Dirt Fishing

Over six years of metal detecting, Wellington man Andrew Harding has found thousands of dollars worth of silver, gold and other metals.

"It definitely pays for itself and there's not many hobbies that do that," he tells Lynn Freeman.

A lot of people liken metal detecting - aka dirt fishing or detectoring - to fishing, Andrew says.

For him, they share the same element of discovery and surprise.

"If anyone has been fishing before and loved it.. they'll absolutely love metal detecting."

As it's a fairly new hobby in New Zealand, though, not everyone knows you can't just get a metal detector and shovel and go for it, Andrew says.

So what are the rules for metal detecting in Aotearoa New Zealand?

It differs between local councils, but generally detecting at historic sites that are over 100 years old - including pās, churches and schools - is not allowed, he says.

"Apart from that, what you can pull from the ground at public areas and beaches, it's yours at the end of the day. Unless it's something of significant value that you hand into the police. And after a certain period of time, you usually get it back from the police, as well."

When Andrew finds an item with an engraving or inscription, he reaches out to local community Facebook groups to try and return it to its owner.

Sometimes he also helps people out on request to find recently-lost items, such as a ring lost while gardening

"They're just doing cartwheels in appreciation for what you've actually done for them. It's quite humbling."

When metal detecting is done right you leave no trace whatsoever, Andrew says.

"You dig what's called a plug, which is a very small U-shaped piece of dirt and you pat it down so no one knows you were ever there, basically.

That's if you don't tell fellow detectorists about the site - something that usually happens after you've thoroughly checked it out yourself, he says.

There's a bit of rivalry over detecting spots as there is over fishing spots.

"You don't share until you've been there yourself basically. I'm more than happy to give away a location but I want to go there first.

"Quite often you'll find more the second or third time you revisit some sites… you might walk a different path or swing a different track through the bush.

"As a rule, most detectorists are a fairly secretive bunch, that's for sure."

Thay said, Andrew and his fellow detectorists share their finds in the Facebook group Metal Detecting Aotearoa.

Many in the group are historians and a successful detectorist must also be a skilled researcher, Andrew says.

He uses the historical image website Retrolens to map out where people were gathering a century ago.

"You can overlay maps from Retrolens on to your phone via Google earth and see where you are in real-time as a GPS dot … 100-odd years ago.

"You have to go to areas where people used to congregate in the early 1900s like reserves and old schools that are now farmers' fields."

Most people grant Andrew permission to visit their land as they're really interested, he says. Sometimes they even tag along.

"Also the fact that you're pulling screeds of trash from the ground as well - they really appreciate that."

"On a typical day, detecting over a three or four hour period, you'll probably take away three or four kilos of junk - bottles and cas and screws and leadhead nails. It's amazing how much junk is in the ground - it's quite sad to see.'

Rings and coins are Andrew's favourite discoveries.

"Silver coins really spin my wheels … just the design of the coins is just beautiful."

The oldest coins he's found were a 1797 cartwheel penny and an extremely rare 1849 penny.

It's not uncommon to find piles of old one and two-cent pieces and also current NZ coins.

"The $1 and $2 coins last extremely well but the latest crop of 10, 20, and 50-cent pieces, they disintegrate so fast. They're completely gone within a month or two."

Detectorists also love finding jewellery, of course and Andrew reckons he's found around 40 gold rings.

One very special find was a vintage 22-karat gold bracelet weighing in at 48 grams - $4,000 worth of gold in melt value.

You can spend $500 to $2000 dollars on a metal detector, he says, and you'll also need a pinpointer which is like a mini detector that helps you narrow down your target.

Although that might seem like quite a large outlay, Andrew says his metal-detection earnings pay for a few coffees and a couple of lunches.

"It's a fantastic hobby because it's not limited by weather… I'm quite often down the beach at night looking like a real dork looking for coins in the sand. But it's really enjoyable. I find it quite therapeutic almost.

"Who doesn't love shiny things and pulling them out of the dirt?"

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