This morning, the cafe will not open and the signs will be closed. We took the lead, we are self-isolating, almost. Like everywhere in the world, the news in New Zealand is not reassuring. We have our eyes on Italy and Europe. This Thursday 19th March, there are 28 cases of Covid-19 identified. It is not a lot, when we know, in the same time in France there are more than 6000 cases. But seeing this rapid evolution, it is our turn to take measures. So we close the cafe a week before the official lockdown. However, the campground is still open to provide the tourists a place for the night. We limit the contacts, the campers laugh when we ask them for how long have they been in New Zealand. Lots of them for months, phew, but some are here only since few days. For them, our choice to close the cafe seems excessive; I will have liked to see them a week later. I think they see their holidays go up in smoke, and I can understand, it makes them bitter.
The boarders of New Zealand close today as well. Voilà, I am across the world and cut off the world, as it were. Oh yeah, two days ago I had good news: I got a working visa for a year. I have worked one day at the cafe… To think I was waiting this visa to travel as well with my parents to come back in New Zealand without worries. So I can forget working and travelling. As many of you, my plans prove unworkable. So I have to find a reconversion project. The choice of jobs during the lockdown is limited. Otherwise I could have been a baker with my amazing baguettes – and show to the New Zealanders what is REALLY the bread. I could have been landscaper as well; I became a professional of the weedeater. Finally, the ideal job during this lockdown has been gold miner. I would call myself more “gold cleaner” as my function in this micro-Enterprise employing only Dean and me.
I have to say that everything was thought of this reconversion. Our location first helps. We are along the road, in the middle of nowhere in front of the river. The nearest little town is Westport, at 30 minutes by car. For the lockdown is perfect. We don’t take any risk about the virus working at the river. Then, we are living with a gold miner, and this helps a lot. Indeed, Steve is 60 years old, he was born in Westport and he is a full-time gold miner. Before to be a cafe, backpacker, camper ground or a pub, Berlins was a hotel. First called Old diggings in the 1870s, it took the name of John Berlins, owner of this hotel during thirty years after 1874. Back then the hotel had 14 rooms, a stable and a “good table”. At this time, the rush for the gold in New Zealand has already marked a successful start. Like in America or in Australia, this yellow material attracted the European settlers and then the Chinese to come to prospect in this country in the other side of the world. In 1865 starts the prospection of gold on the West Coast. The villages popped from the ground like mushrooms. Lyell, in 20 minutes from the cafe, is a good example. In 1873, to support the growing demand of the miners and their families, the village was composed of six hotels, three stores, one hardware store, three butchers, one baker, two boot makers, one blacksmith and one school. Hard to believe it when we drive past Lyell now along the road, where there are only a free camper ground and one house. I can imagine than the hotel Old Diggings took this opportunity.
150 years later, it is my turn to walk in the footsteps of these pioneers. Well, I am exaggerating slightly. Because the functions in our company are well distributed: Dean is working at the river, it is him dig and extract the sand (and the gold). And me, I clean. I am little bit disappointed because I am not the one who find the gold, but it is still interesting to see the gold appears from the sand. And I don’t think at that time, women would have the opportunity to help the gold miners. And the work conditions are not so ideals like they seem. Yes, it could be idyllic, working in the middle of the nature like postcard settings, listening the wild goats bleating. While the first two weeks of the lockdown were sunny, since, we can count on the fingers of one hand the days without rain. And even on a sunny day, the fog give way to the sun only at 11am, after already two hours work in the water and into the cold. Steve and Dean are well fitted, Dean retrieved the waterproof suit and boots of Steve, there are nothing in my size. It is a sign. And it should be kept in mind that we are in the country of the sandflies. I tried to struggle, and finally I gave up, goodbye short and T-shirt, now it is big socks, pants, pullover even if it is more than 20°C. I tried the repellent but there will always be somewhere in my skin they will find to bite. And it is not only one mosquito that flies around you; no here it is dozens who want your blood. And when they don’t find skin in your body, they attack the face. I think you have to be born with them to not see them and leaving aside. In France (where they don’t exist), you can be in bikini in your terrace without any sandfly biting you. It is hard to concede defeat here. So finally I have no regret to have an easy function in this enterprise. Between the cold, the sanflies, the rain (often) and the position (stooping), I am not so bad in my chair cleaning the gold.
After having praised the work conditions, I will try to explain how we proceed. First, to exploring gold in New Zealand, we must have a licence, a claim. From the “Crown Minerals Act 1991”, the government is the owner of the gold on the ground. We have to obtain a claim, a parcel of land where you can extract minerals. We speak about a price with five numbers, maybe to dissuade the Sunday gold miner. Then we also need the gold mining equipment. First Steve’s boat, because they dig on the other side of the river. Everything depends upon the rhythm in this one. They each use gold dredges: “The concept is that the gold in sand or soil will settle to the bottom because gold is heavy/dense, and dirt, sand and rock will wash away, leaving the gold behind. […] Dredges are versatile and popular consisting of both floating surface dredges that use a vacuum to suck gravel from the bottom.” (Thanks Wikipedia). They stay along the river around five hours per day, depend a lot of the weather. Once they’ve returned at the cafe, it is my turn to work. Dean comes back with a bucket half full of sand and rocks. There are the materials falls in the dredge. With an artisanal manufacture made by Steve, I put the sand first in a threaded pipe to be recovered in a second bucket. This one will be clean again by a friend of Steve who got a machine recovering the tiny particle of gold. Normally there are not a lot because the gold has fallen in the troughs of the pipe. And then, the more interesting phase is coming. There are still some sands with the gold in the pipe. With a green pan, first I take off the white sand and the rocks because are lighter. Then, with another gesture, I take off the black sand. And TADAM! With lot of particle but as well small good pieces, the gold is shining. The magic happens. And more you see gold, more you want it! Every day we hope to find THE nugget but at this game, it is Steve the winner.
When the gold is very clean, we take off the water in cooking it in a pan. It is time for the weighing. Though we didn’t have nuggets, we still got few grams. Thousand of particles weigh. I should point out that the price of gold strongly increases. Today for example, 1 once (=31g) is the equivalent at 1 569,26€. This explain why the desire for the gold to the detriment of the nature. From our level, the damages are small. But they become more important when the digs are doing with bulldozer and not the hands. But like Derek Grzelewski in his article about gold in the New Zealand Geographic, “From time historical and beyond, gold has exerted an unrelenting grip on human imaginations, hearts, souls and pockets, and at least part of this innate, almost genetic, fascination with gold can be attributed to the metal’s extraordinary properties.” Gold is almost indestructible, malleable and ductile in the infinite. It is one of the metals less reactive as well; it is not affected by the air, the humidity or the heat.
But I have to say that our little enterprise is not so lucrative. With all the rain we got the last few weeks, it is hard to prospect. The river rise quickly, of few feet, blocking the access of the river by boat. And we have to wait few more days to see the water level dropping. I must admit that I will not become a professional gold miner; it is not a stable job. But with this lockdown I will have a beautiful gold necklace.
