Arrowtown is is an old gold
mining town rich in history, situated near a small creek (Arrow River)
which was known as the richest smallest gold bearing river for its size
anywhere in the world. You can still pan for gold at this creek for
free. Note that the visitor center will rent pans to you. However,
Arrowtown today is a collection of extremely nice upscale tourist shops
and galleries. Everything from some of the best gold shops to jade shops
to fur/wool shops are presented in this town. The main street is
called Buckingham Street and is where most of the shops and galleries
are located.
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Arrowtown is a small town, one made for walking; its situated along just
3 or 4 blocks. The best and easiest parking is on the back street
overlooking Arrow River.
Be sure to visit the partially restored Chinese Settlement - this gives
you an idea of how rough life was for the Chinese people during gold
rush days. Its a free tour and you walk on pathways among the
restored/reconstructed buildings. Some of the actual shelters were
extremely small & built right into the sides of the steep mountains. |
There are many lodging options here - most are small hotels set in the
surrounding residential neighborhoods. Be sure to reserve as during the
height of the summer season you can't find any rooms here.
Several of the Galleries worth visiting are the following: The Gold Shop
had by far the best collection of gold nuggets (small and quite large)
and gold jewelry of all the shops I visited in the South Island. If you
like gold this is definitely the shop for you. Visit:
www.thegoldshop.co.nz or Email:
goldshop@xtra.co.nz
The Jade & Opal Factory is also well worth visiting. A very large
collection of New Zealand jade, both raw and carved stone. Located at 30
Buckingham Street, PHONE 03-442-1654
The Gold Nugget is a very nice shop carrying a variety of low to
high end tourist items. They have 3 levels full of neat souvenirs. If
you are looking for very inexpensive souvenirs, try the back corner on
the bottom floor - they have a little section tucked away called
"clearance" or "discount" items. Located at 43 Buckingham Street. PHONE
03-442 1877 or email:
cruises@igrin.co.nz
There are several fine restaurants in Arrowtown. The author ate at Arrow
Thai foods located just off the main street on 27 Ramshaw Lane. The cook
appeared to be Japanese and the server was Chinese. Besides the fact
that there didn't appear to be any Thai people in the restaurant at the
time, the food was in fact quite delicious. PHONE: 03-442 1115
The definitive Arrowtown tourist website is:
www.arrowtown.org.nz |
