It's still raining on the west coast. On the three-hour drive to Franz Josef I stop off at Hokitika, the greenstone or jade capital of New Zealand, and then again at Ross, a small town famous for gold mining.
At the tourist information centre in Ross I hire a pan filled with stones and gravel for six NZ dollars to try my hand at panning for gold. I'm told gold is six times as heavy as gravel so it sinks to the bottom of the pan. Everyone who has a go finds gold flakes. As a (slight) cynic I wonder whether they sprinkle these in to avoid potential disappointment. Had I walked down to the river instead and tried, it might be a different story.
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