Waihi Beach Walk

Gold was discovered in Waihi in 1908, Waihi was the fastest growing town in the North Island at that time Miners took their families on outings to Hamilton to escape the noise and smoke. The mighty Martha Mine was one of the biggest gold and silver mines in the world, It produced 5.6 million ounces of gold and 38.4 million ounces of silver. Today $NZ 6. billion for gold and $NZ 7 million for silver. In Waihi township you will see the pump house towering above the town It was built in 1904 to pump out 7000 liters of water per minute from a depth of 400 Mt, Martha mine is said to have a final depth of 600 Mt. Take a short walk around town, you will see a very good display of old mining photo dotted along the main street Waihi Beach is a pleasant country drive 65 km to the north of Tauranga. Waihi Beach has 9 kilometer of white sand great for that weekend run before lunch or better still jump on the Mountain Bike at low tide for a 8 Km peddle up to Bowentown Heads Waihi Beach is also popular for surfing, swimmers, kayaks and fishermen, for the keen hikers there are a number of great walk with in 10 minutes drive of Waihi township, drive out to Karangahake gorge and walk the old Gold mining track, but watch out for the old mine shafts.