Arrowtown

The 20 km/12 mile trip to Arrowtown is a diverting one. Memories of gold rush days come to mind as you cross the Shotover River and pass rebuilt 1860s inns still serving travelers. Side roads lead to Skippers Canyon and Coronet Peak. As you drive through the peaceful Wharehuanui Valley, you may meet a herd of cattle ambling along the road.

Mellow old Arrowtown has a lively past. After gold was discovered in the Arrow River, a midwinter flood in 1863 wiped out the riverside canvas town. Permanent stone and wooden buildings were built on higher ground; many have been converted into shops. A former bank, thickwalled and barred, houses the mining and pioneer memorabilia of the Lakes District Centennial Museum.

Century old sycamores form a shady canopy over upper Buckingham Street and its wooden cottages. You'll find the empty Arrowtown jail off Cardigan Street. If you stroll the upper streets, you'll discover old stone buildings mortared with river sand, dry rock fences, attractive village churches, and clapboard houses with pillared porches and ornamental ironwork.

Gravestones in the cemetery record poignant tales of early death miners who drowned in floods, children "too gentle for this bustling world." You can picnic along the river or under the willows by Bush Creek.

Horseback treks depart from Arrowtown on half day excursions up the Arrow River; full day trips continue on to Macetown.

Return to Queenstown past Lake Hayes, its glassy surface reflecting the pastoral countryside and mountain backdrop. Poplar trees ringing the lake turn brilliant gold in autumn.