Friday 15 Apr
This morning we enjoyed our lie in. Instead of the usual
bags at the door by 7-00 and on the bus by 8-00, we were not required to meet
up until 8-30 so, a nice breakfast – our dining room and, for that matter, our
room, both have a lovely view over Lake Wakatipu, so the surroundings are nice and
then we were off to Arrowtown. I have previously said that we are a bit early
for true Autumn but even so there is sufficient colour to capture the eye.
Arrowtown is VERY commercial, the town consists of either
old buildings prettied up or new ones built to resemble the old ones but, to be
fair, there is one street of lovely old cottages in perfect condition.
I took particular interest in the Chinese section where some
of the original Chinese workers lived. Some of the old huts they lived in have
either been preserved or recreated and there are many very informative
display boards giving the history and details of life as it was for these
incredibly hard working and very badly used portion of the work force.
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| A Chinese miner's outhouse |
A visit to the Museum proved worthwhile. The shops cater
almost exclusively for the visiting tourist, various gift and souvenir, and
high quality sport and clothing shops abound and of course some excellent Cafes.
Walking back to the bus I discovered an Ice cream parlour
featuring their own “home made” Ice cream and I have to say it was the nicest I
have ever tasted. An enormous serving in a very large cone but fortunately I
found Anne had arrived at the bus before me and she very kindly shared the
enormous burden of getting though this delight.
I did not stay with Lloyd for the Chinese section, but wandered around the old miners cottages, then went up the hill to see an art gallery and look at the old St Paul's Anglcian Church. It was not open, but I could see the rather nice stained glass window behind the alter.
On the way home we made a detour into the Millbrook
Golf Course. Probably NZ’s most exclusive golf venue. Beautiful surroundings.
It seems the word beautiful crops up a lot in this blog but that is the best word
to describe so many places.
We found some nice autumn scenes.
Back to Queenstown and a wander for an hour or so before
boarding the Earnslaw. A nice trip up and down the lake, about 2 hours. Good
chance to spend some time with our travel companions and get to know them
better. We are usually so weary after dinner that we make an early exit and are
tucked in while perhaps others might linger a lot longer.
Our beds are comfortable, the room is warm and the towels
are nice and big and thirsty. All big pluses for us.
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