Arrow Town - Chinese Settlement

This morning, we had our left-over Fernburger for breakfast..ya very economical sharing bread !! In cantonese, it's called 'ngai min poe'..

Our destination today is Arrowtown, a former Chinese settlement.

This former gold mining town is a living, historic holiday destination. It's located about 22km from Queenstown.

With signs that really give you accurate directions, we reached this quaint place in less than an hour of leisure drive.
This place was not recognised until the early nineties when the parliments voted to recognise the contributions of Chinese and the gold miners and the birth of this historical place.

During the high point of the gold rush the population of Arrowtown rose to over 7,000.

The other mining ettlements of Macetown, Skippers and Bullendale (today only ghost towns) can be reached by a 7-8 hours trek along Arrow River.

The town reached a population low of fewer than 200 people in the 1960s, before gaining popularity again.

It's  apperance has been strictly preseved and the buildings used by the Chinese & European from the gold mining era are in excellent conditions.



Remants of homes built at hill slopes





Some of  the earliest settlers in ArrowTown



Easy to follow signages everywhere



Trails to the ghost towns inland








Colour coded for easier identifications



For the adventerous and outdoor hippies

 

The classic Macetown Ride follows a journey that in the old days would take gold miners three days up the remote Arrow River to the historic gold mining town of Macetown.

The late comer Chinese going off to try her luck at gold mining

Ya,,I found my gold



Huge chunks of unmined rock with gold



This is my territory

Buckingham Street, the town’s main street, and the lanes and arcades around it are a shopping attraction, offering a wide range of quality products including fashion, jade, gifts and local wines.

The old stable, now a shop



Line Dancing is also available