New Zealand Gold Fossicking Forums

Hi Kiwi-last I heard there were a lot of trees down in the last big blow and that DOC/Tasman Council werent going to clear them but that was on the steep bit coming up from the lake.You should be ok coming in from the other end but Id be checking with DOC first just in case...

Cheers guys. I would be coming in from the Howard end of the Porika Track. My wife did a mountain bike ride last year and the road was pretty gnarly back then especially as she got closer to the lake. Always spend a bit more time on the Buller I suppose before I head home

Now that is enough to get the authorities a bit pissssed. The Department of Consternation will be keeping a close eye on everyone.

Havent you spelt that wrong - I thought it was Department of Constipation after all they tend to be Pains in the Arse.

If you see someone where they should not be with a dredge the idea is to act very official - walk straight up to them and lay down the law, put the fear of god into them, threaten to confiscate their gear, read the riot act, order them to get the gear out of the water, quote fictitious acts, rules, regulations, laws, bylaws and clauses, phrases and sub clauses then with pen and paper in hand take numbers, details and a full description then when they scuttle off in total panic the chances are they will leave in such a hurry that you end up with the items they leave behind!

Of course before approaching them it does pay to assess the situation after all if theres only two of you and ten of them and they happen to be drinking, wearing Hells Angels patches and have a couple of Rottweillers then discretion is usually the better part of Valour and here the letters FOQ come to mind.!

Sew some old doc logos onto a green jersey and keep it handy, works with shellfish gatherers taking more than the bag limit, talk like you know the law and look like you just came out of the bush.

hi kiwisouth
been a dredge operator and owning my own claim i think you need to visit my site to see for yourself what damage i do
perhaps you would be kind enough to point out where i could be protecting the enviroment bettter

on the other hand you could come up to the claim and try to find where i do my work after the rain at the moment i think you will not be able to see a thing nature has a way of turning things back to natural
i suck out of the river through a box and it puts it back into a river bit like a sluice box you dig out of the river put through a box and it goes back into the river

i do agree with the fact that dredgers sould not be in public areas and should have a claim i say pot them take their rego etc and pass it onto doc also take photos of what they are doing doc will act
make it ovious what you are doing then run like hell

hi kiwisouth i know you are not at me
i think i know who that guy was did he use a winch on his truck to lower the gear over the bank?

that bit of the river is claimed by a mike something he has a jet boat which he anchors up puts the pipe over the outlet to the jet and in turn operates a 8" suction ive seen the set up it looks great

Hi kiwikeith.

It is Louis creek that i am referring to. I have just always referred to it as the Howard, should be a little more precise I suppose.

The department of constipation did prosecute someone for dredging New Creek recently I believe.

You will find there have been many dredges up there. The idiots with sluice boxes do more damage undermining trees and boring into the banks.

Given that there is really little of unique value in the landscape there, they might as well just set it aside for open cast mining by pick and shovel and let people have at it. That way it might help confine the activities to a reasonable and obscure area rather than all over the country side.

After the current dose of weather access may not be so good up there at the moment.

The permit used to be held by a bloke who lived there and whose name I can't recall. He either relinquished or transferred the claim, presumably to the Rotoiti District Community Council, who are the present holders, so the public could now fossick upstream from the ford to the lower limit of the public area.