Glenorchy and Arrowtown

Our view from the bedroom window as we woke up this morning was magic, and Bruce rose early to try and catch a fish. He had a couple of takes on the line, but no fish were harmed in the writing of this blog. We had to content ourselves with taking fish out of the freezer for tea.

We continued along the road to Glenorchy and the view was mind blowing. Peaceful, green pasture  land with snow capped mountains rising behind, and with glimpses of the lake.

As we progressed the road swung back to the edge of the lake again, and the scene became one of mirror like reflective lake, mountains and trees. One section was all black and charred, where there had previously been a bush fire, but it was great to see the cabbage trees starting to sprout again, and life returning to the area.

I would have to say that Glenorchy would have to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. They also have cafes and we found one that served great coffee with date and apricot scones. Bruce was back in his happy place!

We had a stroll along the dock and could see the trout in the waters beneath. One was a fairly decent size, (clearly the one that got away from Bruce this morning) but there were plenty of others at all stages of development. While there we saw a sign for the Glenorchy walk so we grabbed the dogs and off we went.

What a great asset for the town. A lot of money and effort has been invested in putting boardwalks through the wetlands, and the rest of the track was in good order. A short portion of it was actually the edge of the golf course. The views though were amazing!

It seemed that everywhere we went, people wanted to pat the dogs, and we never cease to be amazed at the numbers of German tourists, along with the inevitable bus loads of Asians.

After a bit of lunch we got in the truck and headed on our way to Arrowtown. I had heard amazing things about Arrowtown, so I was looking forward to seeing it. I would have to say I was quite disappointed.

Arrowtown is full of very old buildings from the gold mining era. A lot of these buildings have been restored and are in use today which is great. However, the feel of the place was destroyed, in my opinion, by the sheer commercialism of the place for one thing, and for all the vehicles in the heritage street for another.

It was really hard to get a photo of an old building without a modern day car in it!

However, one part of Arrowtown that was really interesting was where the remnants of the Chinese Miner’s cottages were. What a big difference between the style of buildings the Europeans lived in, and what the Chinese were able to put together. Not only that, but what standard of living they were prepared to put up with in their quest for a better life. Apparently they wanted to go home with $200 in their pocket which would have been enough to establish themselves in their homeland.

These shacks had just enough room for a bed, and some packing cases, and a fireplace. Some had windows, but not all. The roofing was made from any tin they could scavange.

By this time is was after 5pm, and we had missed out on seeing the museum which has a great reputation, so we decided to stay in the area. We were told about Lake Hayes, so we headed in that direction.

Lake Hayes is maybe 10 km out of Arrowtown and has a big recreational reserve right beside the lake where it is permitted to freedom camp if you are self contained. Apparently they will wheel clamp vehicles that are not, which we think is a great initiative! Its a lovely spot to spend the night.