Arrowtown

Another travel day, as we moved from Te Anau back to Queenstown, this time to stay a bit. Along the way, we stopped to see various sites of interest.

First stop was at a facility that works to take care of injured birds and hasten the breeding of endangered species. We got to see two Takahes, a large, flightless bird once thought to be extinct. Now there are about 400 in the wild, and four currently living in this facility. Two of them are chicks who will soon be released back into their natural habitat. The other two are “foster parents,” a pair beyond breeding age who care for chicks that are brought in. There were also a number of various parrots and other birds.

A rest stop in a tiny town became an adventure because they were passing out small samples of Manuka honey. This is honey made by bees that gather nectar from the flowers of the manuka bush. Real manuka honey comes only from New Zealand, though Australia and (of course) China sell knock-offs. Some claim it has amazing healing powers, so depending on the strength of manuka in the honey (as measured by a figure called “UMF,” or Uniform Manuka Factor), a tiny jar can sell for as much as $100 US. After our tiny taste, we did not feel that we had been miraculously healed of anything, so we passed on bringing a jar home.

We made a photo stop along the shores of Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand’s third largest. We noted it a few days ago, on the way to Te Anau. On this return trip we had the opportunity to stop and take pictures of part of it. We also had a picture-perfect day for photography.

Lunch stop was at Arrowtown. This small town had been a boom-town during the New Zealand gold rush of the 1860s. There are some original buildings that have been restored, but most of the structures are reproductions. It is primarily a tourist trap, and is somewhat reminiscent of both Dogwood, South Dakota and Williamsburg, Virginia.

One interesting feature was that Arrowtown had a ghetto for some 8,000 Chinese miners, many of whom remained and worked hard to get the last of the gold long after most Europeans had given up and moved on. The exhibit, based on archaeology of the site, provided insights into the hard life and racial tensions these men (mostly, only a few women came from China) endured.

One last stop was just outside of Arrowtown where a young entrepreneur named A.J. Hackett invented something he called “bungy.” Bungy jumping happens all over the world now, but it began here.

He was considered crazy by the locals when he asked for a concession from the local commissioners to set up business on a foot bridge 150 feet above a wild Arrow River. But the facility he has built here shows amazing marketing skill.

We finally reached our hotel, which is on the outskirts of Queenstown. After dinner, we walked more than a mile along the lakeshore on a gravel path that was busy with bikers. With the lake on one side, and the multi-million dollar lakeside mansions of New Zealand’s rich and famous on the other, it was a very senic walk, indeed.