eGold - A Nation's Heritage

Cultural landscapes are not limited to a single site, or indeed a single country. Victoria and New South Wales in Australia, and Otago in New Zealand, experienced gold rushes during the 1850s and 1860s and the miners would have shared similar experiences in both countries. Comparing the Mount Alexander, Otago, and Westland diggings during the second half of the nineteenth century provides obvious examples of the similarity of gold mining experience on these goldfields. These vestigial mining sites form cultural landscapes of the Australasian gold seeking experience. Comparison can also be made with the Caribou, in British Columbia, and the northern California remnant mining landscapes.