Survivor from the Gold Rush Days

Tweet

While on our recent holiday we visited small town called Coromandel, that was the centre of one of New Zealand's gold rushes in the 1850s. The town is reasonably isolated, but is a popular tourist destination, not only because of its historical significance, but also for its seafood. It's also an active arts and craft area, with many talented artists living there. The picture above is of the Star and Garter Hotel. It's easy to imagine this pub thriving with the activity of thirsty miners in the gold rush days. These days it's a quality restaurant with a great reputation. We didn't eat there, but enjoyed the best seafood chowder I've eaten in a long time at a small cafe down the road. While in Coromandel we visited the smoked seafood outlet. We came home with smoked eel, smoked mussel pate and a huge bag of fresh steamed mussels. Further down the road we saw mussel sausages in the butcher's window. This was such a novelty I bought some of those too. But, for me, one of the highlights of the day was this lovely old hotel, looking still very much an important part of the town.