Reading 1

When gold was discovered near the Tuapeka River in 1861, thousands of people flocked to Central Otago.

What was happening at Tuapeka River?

• People were looking for land.

• People were mining for gold.

• People were looking for family members.

• People were looking for food.

Almost overnight, whole towns sprang up in remote spots where no one had lived before.

What does "whole towns sprang up" mean?

• Towns were suddenly appearing.

• Towns were disappearing from the land.

• Towns were being moved.

• Towns were small and far away.

The miners came from many different places, but they all shared the same hope: to get rich.

Where did the miners come from?

• They came from other countries.

• They came from other little towns

• They came from other towns in New Zealand and other countries.

• They came from the sea.

This never happened for most people, and they moved on.

What never happened for most people?

• Most people didn't stay mining.

• Most people didn't start farming.

• Most people didn't find a place to live.

• Most people didn't get rich mining for gold.

But for a time, Otago was home to a unique community.

What does "unique" mean?

• Being not the same as everything else.

• Being the only one of its kind.

• Being separated from the main group.

• Being to close together.

The Otago gold rush began with a man named Gabriel Read. An experienced miner, Read spent ten days prospecting in Otago’s back country.

What was Gabriel Read experienced in?

• Experienced in finding new mining towns.

• Experienced in building mines.

• Experienced in working with other miners.

• Experienced in mining for gold.

One day, just on dusk, he spotted gold in his pan. It was, he said, “shining like the stars in Orion on a dark frosty night”. The place – at the time just a creek bed in an unremarkable valley – became known as Gabriel’s Gully.

What is an unremarkable valley?

• Not particularly interesting or a surprising valley.

• Not a very wide or big valley.

• Not a valley worth mining in.

• Not a place where people want to live.

Read’s find, in May 1861, sparked a frantic response. Men from New Zealand and overseas poured into the area. At the time, the only town anywhere near Gabriel’s Gully was the quiet port settlement of Dunedin.

What was the "frantic response"?

• Lots of people began buying gold.

• Lots of miners came into Gabriel's Gully.

• Lots of children came to live in Gabriel's Gully.

• Lots of older people began buying up land in the gully.

Over the next few years, Dunedin became New Zealand’s biggest city as thousands of miners passed through on their way to the goldfields.

Why did Dunedin become New Zealand's biggest city?

• Because miners began living in Dunedin.

• Because people liked Dunedin as a city.

• Because miners didn't like Gabriel's gully.

• Because people moved to Dunedin to supply the miners.

Other than in Dunedin, there were few roads in Otago. Miners had to follow rough tracks to reach Gabriel’s Gully. Once there, they lived in tents or shacks, creating an instant “canvas town”.

Why were the tracks so rough?

• Because no one wanted to spend money building a road.

• Because there was no road making equipment.

• Because there was no need for a road because only a few people travelled there in the past.

• Because most people disliked travelling past Dunedin.