  Arrowtown
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real travelers here at VirtualTourist. See the Arrowtown Travel GuideInside advice from real people on:Overview, Hotels, Things to Do, Restaurants, Nightlife, Shopping, General Tips, Transportation, Off the Beaten Path, Tourist Traps, Warnings or Dangers, Local Customs, Packing Lists or Sports Travel.
 119 Arrowtown Tips.282 Arrowtown Photos.0 Arrowtown Videos. Arrowtown Pages by kiwi
| Page Views: 3,971 Last Visit to Arrowtown: May, 2004 | Arrowtown a special hideaway. by kiwi - last update: Sep 2, 2005 |
Small town with a big history. As you drive into Arrowtown, probably from Lake Hayes, take the time to get your mind into a bygone era and think for a moment about the history of the town. It will help you appreciate better what you find.
Gold was discovered in the Arrow River in 1862 and suddenly the town was born. I wondered, as I stood and looked, why they built it so close to the river, under the hills and shaded from the lovely warming sun. I guess accessibility to the river and convenience of closeness was their priority.
The town was only ever intended to be there for the period of gold gathering, but when they build with stone, and left things there, it was not going to fall down on its own, lucky for us! At the height of the gold mining frenzy, the population of Arrowtown grew to over 7000 people, but is now a more realistic size of less than 2000.
Now you see the sunny side of Arrowtown growing with the development of a housing area facing the Lake Hayes direction.
It's a very small town and doesn't take a lot of time to get around. There is a museum which I found to be very interesting, along with an art gallery. You can take walks from here, and visit the old Chinese Miners' Village nearby, walking distance from the town.
You can picnic beside the Arrow River or eat at one of the lovely modern caf?s in the main street. Or even play a round of golf at the nearby Millbrook Resort, open to the public.
The shops in Arrowtown are totally geared to the tourist and open 7 days a week, however they do stock an array of high quality and lovely momentos and useful items mostly from New Zealand.
Arrowtown is just 25 minutes drive from Queenstown, and I suggest strongly that you take two particular routes to take in the beautiful surrounding scenery. One is from the main highway 6 via Lake Hayes. The other, is along Gorge Road, which is a beautiful drive through a canyon from Arrowtown back to the centre of Queenstown. Well worth taking both these roads.
Arrowtown - Queenstown 25 mins
Arrowtown - Cromwell 40 mins
Arrowtown - Wanaka (via Cardrona, summertime) 50 mins
Arrowtown - Wanaka (via Cromwell) 1hr10mins.
Some things you can do while visiting Arrowtown are: Hot Air Ballooning, Tramping (hiking), Horseriding, Golf (Millbrook), Skiing, Hang Gliding, 4wd tracks, Mountain biking, and Movies at the boutique cinema. Not to mention eating al fresco during the summer at one of the award winning cafés. |
| Autumn colours of Arrowtown |
Gorgeous colours
During April the trees in the area change colour and the hills come alive for a short time. It is truly beautiful and somewhat of an attraction.
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Chinese Mining Village.
Just near to the main street of town, there is an old Chinese Village from the gold mining days. Take the short walk through and see these lovely little stone houses, carefully restored to view.
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| Pros: | "Small, historical, not far from Queenstown." | | Cons: | "Touristy, Cold out of the sun, Isolated." | | In A Nutshell: | "It is a tourist town, but with a special history." |
kiwi's Arrowtown Travel Tips
| Overview | Things to Do
Tips: 3 - Photos: 3 | | | Restaurants
Tips: 2 - Photos: 2 | Hotels & Accommodations | | | | Nightlife | Off The Beaten Path | | | | Tourist Traps | Warnings Or Dangers | | | | Transportation | Local Customs | | | | Packing Lists | Shopping
Tips: 3 - Photos: 3 | | | | Sports Travel | General Tips
Tips: 7 - Photos: 7 |
 kiwi's Arrowtown Travelogues | | | |
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 Comments for kiwi about Arrowtown | | | | |
Darby2 Sun Jan 6, 2008 00:45 UTC
Reminds me of some of the mining towns in B.C., specially in the Kootenays. Is that a yellow miner's hard hat you're wearing? :o) | Jim_Eliason Sun Aug 12, 2007 04:12 UTC
great off the beaten path destination! | poppyfav Tue Aug 8, 2006 00:24 UTC
I love your "banter" in the forum , had to check your travel pages. Arrowtown brought back memories .I left the tour group and made the most of the short visit (who needs to eat? did grab a delicious meat pie. )Keep up your great sense of humour. | TheWanderingCamel Fri Oct 7, 2005 00:55 UTC
A day in Arrowtown is always part of our bi-ennial Wanaka visit -there's always something new to see and do and it is just so beautiful in Autumn - a dear wee town. Cheers from across the ditch. leyle |
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