Arrowtown and Queenstown

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Date visited: 11th February - 15th February

Arrowtown:

What a delight! At last the mountain alpine village I was searching for, nestled amongst pine-cladded peaks and rugged rocky outcrops. The deep blue lake as seen in all the postcards is here as well. The main street is lined with cow-boy mid-west style historic buildings - all individual and painted in different colours. This small village has a big Gold mining history - many of the buildings and features have not changed for over a hundred years. Seeing black and white photographs of the street in the late 19th century its almost identical - including the original shops. Just off from the street is a lovely river with a collection of walks to keep you busy for weeks. Seeing as there are endless tracks in this area we decided to stay put and explore some of the longer walks. We have already been on one which gave us amazing views of the Remarkables Mountain range and Mt Aspiring.

Although Arrowtown is small it has a trendy evening cafe/eating scene with cosy candlelit places to enjoy a good lamb shank. The local pub is really old fashioned and its lovely to sit outside with a pint jug of chilled Tui watching the sun set over the mountains.

We stayed in our first guest house which was a little over our budget but worth it for the heavenly nights sleep and for the amusing conversations we had with a blunt-talking couple from Nottingham, also on a 6 month trip. The house was immaculate and the owner very posh - it was a most civil of stays. Luckily we found a delux campsite in town for our remaining time here. Spacious, near-empty and with 5 star facilities we pitched out tent under a tree at the back. It was a bit of a culture shock to by back in a tent after a couple of weeks of hostels, but at least its not the basic DOC campsites where swimming in a cold lake was the only option to keep clean!

Luckily the sandflies here are giving us a bit of a let-up too but we have all that to come when we venture south west in a week or so's time.

Whilst in Arrowtown we could commute to Queenstown but avoid the traffic and tourist-trap feeling of the the town.

Queenstown:

Nearly everyone has heard of Queenstown. Its the place to do mad things. Well, all of New Zealand is activity-crazed but Queenstown is probably more-so. Its close to the mountains for the sky dives, paragliding, hot air ballooning. It has a lake for the jet skiing, parasailing stuff. A river for the jet boats and water sledging activities. And a huge canyon where you can swing or be attached to a tiny model plane on a wire which hurtles you at over 100k over the river (if you so wish)! A bridge for bungyjumps that dip you in the water. A gondola and a luge to hurl down. The list is endless.

Its tourist central, but its location is very scenic. Its compact so is easy to get around. Free parking too. I actually quite liked it!

On our several visits to Queenstown we checked out the near-by infamous bungy bridge where people hurl themselves off every 30 seconds into a gorgeously green gorge. (I filmed the various screams and last minute panic delays on the platform don't worry). I was actually tempted but the price for the mere 30 seconds of 'enjoyment' didn't seem worth it - about 80 pounds. ;o The walk up Queenstown Hill was worth the view which took us through lovely beech forest. We could see the surrounding mountains at the top and people floating down on their paraglides from up above. This place really is buzzing with every activity you could think of. We even checked out a few book shops and salvation army stores when it was raining, including a welcoming latte.

It was a good choice to use Arrowtown as a base which might as well be in a different country its so quiet and quaint (but only 20 minutes drive away)!I could honestly live there. It has everything I like. Endless walking and lake options. Beautiful views. Lively evening scene (but small and cute). And the beauty of the South Islands South West minutes away (although all of the South Island is ridiculously expansive empty vast and beautiful).

(Too many adjectives there sal!)

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