| Weekly Review No 237 (1946) Air Conference, British Delegates Arrive: A flying boat lands at Evans Bay in Wellington with British delegates, including the chairman of BOAC, here for the Wellington Civil Aviation Conference. The meeting discusses how British airlines can best serve the South Pacific. 00.55 Waikato Peat Fires: An annual menace for Waikato swampland farmers have broken out again and peat fires now cover thousands of acres. Trench digging is the only way to stop the fires because the peat burns underground - but the flames often comes to the surface and destroy everything in their path. Smoke billows out across the Waikato countryside and rain alone can bring relief. 01.35 Nelson, Picton Conducted Tour: Tourists bus past beautiful Kaiteriteri Beach and walk through fields of young tobacco plants and tour the packing shed. They go fishing in Queen Charlotte Sound and catch blue cod. 03.15 Central Otago Gold: A simple monument marks Gabriel's Gully in Central Otago - the site of his first claim in 1861, a discovery that changed the course of the region's history. Today, old prospectors still pan for gold in local rivers. In the Old Man Range there is a monument in memory of pioneer gold miners who perished in the great snow of 1863. Sluicing for gold is also still carried out and great gaps in the hillsides mark the path of the sluicers. Dredging was the other method of recovering gold and one of the largest dredges in the world is today making its way up the Clutha River above Cromwell. Once there were some 50 dredges working on the river. The course of the dredge is continually surveyed and it leaves piles of tailings on the riverbanks as it passes. The dredge moves 33,000 tons of shingle a day - equivalent to the efforts of 10,000 prospectors working with pick and shovels. In the 'Gold Room,' the gold won each week is melted and purified. Gold is still an important industry for New Zealand - it is 7th on the overseas funds earning list - so the legacy of the Otago gold mining pioneers lives on. Duration 07.08
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