Arrowtown

After I crawled in bed last night I got a message from my friend Jacki that she had an alert that the aurora was visible in Queenstown.  Gayle and I rushed out onto our balcony in our nightgowns to see if we could see it.  I got this photo.  It wasn’t as glorious as photos I have seen but I still thought it was cool.

I woke up this morning with a full on cold.  I have been feeling it coming on for a few days.  We took this morning slowly.  We have been going solidly for several days and it felt good to enjoy this lovely apartment overlooking the lake.

Our plan for today was to go to Arrowtown, situated not far from Queenstown along the Arrow River.   It is a historical gold mining town.  It boasts many historical buildings from that era, including the huts that Chinese settlers were forced to live in on the edge of town.  Now it has become a beautiful place to visit, especially during the Fall.  Keep New Zealand Beautiful named it “the most beautiful small town” in 2020.  They are having their annual autumn festival this weekend and we are wanted to find out if Arrowtown is as lovely as people say.

On the way we stopped at Ayrburn, just outside of Arrowtown.  Sitting on the site of the first farm in the area, a multi-venue destination has been created using protected heritage buildings.  We were headed to the Bakehouse Restaurant for brunch.  We just couldn’t bring ourselves to eat in the restaurant called The Manure Room.  There is a lovely canopy leading to the front door of the Bakehouse.  

We opted to sit inside because it is very chilly here right now.  We enjoyed our eggs Benedicts and left with a baguette to enjoy in our room later.  The grounds are lovely with sculptures dotting the place.  We didn’t stay long because we were eager to see if Arrowtown in the Fall is really the place to be.

The town was packed.  All weekend there have been events:  parade, music, dog show, duck races, etc.  We actually found a parking spot on Buckingham Street, the main thoroughfare, and walked up the length of the town and back, poking our heads into the shops.  This street is a historic area with seven of the houses here having mostly unaltered exteriors from the 1870s.

Some crazy crocheter has decorated almost every surface they can find on Buckingham Street.

In 1862, gold was discovered in the Arrowtown River and soon there were 800 miners there.  In the 1870s, Chinese settlers were invited to come to help prop up the collapsing economy after European miners left. By 1871, Chinese outnumbered the Europeans in the gold fields in the area.  At one point there were 7,000 miners living in Arrowtown.  Even though the Chinese were invited they were not welcomed.  They were forced to live in huts down by the creek.  I toured the remains of the Chinese Settlement.

In 2002, the government of New Zealand formally apologized to the Chinese community for legal discrimination towards early Chinese settlers.  The settlement here in Arrowtown is now part of a national reconciliation process.

As we were driving around this little town we saw a cemetery up on the hill.  I love to visit cemeteries.  I climbed up to the top of the hill of the cemetery and took this photo of the town and its fall colors.

We had a late lunch/early dinner reservation at Mora Winery.  I convinced Gayle that we couldn’t make a reservation at a winery and not taste the wine.  I can’t drink and continue rational thought so Gayle took one for the team.

We ordered only sides:  fresh bread with truffle butter, roasted potatoes with chipotle mayo and broccolini.  It hit the spot.   

Since I’m not well and Gayle’s back is bothering here we were excited to get back to our lovely apartment on the lake.  We took naps and called it a day.