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We very reluctantly left the charming city of Queenstown and proceeded on our way to Milford Sound for a cruise and over night stay on the ship
On the way, within 20 minutes drive we stopped at Arrowtown a historic gold mining town in Otago region of New Zealand, rich in heritage and one of the South Island’s and New Zealand’s, iconic visitor destinations.
Arrowtown is approximately 7.5 km from State Highway 6. There is also road access directly to Queenstown via the Shotover Gorge and a third route via the picturesque Lake Hayes
Arrowtown is built on the banks of Arrow River, once a rich source of gold, which attracted miners from around the world in pursuit of gold. In 1862 thousands of miners flocked to the Arrow River . At the height of the gold rush, the population apparently reached 7,000.
Though the miners have gone, the legacy of those early settlers has been retained in Arrowtown through careful preservation and it has become a treasure in its own right.
Arrowtown has a unique ambience with the historic downtown area offering a sophisticated range of fine clothing stores, art studios, galleries, cafés and restaurants, boutiques, accommodation and traditional pubs and bars. Free WiFi Public access hot spots give visitors internet access in central town.
The main street of Arrowtown, Buckingham Street, revealed the town's determination to preserve its illustrious past.
We got down from our bus at the parking and ambled across the main street .We were to meet at Lakes District Museum, the focal point for the history of Arrowtown and the surrounding areas and is also the town's major Information Centre.
We found this Museum in the same building as the Information Centre at the main road ,small from exterior it was surprisingly an extensive two storied museum complex ,set around 3 historical buildings including the town’s original bank.
There was an art Gallery at the entrance, we saw the tribal costumes and masks very intricately made, entry to this was voluntary gold coin donation
The exhibits presented an authentic picture of early Maori, harsh pioneering days of the European settlers, and the exciting gold rush era of the mid to late 1800’s
Most exciting of all was to see the gold exhibits there were kilos of gold arranged in attractive displays
We were stunned to see the gold weights used to weigh the gold and the scales itself was made of gold
There were gold coins and gold nuggets and gold dust too
There were exhibits of silver and gold articles given to people in those days
There were plenty of displays of old historical stuff related to people, immigrants coming from 4 different origins, gold mine, tools, arms, old machines, old banknotes and coins, carts, old photos of Shotover Bridge, we saw an interesting old butter churn that I first mistook for a wringer washer.
In the base floor of the museum there was a complete remake of a town, and we could walk down the streets gazing in awe at a blacksmith shop, gold smelting relics, schoolhouse, bakery, and more.
They even had a replica of an "outhouse" or toilet with sound effects and amusingly even a wax dummy on a toilet who complains when you open the door!
We felt that we walked into the history of the land - and the people as the museum displayed personal artifacts, letters, books, newspapers of different periods – effectively describing the daily life of people
There were bones and feathers from a moa bird which became extinct around 1600 A.D. The re-creations were very authentically done.
We were surprised to see how important music and musical instruments were to the early settlers - and many instruments were displayed such as old organs, small, medium, and large.
A good video presentation told the story of the area with some chairs for people to ease their legs
The history of taverns was especially fascinating - and the role of women in businesses revealed that women did a great deal to build the country!
Since Arrowtown was a gold mining center, the museum cleverly allowed us to rent a mining pan and spades to try panning for gold in the Arrow River, a short walk out the back door.
Some of the ‘must-dos’ in Arrowtown include visiting the historic Chinese miners village, now stone ruins but once a thriving settlement, the small huts were pathetic and showed their harsh living conditions.
The picturesque preservation of two very different gold rush communities – Chinese and European has been done effectively ,visitors can see both sides of the gold-rush coin, the preserved avenue where wealthy banks and merchants traded in the mid-1800s, and the restored huts on the edge of town
Arrowtown is also renowned for being one of the most amazing places in New Zealand to experience the colors of the four seasons.
In any season the town is a photographer’s dream and Arrowtown is renowned for its stunning autumn colors providing hues of gold and orange on the hillsides during April and May, we unfortunately missed this as we had visited in December
Arrowtown is also a popular base for snow enthusiasts during winter, with four world class ski areas between 20 – 60 minutes’ drive away. The town is also a year-round golf lover’s paradise with three superb golf courses only five minutes away.
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