Small Town Treasure: Arrowtown

Once upon a time – we’re talking 1862 – Arrowtown was a seething hive of activity and Queenstown down the road was little more than a sleepy sheep farm. Things got reversed pretty quickly when the gold ran out, but Arrowtown has emerged from the shadows to reclaim status as a worthy destination in its own right.

Start with the Lakes District Museum and Gallery in the town’s main street. As the name suggests, it tells the story of the whole region – and very lively it has been. From early Māori on pounamu expeditions to the gold rush when strong women and men coped with rampant drunkenness, crime, harsh weather, primitive living conditions and isolation, the stories are colourfully presented with a hands-on focus.

Visit the historic Chinese Settlement in Arrowtown. Photos by Pamela Wade.

Buckingham Street outside has many distractions. Lined with buildings both historic and photogenic, and housing a variety of temptations, it leads to the Village Green, surrounded by towering oak and elm trees. Have a spot of lunch here in the sunny garden of Provisions of Arrowtown before wandering off on a leisurely circuit past some of Arrowtown’s heritage buildings. The Museum will lend you a key to get inside the gaol, with its thick stone walls and high, barred windows.

Visit pretty old churches, light and airy; and the old schoolhouse, complete with ball marks on the ceiling. Finish the history tour at the Chinese Settlement, where socially-excluded immigrant miners sieved the dregs for any gold that remained, living in cold and cramped little huts and, more often than not, drinking away their earnings.

Hire a gold pan from the Museum and try some fossicking down at the river. No luck? Then cheer up with a tipple at Dorothy Brown’s Gin Balcony, tasting a flight of New Zealand-made spirits while looking out over hills threaded with a range of inviting walking tracks. Enjoy dinner in a cosy nook at historic Bendix Stables nearby, and then return for a movie at Dorothy Brown’s boutique cinema, sprawling on comfy armchairs. 

Afterwards, maybe get down with the locals at the iconic Blue Door Bar. It’s a good thing you’re staying in town.