Arrowtown - Where history meets nature

This morning we got up early to pick up our rental car. I was super lucky. Considering it's peak season and we only booked a few weeks ago, I got a really good deal with EasyCar Rentals, an online agent, who found us a 2015 Toyota Corolla for $170 for 2 days with Ace Rentals, fully insured. 

Pick up was very straightforward and done within 10 minutes, so we started our next adventure. Our first stop today was Arrowtown, about 15km north of Queenstown. It's a charming little historical town with so much character.

Arrowtown became famous in the 1860s when gold was found. Hundreds of Chinese came over to work in the mines and build a large settlement far away from home. At its peak, Arrowtown had 6000 people and 25 hotels! 

The last remnants of the main store within the Chinese settlement. Its owner, one of the last remaining Chinese migrants, passed away in 1925.

Simple shelters the Chinese miners built and lived in.

However, the gold rush was over by 1880, but most of the Chinese migrants couldn't afford the journey back so eventually passed away in a foreign land, without family. Some 'got lucky' and their relatives back home raised money to at least bring their bodies back home, but one of the ships sank off the New Zealand coast with almost 500 dead Chinese bodies that got lost in the ocean :-(

By the time of World War II, the population of Arrowtown had decimated to about 100 (!!!) and the settlement was about to turn into a ghost town. It wasn't until the 1960s that the NZ government stepped in and the town was revitalized.

It's now a popular tourist spot with some really neat shops, cafes, restaurants and more. The candy store is to die for!!!

There are also 3 beautiful little churches. Brandnew by European standards, but each having been built around 1870, they are considered historic in New Zealand.

St. Paul's Church (Anglican)

 

St. Patrick's Church (Catholic)

This was quite neat. The local Catholic community has tied ribbons along the fence in support of all the people that have in the past been abused by members of the church. For the Catholic Church I thought that was quite brave, seeing how 'the big guys' have been trying to hide it or blame and shame the victims for decades.

Buckingham Green is a popular meeting spot on the main shopping street in Arrowtown. There is a large rock in the back that kids can climb, and the nearby cafe/pub seems to put out lots of toys for little ones to play with.

Last time I came to Arrowtown in 2011 I had time for a long stroll along the local river. Unfortunately, we didn't get to do any walks this time as we were heading further up north toward Wanaka...