Gold Rush - Jonathan Hare diary

Production team

Day 1 and 2 - Travel
The Flight from Heathrow to LA went OK but as expected the delays at LA were long.

Eventually we made it through the security and back onto the same plane to continue our flight to Auckland. The trip over was good and I think everyone got some sleep (apart from Mike B he told me). It was Mike L’s birthday and perhaps his longest or shortest as we never worked out exactly when his birthday actually started and finished on the long flight with the various time zones etc. Anyway, the very kind flight staff made him up a cake to celebrate.

The next step to transfer from Auckland International to the Auckland internal to catch the flight to Christchurch was not so straightforward. We get into Auckland in good time but it takes ages to get through Customs. Then it took ages to get all the TV gear and bags together for the Customs check for the internal flight. We finally got the gear together to be told that we were too late to check them in to be transferred to the internal airport and that we had to make the journey with them by ourselves. Only a km!! The stars were out and I get my first glimpse of the winter constellation of Orion upside down in the dark Southern Skies. We hurtle down to the airport, bags coming off every so often along the way! Slightly mad, almost hysterical, early morning dash. Not everyone finds it a laugh though! Just make it to the airport in time (not sure if they would have waited for us ...)

Make it to the hotel in Christchurch at about 9 am but our rooms were not ready yet, so we had to wait a little. Very tired…. Derek and I were the last to get a room. Phone Sarah (girlfriend) to let her know I had got in OK to NZ and the hotel. Have 1½ hour’s sleep. Then wander around Christchurch recalling things I had seen the last time I was here with Sarah about 4 years ago. Wish she were here. Write a card and post it and start to write this diary.

Day 3 - Rest Day
The trip over from Christchurch to Franz Josef was wonderful. The weather was cold and bleak when we left Christchurch early in the morning. But as we started to climb to the foothills of the Alps so the weather improved till at Arthur’s Pass (the watershed) the clouds dispersed and we had a drive of a lifetime.

Vast vistas of snow capped peaks, green verdant bushy covered slopes and blue skies setting off the scene. Saw places that Sarah and I had been to on our last trip over. Although I awoke at 3 am this morning and despite the gentle rocking of the bus I never once felt like dropping off to sleep, the views were so inspiring.

Get to Franz Josef at about 4 pm and check into the lodges. Our rooms were brand new accommodation in a wonderful location nestled in a forest of ferns under snow-capped mountains. They were still working on the room electrics and telephones when we moved in, they were literally that new!

Day 4 - Rest Day
I awake at 3 am (again!). Still it’s only the 1st day and we haven’t started to get going yet.

Met Sophie and Martin last night, the two directors, and also Pippa who will be directing/filming us when we have the evening meals. Didn’t get to talk to Martin much but Pippa and Sophie seem very open and friendly.

Kathy pops round to plug in her mobile phone into one of my adaptors. Go off and walk up the Glacier Road with her to check it out. This is nice and helps to make me feel more at home as we chat about things. Meet up with a lot of the group for lunch and some decide to go off kayaking while others horse riding. I chose the latter .

Horse riding was really great! Pippa, Kate and I took the horses out with a guide and we slowly ambled along against a backdrop of golden-lit, green vegetation on the slopes of gorgeous mountains, their snow-covered peaks glistening in the bright winter sunshine. This has now lifted my blues completely and I feel very excited and happy to be here.

Phone Sarah in the morning and it was lovely to hear her voice. This lifted my spirits a lot, but it did remind me I was on the other side of the world.

In the evening we all meet up for a chat about the days to come. With some wine and crisps we talk about the filming days and the format for the evening filming where we have a Maori chief called Ricky to cook for us.

What a day!!

Day 5 - Rest Day
Awake at 4 am this morning which although is still early is not too bad a time for my body clock to adjust too. Last night was great. Went out with the crowd and ended up drinking a few glasses of wine with the two Mikes till about 11.30 pm, even so I awake this morning, amazingly wide awake at 4 am!

At 6 am I do some meditation; the stars of the Southern Hemisphere Constellations glimmering in the night air, a thick frost all around outside. By 8.30 the sun was up, and I had an amazing view from my balcony of the near foothills of the Franz Josef Glacier peaks all covered in snow and glowing in the morning sunshine.

Join up with the two Mikes to walk up to see views of the base of the Glacier from Sentinel Point - wonderful views of the moraine and the Glacier rising up to the mountains.

In the afternoon Kathy, Derek, Ellen, Sandra and I take the Terrace Walk track through the Jurassic-looking woods and follow the Glacier River up a nearby hill for some amazing views.

Day 6 - Metal Detector
When the Earth is pushed up and snowy mountains appear
Rocks crack, split and fold forming channels far and near.
From the deep they are filled with quartz and some gold,
Weathering sets them tumbling downward in the cold.
Bashed to and fro in a vibrant mountain stream,
Gold flecks fall out from the quartz boulders clean.
In the calmer sandy stuff of a riverbed mud,
Gold accumulates deep to beat the panner's blood.
In cold water fresh but with freezing hands,
They test the riverbed with their prospector’s pans.
A bucket of dirt is reduced to a few flakes,
The gold light gleaming is the best of effects.
Weeks and weeks for just a few grams,
A bag full of gold powder is the prospector's plan.

We meet at about 8 am for helicopter flights to start the day and TV episodes off. Weather looks good and soon we are off up in the air and heading over the Glacier and over the peaks besides Mount Cook. We head out over the plain below the Glacier and on to the sawmill which will be our base. 30 mins of extreme excitement, wondrous views, blue ice and helter skelter rides. Also saw the best ever glory around the shadow of the helicopter when we passed through an amazing fog bank covering a prehistoric-looking fern forest.

At the sawmill we were introduced to the challenges. Mine was to make a metal detector using parts from old radios, Kathy and Mike L to make an accurate balance to measure the gold we get while Mike B and Ellen were to pan and sluice for gold.

The day goes very well but I do think however that it’s going to be really hard to get the metal detector done in just 2 days so that it can be used on the 3rd.

The AK44 metal detector
My first work was to salvage as many useful components from the radios as possible. I plan to build the main electronics for the metal detector on a makeshift plastic board from the lid of a Tupperware box and make use of one of the smaller radios (called an AK44!) to use as an audio amplifier for the speaker.

Also managed to cut out the wooden circles for the search coils and fixed them up using cable ties. Added 20 turns of copper wire and fixed it to a handle upon which I fixed two plastic Tupperware boxes for the battery and components (to keep dry). Had a classic Rough Science problem of not being able to cut and drill because of filming going on nearby. Still, things seem to be going OK so far.

Day 7 - Metal DetectorWorried a lot about today but things actually went very smoothly. Started taking one of the radios apart and testing the transistors to work out their connections. Made up a simple circuit board from the lid of a Tupperware box and started to solder up the components. Made up a simple oscillator circuit and wired it up to the search coil. Then made up another search coil and with a diode from the radios was able to make up a field strength meter and showed that the oscillator was working OK. Filmed this with Kathy. Then made up the second oscillator using the medium wave coil from the radio. This worked as well!!

Then wired up the mixer circuit and wired in the various oscillators and the audio amp from the smaller radio. Turned it on live and had it filmed and to my amazement it worked first time. It was low in volume but it worked!! Added the component and also an extra stage of audio amp and the metal detector was working. This was a nice stage to be in on day 2 of the first programme we have proved the ‘Rough Science’ and so for me a major hurdle has been leapt.

Day 8 - Metal Detector We all go down to the gold panning river to join the rest of the team and help out with the panning in very wet and foul weather. Film with Kate with the metal detector by the waterside, although this is not the best place for a metal detector as only small dust particles of gold make it down to the river. Higher up in the mountains would be more appropriate as there are likely to be larger lumps perhaps embedded in a quartz vein. All goes well though, but just to add a nice cheesy moment they film me uncovering an old tin can (found by the metal detector of course) by the riverbank. Pick it up and with a sheepish grin I ‘realise’ it's not gold!

In the afternoon we head back to the sawmill and as my bit is essentially done I help out the others. Join Ellen to burn the punga wood. Also time to spend with Ellen so I can catch up with what she has been doing over the last year since Rough Science 2.

Ellen and I set up a fire with Mike B and we soak the punga in kerosene and get a good blaze going. Some big eruptions as we add the odd glassfull of kerosene to the fire! Nice to spend some time with Ellen by the warmth of the fire.

Meanwhile the crew were setting up for the final shot of the first programme - a big moment and all rather exciting. We all clustered together by Kathy’s balance looking on while she made the various measurements to weigh the gold. As this was going on Mike B came over with the gold. Kathy measured the gold and got a spot-on result compared to a digital balance to compare which was great! It’s very difficult to guess the weight of gold when you are used to ‘normal’ things that weigh a good deal less. We were all asked to guess the weight and I said 0.5g, which was a guess. I think Mike B was a little disappointed with me, and I think he thought I was suggesting that they hadn’t managed to get much gold!

Party that night at the local pub and dancing at John and Derek’s!!