Arrowtown, Glenorchy, Manapouri, and Doubtful Sound, NZ

January 19-21, 2016

We'd seen Queenstown and Milford Sound, but wanted to check out Arrowtown, a reconstructed gold mining town a few miles from Queenstown. It certainly had been reconstructed, but as a tourist mecca that sold high-end goods in fancy shops. I had envisioned an old mining town restored to the way it would have looked in the 1860s. However, I was consoled by the fact that there was also a preserved village just outside Arrowtown where the Chinese gold miners had stayed. It was a collection of tiny hovels that provided shelter and not much more to dozens of Chinese miners who toiled in the mines for wages that, by local standards, were probably low, but represented quite a bit more than they could have made at home in China. They worked long hours and lived simple lives, keeping to themselves in this small Chinese oasis just beyond the city limits. Most sent the bulk of their wages back to families in China. Many also kept hillside, tiered gardens, and sold vegetables to the white New Zealanders in Arrowtown.

Main Street, Arrowtown, NZ, a tourist mecca, not a restored mining town.

Colourful visitors to Arrowtown. Many bus tours stopped here.

View off the main street of Arrowtown, NZ.

Skatepark in Arrowtown, NZ.

Here is where the Chinese miners lived, just off the main street:

Homes of the Chinese miners were built into the hillside, and were so small I couldn't stand up in the doorways.

A kind of general store for the Chinese miners, this building was also their defacto community center and gathering place. 

A Chinese miner's house--little more than a roof and walls built around a natural alcove in the rock face.

...view from inside looking out.

Those Chinese miners must have been tough!

Glenorchy, NZ

Next day, we decided to drive along the coast of Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown to Genorchy, located at the end of the lake. Beautiful drive right alongside the lake with great views the whole way.

Road to Glenorchy along shore of Lake Wakatipu

Residence in Glenorchy

On the beach in Glenorchy, this boy and dog were instant playmates, even though I think they'd never met.

Glenorchy, NZ, near the restaurant where we ate lunch.

Beyond Glenorchy on the rapidly deteriorating road

Still farther along the rapidly deteriorating road. 

Doubtful Sound

Even as we enjoyed Queenstown and Glenorchy, we realized we both felt we'd had enough of living out of suitcases and a small car, of spending so much time on VRBO and Airbnb lining up accommodation in wherever we were headed next, and paying so much for everything. Now that we'd seen most of the most spectacular scenery in NZ, we made the decision to begin the long drive back to Auckland so we could fly back to LA (a month early) and resume our wanderings in the US Southwest. Except we hadn't yet seen Doubtful Sound, which we'd heard was not to be missed, since it was at least as beautiful as Milford Sound, but much less crowded...because harder to access. Leah was not up for another boat ride, so I made reservations for myself for the 2+ hour cruise up Doubtful Sound to the open ocean and back. I really wanted to take the overnight cruise on a large sailboat, which included meals and sea kayaking. However, I discovered I'd either need to share a cabin with a stranger--something I vowed not to do again--or I'd need to pay $1000 for a private cabin, which was too rich for my blood. Leah decided to stay at the motel we booked in Manapouri, the town from which the Doubtful Sound cruise launched. By the way, Doubtful Sound was named by Captain James Cook, who, in 1770, sailed past the entrance to the Sound from the open ocean, expressing doubt that a sailing ship could navigate it. Hence, the name.

On the way from Queenstown to Manapouri.

Abandoned train station on way to Manapouri

Closer look...

Inside the station (taken through the window, as station was locked)

On the way to Manapouri, dusk

On the way to Manapouri, dusk

View from our motel in Manapouri

Our motel in Manapouri

I mentioned above that Manapouri was the town from which the cruise to Doubtful Sound left. Well, that's only partially true. One of the reasons most people don't visit Doubtful is that, in order to board the cruise ship at Doubtful, one must first take a 2-hour boat ride across Lake Manapouri, then an hour bus ride over Wilmot Pass on the most expensive road in New Zealand, followed by a 2-hour cruise on the Sound, itself. And that's after you've driven 2 hours from Queenstown to Manapouri. So we divided it over two days, with the first one spent driving to Manapouri, and I spent the 2nd getting to Doubtful Sound and taking the cruise.

Here's the cruise I'd like to have taken, the overnight one on a sailboat:

Overnight cruise on sailboat with private cabin, meals, and sea kayaking from the ship.

However, the cruise ship I sailed on was a large catamaran, so it was quite stable, for which all the passengers were thankful, as the seas were quite rough as we approached the open ocean.

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound

The wind in my sail. 

Interesting patterns in the rock walls of Doubtful Sound

Same place, but farther away.

A closer look...

Very windy as we approached open ocean

Shooting from shelter in the rain.

On Doubtful Sound

On the way back.

When I got back to our motel in Manapouri, I was pleased to discover that Leah had had a nice day of beautiful sunny weather. She spent a lot of it "...on the porch playing games, listening to my book, talking to people, watching the sun on the lake, and the clouds playing peek-a-boo with the mountain tops."

For supper, we drove into Te Anu, and after looking at every menu in town, we settled on the Fat Duck. Waited a while for the food, but it was worth the wait: delicious, filling and not too expensive, a rare combination in NZ, in our experience.

Next post: the drive to Picton, a stay in cliffside house, then the drive back to Auckland and plane back to LA.