26 December 2024 -New Zealand- South Island -Queenstown
It was a grey day when we woke but it was not raining and after breakfast and some chilling we headed out to visit Arrowtown some 20 minutes away.
We drove out of Queenstown toward Wanaka and turned off west toward Arrowtown. We came across Ayrburn and decided to have a look. Established in 1864, Ayrburn was one of the first and most successful farms in the area continuing in production until the early years of the 21st century. It is now a winery and a farm and much more. It makes its own wine in what is called the Central Otago region and sells its own meat and meat products here. It has used the old farm buildings and has converted them into breakfast venues, brasseries and restaurants and is a bit like a sort of Daylesford in the UK but without the clothes shop. We had a coffee and wondered round and enjoyed what they have done. It is clearly a big money operation as it was very busy.
We then moved on to Arrowtown a few miles on.
Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand and located on the banks of the Arrow River and some 19.5 kilometres to the east of Queenstown. There are many well preserved buildings that were used by the European and Chinese immigrants who settled during the town's gold mining era.
In August 1862 Jack Tewa (known as Maori Jack) found gold in the Arrow River, and a township of 1,000 miners soon sprang up. It was initially named Fox's, based on William Fox's claim to have been first to find gold there, but was soon renamed Arrowtown. Chinese settlers, who first arrived in the 1870s in Arrowtown were forced to live in huts on the banks of Bush Creek. At the high point of the gold rush, the population of Arrowtown rose to over 7,000 and it became the centre of a larger municipality.
After the gold rush ended, Arrowtown provided services to the local farms and is now a preserved town and a tourist destination with lots of shops and restaurants. It is also a base from which to cycle and hike etc. It has an abundance of hiking, biking and running tracks and trails, and golf courses and ski fields nearby.
It was busy when we arrived and we enjoyed walking around its few streets and historic buildings and shops. The picture of the day is one of the streets and it looks a bit like a cowboy town in the films.
We had booked a well known Italian restaurant there called Aorta but it did not open until 5.00pm, so after we had looked round we went back to our villa in Queenstown and relaxed and I did more planning. We then drove back and had a very nice Italian meal which was delicious and I have missed Italian food.
We returned satisfied and watched some films and had an early night as we are off to Milford Sound tomorrow.
Need/Opportunity Year Two
I am in need of more crew from April to September so if of interest do email me at hine.nick9@gmail.com
In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com