only one gold-mining site is still going, in waihi, but several of the old 'stamper batteries' - built to crush the ore - survived and are now historic sites ... it's hard to believe what basic technology was used to get that one gram of gold out of a ton or two of mined ore ... another example of old technology is the mini railway in the famous coromandel railway pottery - it was first build to transport clay from a remote site to the pottery, but then got a life of its own as tourist attraction, riding over old wooden bridges deep into the forest ... finally, quite a number of old cars, busses and campervans can be seen in many places, some of which look like historic hippie travel vehicles ... and someone loved (or hated?) his motorbike so much, he put it on a tree!
