Lightband Gully

Lightband Gully
Lightbands Gully
Floor elevation60–90 m (200–300 ft)
Geography
LocationParapara
CountryNew Zealand
DistrictTasman
Coordinates40°45′00″S 172°38′28″E / 40.750°S 172.641°E / -40.750; 172.641
Riverunnamed

Lightband Gully, sometimes also Lightbands or Lightband's Gully, is a valley in the hills behind the Golden Bay / Mohua township of Parapara in New Zealand. The valley is notable as the site of the first payable gold discovery—in October 1856—in the South Island, and this started the Golden Bay gold rush. This gold rush, which lasted for three years, triggered a name change of the area, from Massacre Bay to Golden Bay.