January 17-21, 2024

The next day would be fairly relaxed with just one activity, the Queenstown Highlights Tour scheduled for mid-morning.  At $403 for the five of us, this most of the day trip would run us just $80 per person and would be well worth the price at the end of the day.  A bonus would be that they would pick us up at the house, saving us from having to meet the tour at some other location. 

In the van, we drove out of town along the lakeshore for about thirty minutes with overcast skies and some rain providing a dramatic backdrop to the lake and the mountains that surround it. 

Our first destination of the day was the AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Centre, which clings to the cliffside above the Kawarau Gorge and leads to the equally dramatic, Kawarau Gorge Suspension Bridge which spans the Kawarau River. 

The bridge sits 141 feet above the river and was designed by Harry Higginson and completed in late 1880 as a key access route to the Central Otago goldfields.  Traffic was moved to a new highway bridge on State Highway 6 in 1963.  The Bungy Centre is home to a sport that had its roots in ancient practice, but the first modern jumps were made in 1979 from the 250-foot Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, England, by David Kirke, Simon Keeling, and Geoff Tabin, a professional climber who tied the ropes for the jump.

Organized commercial bungee (bungy) jumping began with the New Zealander, A J Hackett, who made his first jump from Auckland’s Greenhithe Bridge in 1986.  During the following years, Hackett performed several jumps from bridges and other structures (including the Eiffel Tower), building public interest in the sport, and opening the world’s first permanent commercial bungee site here at the Kawarau Bridge.  

Given the expense of jumping and our natural fear of dying at a young age, we all decided not to tempt fate and so instead hung out to watch a few intrepid souls dive headfirst toward the river only to be sprung rubber band like back up in the air before touching the water, a thrilling experience I’m sure for those brave, or foolish enough, to attempt it.  Soon enough we were back in the van on our way to Gibbston Valley Winery and Restaurant, one of the better-known vineyards in the valley of the same name. 

It’s a nice property with a classic Chevrolet pick-up truck parked outside the tasting room, where we entered and sampled a range of their offerings.  Known primarily for their Pinot Noirs, we tasted a sparkling wine, couple of whites and finally one of the Pinot’s.  All were good but from my vantage point, far more expensive than what I normally shell out for win, almost all of them over $50. 

Our final stop of the day would be the charming community of Arrowtown, a historic gold mining town located on the banks of the Arrow River.  Here, there are many well preserved buildings that were used by the European and Chinese immigrants who settled during the town’s gold mining era.  In August 1862 Jack Tewa (known as Maori Jack) found gold in the Arrow River, and a township of 1,000 miners soon sprang up.

Chinese settlers, who first arrived in the 1870s in Arrowtown were forced to live in huts on the banks of Bush Creek.  At the high point of the gold rush, the population of Arrowtown rose to over 7,000 and it became the center of a larger municipality, which covered the new settlements of Macetown, Skippers Canyon and Bullendale (today only ghost towns).  After the gold rush ended, Arrowtown provided services to the local farms, and it was named “the most beautiful small town” in New Zealand in the 2020 Keep New Zealand Beautiful awards. 

While the others walked up and down the main street, checking out the tourist-oriented shops, I popped into Wolf Coffee Roasters for a cup of joe and hung out there until we were all reunited, meaning they all got in line for a hit of caffeine.  When finished, we returned to the van for the trip back to Queenstown and the house at Maha Peaks. 

It having been a busy morning, lunch would be across the street at Chur Fish and Chips, where one orders on-line and picks up at the window.  First, we placed our orders and then grabbed some beers from the market next door.  By the time we’d had our first few sips of beer (especially a Steinlager, which is hard to find in the States) our order of Gurnard and chips was ready.  Large enough for the two of us to share, the fish was firm and mild, the coating light but nicely structured to contain the fish and the chips, although larger than we prefer were perfectly suited for the occasion, especially when helped along with ketchup and that great Steinlager lager. 

As the next day would be a full one, we spent the rest of this one hanging around the house and due to the late lunch, had another market inspired charcuterie type dinner out of our kitchen.  We knew we’d be splurging the next night at the highly recommended Botswana Butchery, so a quiet evening in was just the ticket.  We will close out this post and focus on our last two days in town in ensuring posts.  Until then, keep on traveling. 

Links

Queenstown Highlights Tour: https://www.viator.com/tours/Queenstown/Scenic-Sights-Tour-of-Queenstown/d407-3663P6

AJ Hackett Kawarau Bungy Centre: https://www.bungy.co.nz/queenstown/kawarau-bungy-centre/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=gmb&utm_campaign=qt-kawarau-bungy-centre

Gibbston Valley Winery: https://www.gibbstonvalley.com/us/

Arrowtown: https://www.arrowtown.com/

Chur Fish and Chips: https://www.churfishandchips.com/