After leaving Bowen town we decided to take a look at Martha’s Open Pit Mine in Waihi on our way to Paeroa. Whilst we had been to Waihi several times we had not visited the Goldmine, as we had only passed through.
Waihi Replica Poppet Head
Cornish Pump house at Martha's Mine, built in 1903.
This pump house was moved 300 metres to a more stable site in 2006. Taking 3 months to completely move it now sits adjacent to Martha's Mine.
Poppies lined up to commemorate Anzac Day on the boundary fence.
Looking down into the now open cast gold mine.
Originally an underground mine it has now been opened up and all work is done above ground. There have been several occurrences of collapsed underground shafts collapsing over the years due to the instability of the land.
Our first viewing of a drone.
The drone is sitting on the carrycase, this shows the size of it, the four propellers are attached manually just before take-off. This young couple had decided to try out Dad’s drone by flying it over the mine. “What happens if it falls in?” I said. No problem it runs for approximately 15 minutes and then returns to the controller if not directed back and the batteries run out. The controller is very small which holds the smartphone and its GPS. A small camera is located under the drone and can be set to photograph and then download to the smartphone. Very clever, bit beyond us.
Not a UFO but a drone above Waihi, 
Roundabout in centre of Waihi, is made of replica steel balls used to crush the gold and silver in the quartz rock.
Those are some big machines!
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