Australian gold rushes offered rewards by the Colony of New South Wales and the Colony of Victoria. Before the end of the year, the gold rush had spread to many other parts of the state where gold had been found, not just to the west, but also to the south and north of Sydney. The Australian gold rushes changed the convict colonies into more progressive cities with the influx of free immigrants. These hopefuls, termed diggers, brought new skills and professions, contributing to a burgeoning economy. The mateship that evolved between these diggers and their collective resistance to authority led to the emergence
West Coast Gold Rush largest town on the Coast) and Charlestown, which both almost vanished when the miners moved on. The Coast was the second-richest gold-bearing area of New Zealand after Otago. Eleanor Catton's novel "The Luminaries", which won the 2013 Man Booker Prize, is set in Hokitika during the West Coast Gold Rush. West Coast Gold Rush The West Coast Gold Rush on the West Coast of New Zealand from 1864 to 1867 populated the area, which up till then had been visited by few Europeans. Gold was found near the Taramakau River in 1864 by two Māori, Ihaia Tainui and Haimona Taukau.