‘I’m going for it’: The spontaneous move to a tiny Central Otago gold rush village

From the roadside, the cottage in the tiny Central Otago settlement of Cambrians looks like it has been there for generations.

The combination of stone and corrugated iron strongly evokes the era of gold mining, which saw hordes of prospectors descend on the region in the 19th century.

But this 70m² dwelling isn’t from the 1800s — or even the 1900s — it was built in 2007.

For Eunice Golder, it was love at first sight. Four years ago, she was holidaying in the area when she spotted the cottage come onto the market and went for it.

“I never really thought I would ever make such a huge move to come here from the North Island, but I had a change in life circumstances, and I just thought, ‘Right, I'm going for it.’” She says she has zero regrets about making the spontaneous decision.

“It's just like an original old cottage; it's been done so well. It fits the area because it's a historic gold mining village.”

She calls it a “standout property”: “That's really what grabbed me - the cuteness of the cottage, and the detail and landscaping.”

The main cottage has two bedrooms and a modern kitchen and bathroom, while a separate outbuilding has a garage with another bedroom above, which Golder has let out as an Airbnb in the past.

All the hard work on the property had been completed by the time Golder moved in, but she has made some changes, such as adding an outdoor shower and removing some large trees from the garden.

Her favourite room is the lounge: “I love looking at the barn wall and the view out the windows at the garden.”

The original coal range in the kitchen and the outdoor entertaining areas are also highlights: “It's a great gathering spot. It's very sheltered and private, away from the road, and with a nice stone wall around it.”

There’s plenty of garden, too, with close to 2800m² of land. Golder says she has spent many nights in the spa gazing up at the night sky: “There’s no light pollution here.”

Cambrians — or just Cambrian, to the locals — was once a bustling centre with more than 200 residents during the peak gold-mining era in the late 1800s. There were two hotels, a butcher's shop, a post office, a school, and a church. The school remains and showcases the history of the village to the many tourists who visit the region. The popular stops of St Bathans and the Vulcan Hotel are just a few minutes down the road.

Only a couple of dozen people live here now, and Golder says the community is very close-knit: “Everyone looks out for each other, helps each other. We're 40-odd minutes from Alexandra, which is the main shopping centre. If someone needs something, you just put it on our community messenger page, and someone always puts their hand up to help.”

She admits she will find it hard to leave the area, but it’s time to move closer to her four children and 10 grandchildren in the North Island: “I just feel it's time to get back there and spend more time with them.

“I'm really going to miss this place because I love it with everything it offers with the great outdoors.”

She will especially miss the nearby Oteake Conservation Park: “We've spent a lot of time in there riding my horse, four-wheel driving, staying in huts, cycling and hiking.”

But Golder says it won’t be her last time in the region when the cottage sells: “I think there'll be a few holidays coming back down here.”

The CV on 113 Cambrian Road was $860,000 on October 1, 2022. It is to be sold by deadline on March 5 and has been listed by Helen Flintoff from Colliers.