Roadway to the Rushes: Waikouaiti and District 1840-1890, Whaling, Agriculture and Gold by Eileen Foote. VERY SCARCE.

Published by AUTHOR, 2012, First Edition.

Very good softback, minor fading to edges of covers, otherwise excellent near new condition with no inscriptions.

Roadway to the Rushes traces Waikouaiti's transition from an 1837 whaling settlement into an agricultural food basket for the Dunedin settlers of 1848. It illustrates the frenzy of the first Otago gold rushes from 1861 as thousands of diggers were delivered by paddle-steamer and sail-boat to The Spit, making their way up Beach Street, initially to the Shag Valley, and later into the unforgiving climate of Central Otago. Roadway presents a perspective on social life and business from 1840, with particular emphasis on the 1860-64 period. It celebrates such early characters as the South Island's first doctor, Joseph Crocome; the ambitious international shipping merchant Johnny Jones; the Maori men and women who worked at the Waikouaiti River mouth; and the gritty and determined settler families who made a life which had been simply unobtainable in Britain. We share their shipboard journeys, and document social and business achievements, the establishment of churches and schools, local infrastructure, and the grief and misfortune associated with the numerous hotels. It tells of the lifestyle of the whalers and agriculturalists and includes compelling observations of the goldfields. This window into the past covers the workings of Port Waikouaiti (Karitane), and the construction of roads and railways, which brought immense freedom. These pointers to the golden interior saw Waikouaiti become a Roadway to the Rushes. 270 Pages with photos.

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