15 year 9 and 10 international students from Thailand visited the Lakes District Museum & Gallery this morning.

During a tour of the Museum, students learned about the gold rush in Arrowtown and the different mining methods the gold miners used which included panning, cradling, sluicing, and using a sluice box. During the tour, students also learned about LONG DROPS, which were a necessary part of life on the goldfields before indoor plumbing became available. At the end of the visit, I creeped students out with a scary ghost story about young Mary Tobin who drowned in the Arrow river. Her portrait hangs in the Museum, and a lot of people believe it is haunted ...

We finished the visit with some gold panning. Students shivered as they dipped their bare feet into the icy cold water of the Arrow River. It was a successful visit as quite a few students found gold! Some students were even lucky enough to find two pieces of gold!

I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in New Zealand - comment on our blog about your visit to Arrowtown!