Danseys Pass Hotel is at the north end of Kyeburn Diggings, as the Kye Burn valley narrows just before Dansey Pass Road starts its climb to Danseys Pass. It is one of a handful of old hotels that survived the Central Otago gold rush of the 1860s and is the only surviving building from the Kyeburn Diggings gold rush of 1862. It has been upgraded and modernised along the way but with a strong nod to its history.
After the gold discoveries, the major route into this part of Central Otago was from the developing port towns on the South Island’s east coast via the Waitaki Valley and Danseys Pass over the Kakanui Mountains. This multi-day wagon journey was arduous and dangerous. Kyeburn Diggings was the first realistic spot for a hotel, with the first stretch of flat land after the pass.
Danseys Pass Hotel arguably has the best “origin story” of the surviving old gold field hotels. It was built in 1863 by Happy Bill, a stonemason who was paid a pint of beer for every schist boulder used to build the walls. The stone building was plastered in the 1950s and extended in the 1990s. Around the hotel and nearby German Creek, many exotic trees were planted to represent the homeland of every miner in the 1860s.
Stop overnight or for a meal or picnic in front of the hotel or at the DOC campsite at German Creek. Maybe reflect on how hard and comparatively easy it is today!
