I have been on camp, staying in an old schoolhouse at an old goldmining town. It is almost abandoned now, and the rabbits have taken over. No one had brought a gun or we could have had rabbit stew; they hopped right up to the camp (rabbits are an introduced pest in New Zealand). When I was young we never bought meat, but lived on the rabbits my brother shot. There were a number of wild apple trees around; they tasted good; tart but full of flavor compared to shop bought. We visited the nearby tourist town and found a mall with high price fashion clothes and expensive cafe/bars. Didn't buy anything. Sunday morning we decided to try our luck at goldpanning. Drove high up into the hills and found a stream. Prospecting is hard work; digging mud out of the banks, and washing out the pan in a cold mountain stream. We only found a few specks of fool's gold (iron pyrites), so back to the city to look for a paying job. According to the history books, it was the pub owners who actually made their fortune in the goldrush.