Map showing movements of the Burgess gang

Map showing main locations mentioned in the text. Richard Burgess and Thomas Kelly (then known as Noon) took three weeks to get from Dunedin to Hokitika.They were escorted up the coast by the Otago police to the provincial border with Canterbury, the Waitaki River. They then evaded Canterbuy police as they travelled on to Hokitika, probably via Arthur's Pass.

Over the next few months the gang committed a series of crimes on the West Coast, including the murder of George Dobson (Dobson had helped explore suitable routes from Canterbury to the West Coast, and Arthur's Pass was named after his brother). From Greymouth they travelled to Westport and then onto Nelson by steamer. From there they had planned to walk to Picton but got waylaid at the Wakamarina goldfields where a plan for murder and robbery on the Maungatapu track was hatched.