Tag: South Island

Down Under: Arrowtown

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IN ARROWTOWN

We drove from Manapouri on Wednesday, after our overnight cruise on Doubtful Sound, to Arrowtown, which is about half an hour from Queenstown. It wasn’t a long drive, but it rained much of the way and the last 45 minutes or so were on the now familiar narrow, winding roads around the mountains. A very narrow one lane bridge was a bit unnerving since it wasn’t really clear who had the right away. We arrived in charming Arrowtown and the Arrowtown House Boutique Hotel around 3:00 pm. When the rain let up a bit, we decided to walk into town.  

 

Arrowtown is a former gold mining village and sits in a valley surrounded by more beautiful mountains. The flowering trees, cherry and apple, are in full bloom and many houses have elaborate gardens of rhododendrons, tulips, and, what I would call, wild roses, but are probably just another subspecies of rose.

Many buildings date from the 19th century and are wood framed and well preserved.

St. Patrick’s Catholic Church
Masonic Lodge

The main street is not that long, but is dotted with plenty of upscale galleries and gift shops, an inviting wine store, a small museum which we plan to explore, and more restaurants and cafes than you might expect in a town this small. There was a mix of people on the street, older and young, walkers and backpackers, and Asian (Chinese and Indian, it would appear) as well as white. There is also a historic Chinese settlement here that we will also visit.

DINING

We dined our first night at La Rumbla, a delicious tapas restaurant where we had fun bantering with our French waiter about the food and what wine by the glass we should choose. For lunch the next day we tried Mantra, an Indian restaurant. 

The interior is beautiful with magenta on the chair seats and wall and pink flowers in tubs.

We opted for the lamb rogan josh thali, which meant the delicious lamb came with basmati rice, lentils, potatoes and peas, raita, spicy pickle, and both poppadums and poori. Some of the best Indian food I’ve had! 

Thursday night, on the recommendation of our hotel, we went to Postmaster’s Residence, a cozy restaurant with a wood stove in its main room. We were the first to arrive, but soon the side room was full of diners old and young. The pan-fried fish of the day (gurnard, I believe) was excellent, served with capers, perfectly cooked broccoli, cauliflower and carrot rounds, and roast potatoes.

STOPPING IN QUEENSTOWN

It is so near we figured we had to make the short drive over to Queenstown. Thursday was sunny and we stopped to take a few more photos of the lovely shades of green on the mountain before going into the center of town to a parking garage. Navigating a tight garage when you have to remember to always be left is a definite test for the driver!

We wandered around Queenstown for about an hour noting how busy and lively it was (especially compared to Arrowtown), the large number of hikers and back packers, and along the lake, the many options for jet boat rides, wind gliding, and other water sports. The skyline was gorgeous on this bright blue-sky day!

The public garden also fronts on the water and we strolled up the hill and immersed ourselves in spring in the beds of bright pink and yellow tulips. We’re glad we made a point of seeing Queenstown, but were very happy to return to our abode in Arrowtown!

Note:  All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved.)

Down Under: South Island Banks Peninsula

JWF 2 Comments

TRAVELING THE SOUTH ISLAND

For the next week and a half, we have a rental car and will be doing more driving and sightseeing on the road. We’re also staying at a bunch of different places as we work our way farther south and then west to end up near Doubtful Sound.

Today we left the serenity of Marlborough and flew north from Blenheim to Wellington (15 minutes in the air) and then connected to an hour flight from Wellington to Christchurch. There used to be direct service from Blenheim down to Christchurch, but no more. Fortunately, the first flight was on time as there was only thirty minutes to connect. We got off one plane, walked to the new gate, and boarded the second flight. We didn’t stay in Christchurch, but got another car and drove the approximately 45 miles over to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula.

This peninsula is shaped like a horseshoe curling around the harbor and was named for Joseph Banks, the naturalist who voyaged with Capt. Cook. It’s stunningly beautiful; the mountains are contrasting shades of green, and we wound around up and down and around enjoying the sun and the view.  

About halfway we stopped outside Lytleton for lunch at the Blue Duck Café, a simple straightforward place. We ordered ham and cheese sandwiches and an order of chips (read fries) that came with ketchup and aioli. The owner was chatty (who in this country isn’t, we now think) and told us he spent eleven years in London as a head chef, but got tired of the hours and returned to New Zealand to have his own restaurant. We talked a bit of politics with him (we want to export our president or gain asylum for ourselves; he bemoaned the fact that New Zealand still doesn’t have a formal government more than three weeks after the election), and then were on our way.

We missed a key turn toward Akaroa, our destination, but it turned out that Pigeon Forge Way gave us some wonderful views of Akaroa harbor we might not have gotten. That meant several stops for photos.

Akaroa was founded by a Frenchman and, consequently, reflects both French and British influences. We’re staying less than a mile outside town in what I would call a “cabin in the woods”, but what here is a cottage. There is no restaurant for food service and hence, after checking in, we went into town to wander around and buy provisions for breakfast. There was a lovely French bakery (croissants and sausage rolls), several French cafes, and a butchery whose cases were laden with tempting looking cuts of lamb, homemade sausages along with the usual chicken and beef. Backpackers must be regulars here in the summer as there was also an adventure center and some lodges and accommodations designed with them in mind.

Temperatures today were the coldest we’d experienced, and it’s windy. I’m very grateful for my on-sale L. L. Bean cashmere pullover sweater and the short down jacket I purchased at Costco some months ago. I wore them both!

We dined at the Little Bistro on the main street that seemed to be popular with the townsfolk. I tried their local littleneck clams with saffron cream (quite tasty) and the salad with pickled rhubarb and blue cheese (nice combo) while the C.P. had roast chicken and rosti potatoes. It was all very satisfying.