パパロア山脈のおすすめMTBライド

During the depression of the 1930s, New Zealand introduced a subsidized gold system to combat unemployment. Hundreds of men, many with no mining experience, repopulated the country's goldfields, receiving a small weekly allowance and giving away a portion of the gold they mined. This hut dates from that era.

The remains of the first Blackball Mine can be seen here. The pictures on the information boards show very impressively how the mining and processing of coal took place between 1898 and 1938. The Museum of Working Class History in Blackball was founded in 2010 to commemorate the discontinued coal mining.

The remains of the bathhouse (from the coal mining era). The bathhouse was acquired through union agitation. Before that, miners had to bathe in a tub at home. The bathhouse was a place for politics, jokes and relaxation. Sports teams used it on weekends after a game, and children were brought here weekly to wash. The information board shows an excerpt from "The late great Blackball Bridge Sonnets" by Jeffrey Paparoa Holman and gives a sense of what it must have meant to have escaped the dark, dusty, dirty mine and to stand under the hot spray of the shower and be able to cleanse your body. Anyone who has ever struggled to blow the dirty snot out of their nose and seen the black-brown soapy dirt disappear into the drain after a long day's work knows what I'm talking about. Coal mining took place from 1898-1964.

Unique view of the main Alpine chain and the wide valley of the Grey River

The location of this 16-bunk hut is increadible. If you plan to stay overnight, don't forget to reserve your spot. For more information look at this website: https://www.doc.govt.nz/parks-and-recreation/places-to-go/west-coast/places/southern-paparoa-range/things-to-do/huts/ces-clark-hut/