Arrowtown embraces ‘screaming and fighting’ past
While Russell might be shying away from its past reputation as the debaucherous ‘‘hell hole of the Pacific’’, Arrowtown embraces its colourful past where the ‘‘nights were mad with screaming and fighting’’, as it was described during its gold rush heyday.
So much, in fact, one of the town’s most recently restored historic buildings was the town gaol, used for 19th century gold miners and as recently as 1987 as a lock up for New Year’s revellers.
Yes, Arrowtown likes a good shindig and the visitors know it. Famous visitors have included Katy Perry and Justin Bieber, who famously danced shirtless with a senior citizen. Beat that Russell, with your Elle Macpherson shots of sunsets and beaches.
Neighbouring Queenstown may have usurped the title of party town of the south, but Arrowtown is New Zealand’s best historic town. Its past has been preserved and developed and grown, making the town more desirable than ever. In just six years annual visitor numbers have grown from 450,000 to 750,000.
The growth does present challenges to the preservation of the town’s unique story.
At the core of recent efforts is David Clarke – Lakes District Museum director and former council representative – who says community workshops held every 10 years have endorsed and reinforced a desire to keep Arrowtown a small and quaint village.
Arrowtown now has about 70 features and buildings remaining from the late gold rush period, including a Chinese village, gold mining huts, the post office, post office master’s house, three churches, the gaol, part of a school established by an Australian nun who became a saint, and lots of businesses operating out of heritage shops and homes.
Beside the original buildings stand house cafes, pubs, shops, a boutique picture theatre and holiday homes that are now highly sought after.
That is largely due to the work of the Arrowtown Planning Advisory Group, of which Clarke is the chairman, that stands as the keeper of the rules everyone must adhere to before they can alter, rebuild or develop.
Once the gold miners moved from the area, the farmers moved in. Not many of them – a century ago, the population was about 120.
Their legacy also lives on with the magnificent, deciduous Oak, Sycamore, Cork, Elm, Ash and Rowan trees that now line the streets and form the backdrop to the famous Arrowtown Autumn Festival.
It lives on through the great outdoors that are only a step away from town. Young people still leap and paddle in the Arrow River in summer and the Wakatipu Trails Trust has developed a network of paths that link Arrowtown with the wider Wakatipu Basin for hard-core cycling or a zip through to Gibbston to sample the famous pinot noir.
It lives on through three incredible golf course on the outskirts of the town that host the New Zealand Open, and Mahu Whenua, a 52,000-hectare block of private land protected by covenants and opened once a year for the massive Motatapu cycle and running events.
The temperature might drop as low as -16C in winter, but it is only a short SUV drive to some of New Zealand’s best ski fields. Yes, it hits over 30C in summer, but you can keep your humidity, Russell – we prefer our environment free of ants and cockroaches.
Arrowtown has become such a rich depository of history and nature it was recently granted landmark status under the Landmarks Whenua Tohunga programme – a joint initiative between the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Heritage New Zealand, and the Department of Conservation.
And while tourists may be the new gold in Arrowtown, the old stuff is still there to be found.
In 2006 Southland man Henry Geerlings found a 275g (8 ounce) nugget, in a spot he refuses to reveal. He later sold it for $15,000. Yes, there is still gold to be found, says Clarke.
‘‘If we all knew where the gold was, we’d all be up in the hills.’’