We use cookies to help us understand how you use our site, and make your experience better. To find out more read our privacy policy.

Heartland - Reefton

Television (Full Length Episode) – 1996

Gary McCormick visits the West Coast mining town of Reefton in this full length episode. He takes an early morning trip down Surprise Mine, and gains insights into the tough life of a coal miner. Meanwhile, miners' wives talk about being married to someone with a high risk occupation. McCormick also attends the First Light Festival, held to mark Reefton being the first town in the southern hemisphere with electric lighting. Later he heads to the abandoned gold mining town of Waiuta, and back in Reefton meets a woman with a doll collection which takes up her whole house.

Jimmy Martin was one who discovered gold at Waiuta. For his trouble he made £500. A short time later the right was sold to an English mining concern for £30,000. The man who struck the richest gold reef in New Zealand ended his days as a gardener at the local hospital.
– Hist Gary McCormick

Produced by

Logo for Anson Grieve Productions

Anson Grieve Productions

Source

Logo for Anson Grieve Productions

Anson Grieve Productions