Reefton

Reefton was in the centre of the gold rush in the 1800’s, It was so rich in those days that it was decided to build a hydroelectric power station on the river bank. This town in 1886 was the first town in the southern hemisphere to have electricity. There was enough power to run 500 25 candle power light bulbs but this was enough for a small town. Unfortunately the power station is in ruins, I understand that the generator is in store and the intention is to rebuild the complete system when funds allow. A considerable amount of money has been spent in this town on renovation as you will see from my photographs.

I took a long walk all around the town starting by crossing the river to get to the site of the old power station.

  

Most of the race is still intact and could be renovated without too much work.

The actual power station site is a wreck.

I continued down this bank of the river and crossed the road bridge back into the town.

The lamp posts are replicas of the original including the pair of insulators on each pole.

A Fairlie R28, narrow gauge locomotive one of many that were used in the gold rush days. This was built by Avonside Engineering Co. Bristol in 1879. These were built for the Welsh mountains but were ideal for the New Zealand mountain conditions.

  

A trip around the town. These first 2 pictures were the original town banks, one of then this is a bank. BNZ Bank of New Zealand

This was the original mine owners house.

I was photographing the Old Court House when i was invited in by a very charming lady with whom I became quite friendly, she told me a lot about the town history. Her name was Alison Hale and I understand she is a well know New Zealand artist. She uses the Court house as a studio and has a gallery in the town.

 

Reefton was a delightful place and I enjoyed my stay there.