Gold, wine, fruit.

The original town of Cromwell is now under water but they have rebuilt an old town to mimic the original gold mining village. Unfortunately the farmers market ended for the season a week before we got there. 

They did manage to preserve a bar and it is now in the museum. 

We went to a lovely winery for a premium wine tasting and lunch. I had the best pate ever. We shared a number of small plates with another group member. The other 4 people decided not to do the winery and the gold panning. 

After learning some of the history of the area we went to try out luck at gold mining. First we crossed a high bridge into the area. 

The we got to see a Quartz rock with gold

And then some panning 

I have a couple tiny specs of gold that I found. That is hard work. 

Our last stop of the day was at the fruit market where we each got a big bag of locally grown fruits and Dana and I bought some dried fruits for the rest of our trip. 

Our dinner that night was in Clyde at the post office restaurant. Darling place. 

Tune in to my next post for tales of Mount Cook.