Old Gold

The past three weeks were spent in a tiny old gold mining town called Arrowtown (being situated on the Arrow River...). The town has an old-west feel to it, and has a relaxed, refreshing feel to it, but it is still quite close to Queenstown, the self proclaimed "Adventure Capital" of the world. So a little bit of history about Arrowtown. In the mid 1860's, a few years after some sheep stations were established in the area, gold was discovered on the Arrow River. William Fox is credited with first discovering the gold in the Arrow River, and with a small band of miners, they managed to get about 230 lbs of gold in a couple of weeks. They had hoped to keep it secret, but made the mistake of paying for provisions in gold, which started a huge gold rush. Before long, the Arrow River was full of prospectors hoping to find their fortune. Now, the town supports tourists, who can pan for gold, visit the historic buildings and historic downtown, and the chinese settlement at the edge of town, where Chinese immigrants came to seek a better life. So, along with cleaning, making beds and outside chores around the hostel in exchange for our stay at Poplar Lodge, here are some of the things that we did:

Arrowtown, as viewed from the top of Tobin's track

Glenorchy

Adin, the owner of the Hostel, also has a 4WD company, called Southern Explorer, where he gives guided tours of the area, including Skippers and Macetown, in his Land Rovers. When he has extra seats available on his trips, he usually fills them with the hostel workers. So, he had a few extra seats, and called us up and asked if we wanted to come with him to Glenorchy. Glenorchy is a small town at the north end of Lake Wakatipu. After picking up the other customers (an American couple) in Queenstown, we were on our way! We got a guided tour up the east side of the lake, explored the small town of Glenorchy, saw some Lord of the Rings filming sited in the area, and went for a small hike, where we had coffee and biscuits at a small lake. Adin was a great guide, very knowledgeable about the area and with a great sense of humour. After the tour, Adin, Faye and I went for a beer at a pub in Queenstown, then made our way back to the hostel. We had a blast, it was a great day out.

welcome to Glenorchy, home of NZ's smallest library

view from the car before the hike

Macetown

We had a couple of days off, and the hostel was really busy, so Faye and I decided to do the Big Hill hike. This hike is one of the longer hikes in the Arrowtown area, and was absolutely beautiful. The walk took us along an old bridle path that was one of the original ways to Macetown, another gold mining ghost town. To drive to Macetown, you would need a 4WD with a snorkel, as the road fords the Arrow river something along the lines of 26 times. Our route however, was slightly drier. Slightly. We walked for approximately 5 hours, before reaching Macetown, going up and over the hills instead of following the river valley. The views were stunning, and we had a gorgeous day for walking. Once we came down from the hills, we still had to follow the road a little ways, so we ended up with wet feet in the end anyway. After camping out in the historic town, and exploring the area a bit, we decided to follow the road back, with the hope of catching a ride from somebody going our way. As it turned out, we walked the whole way, without seeing a single car going our way. So, after a 5 hour walk, crossing the river about a dozen times, we caught a different trail back to Arrowtown.

climbing up Big Hill

view from the top of Big Hill

the road into Macetown

one of the river crossings on the hike back

Macetown: this way

Luging

We decided to go "luging" one fine afternoon in Queenstown. The luge isn't at all like a real luge, the only similarity being that you're going down a hill on a track... A concrete track mind you, but it's still a track. The sleds are plastic, on wheels, with a steering bar and breaks... although I got one without breaks, and nearly crashed at every corner. With large signs up saying no racing, and no bumping, we naturally raced every time. And every time I passed Faye (which was often), she'd bump me almost off the track. It was a blast.

on the chair ride up to the luging track

paragliders taking off from the top of the gondola, as viewed from the chair lift

the luge track

a luger in action

the view from Queenstown, from the top of the gondola

The Nevis Arc

After trying to convince me for the past 6 months to go bungy jumping with her, Faye finally convinced me to compromise and do the Nevis Arc. The Arc touts itself as the largest swing in the world. Situated in the Nevis canyon, at a height of 160-ish metres, I wouldn't doubt it. After agreeing to it and psyching my scared-of-heights self up for it, I was not at all prepared for what I saw when our shuttle pulled up... A platform suspended above the canyon, with the river below looking like a little ribbon. After pushing through my doubts and fears, getting harnessed in next to an upside-down Faye, the swing seemed fun. We got swung out over the canyon, told to smile for the cameras and Surprise!, we were released. Screaming like a little girl while shouting profanities seemed to be my natural response to the 70m freefall, at which point the swing caught us and swung out out over the canyon in a 300m arc. It was over in seconds, and at the point where the swing catches us, we apparently reached speeds in the range of 150 km/hour. It was quite the thrill, and Faye was quick to do it again... I was content with the one swing. After getting our "free" Nevis Arc mesh-back hats, we made our way back to the bus and back into Queenstown.

Getting ready for the drop

here it is!

being pulled back up to the top

Faye on her second swing

Fergburger

What would a post from the Queenstown area be without a section devoted to the best burger joint in the city. For those of you who are scoffing at me writing a section about a burger place, you have obviously never tried a Fergburger. Right in the centre of Queenstown, there's a little burger joint called Fergburger. The burgers here are delicious, large, with fresh ingredients and there's a lot of choice. The little hole in the wall is always full and there's always a line up for a burger. They have many options for beef burgers, lamb burgers, a couple of chicken burgers (with names like "Cockadoodle-Oink" - chicken burger with bacon and avocado) and a few vegetarian options, such as "Bun Laden" (falafel burger) and the "Holier Than Thou" (tofu burger) and how could I forget The Codfather (a blue cod burger). We went twice while we were in the area, and both times were amazing. After eating a Fergburger, both of our bellies were full and satisfied for the rest of the day, with our tastebuds always crying out for more.

"in Ferg we trust"

A Remarkable hike...

The Remarkables is one of the highest, if not the highest mountain range overlooking the city of Queenstown. Naturally, we wanted to see the view from the top. So, after collecting Angus (whom we met in Oamaru, and is now working in Queenstown), we drove up the road to the Remarkable ski fields. The road winds up to almost the top, to where there was a nice, easy hike that would probably take about 45 minutes... wrong! What we thought would be a quick hike was deceptively bigger... it took us 2 hours to climb to the top, but once we got there the views were spectacular. We could see mount Aspiring, and the City of Queenstown laid out before us, along with most of Lake Wakatipu. Well worth the effort.

At the summit we reached

the view on the hike up

Angus balancing on the walk back down

hiking back

The West Coast - So Far...

And that brings us to The West Coast region of the South Island. We left Arrowtown three days ago, stopping off at the cinema in Wanaka. The cinema is a small place, and once inside, instead of conventional cinema seating, there are large, comfy couches, and old airplane seat, and an old car with the top chopped off, along with some other eclectic seating options. Going to the movies here was worth it for the experience alone... After, we made our way to a campsite north of Lake Wakatipu, along the highway and hunkered down for the night. The following day, we drove to Fox Glacier. We got in late afternoon, went for a drive to see the glacier, planned a hike to get to the glacier for the following day, and set up camp. The campsite was at Gillespie's Beach, and there were some escaped "wild" sheep hanging out. So, we set up camp and had a small nap. When we awoke about supper time, it was raining quite hard, and neither one of us had a raincoat in the tent. So, when it let up, we made a mad dash to the car, got our rain coats, and a few things to make a hasty supper, and retreated back into the tent for some cards and reading. The rain eventually lulled us to sleep... and then woke us up later on as it thrashed the tent. Luckily, we stayed quite dry inside the tent, thankful that we had a nice campsite on high ground. The next morning, it was still pouring rain. We donned our rain gear after putting it off as long as we could, packed up the tent and everything soaking wet, and hit the road. Not feeling up to a hike in the rain, and with not much to do in the town of Fox Glacier, we decided to go up to Franz Josef, another glacier town, and do some hikes, and maybe a guided glacier hike if the weather cleared up. We arrived in Franz Josef while it was still raining, and found the information site with the weather forecast.... Rain for the next 4 days... So, we decided to keep heading down the road, to Greymouth, where our friend Matthieu was working for his stay at a hostel, with the intention of going back to the glaciers if the weather improves.

the movie theater in Wanaka

Our campsite on the way to Fox Glacier

On a small walk off the highway to see a waterfall

'wild sheep' at the Gillespie's Beach campsite in Fox Glacier

Gillespie's Beach near Fox Glacier, just before the rain