucky and found his own piece of pure gold.
Sadly not worth enough to pay for another year of travelling, the microscopic piece did cause us great excitement especially when confirmed as the real thing by the Gold Shop proprietor, the one indeed who made the very ring featuring in Lord of the Rings, so he should know a thing or two about the yellow metal.
Unfortunately we could not bear the sand flies any longer so the remaining gold will remain safe until such a time as insect repellents really do work rather than acting like jam on a sandwich.
To all those reading this, gold is definitely for the finding and taking in New Zealand, and the visitor centres very helpfully hire out panning equipment, so come here if you have a hide like a rhinoceros and you have gold fever in your veins, and find the very stuff fortunes are made of.
