Our Holiday Resorts.

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 38, 16 December 1893, Page 4

Our Holiday Resorts.

Ho. 4—AREOWTOWN,

(By Pokcuiune)

Tt is a remarkable circumstance that the Wakatipu Lake district should not only be possessed of great natural beauty sufficient to attract tourists on its own account, but should also be the scene of some 1 of the greatest phenomenal gold discoveries that the world has known. [From within a mile or two of the Queenstown township the operations incident to the search of the precious metal may be observed, and it may be said to be the staple industry of these parts. On leaving Queenstown for Arrowtown, distant 12 miles as the crow flies, there is a choice of two routes. To go via Frankton (visiting the Kawarau Falls en route) Lower Shotover, and the beautiful Lake Hayes, and return via Miller's Flat and Arthur’s Point, is to accomplish a drive which for scenery and interest has no superior in all Hew Zealand.

[Pour miles from Queenstown the traveller suddenly comes upon the 3iow historic river Shotover —one of the richest gold-bearing rivers in the colonies. Space will not permit our detailing the exciting scenes of the tiist discoveries when gold was picked up by the pannikin full ; but the History of the Early Gold Discoveries in Otago ” will furnish full particulars and prove more entertaining reading than many a romance. Across the bridge thrown OA r er the mighty chasm scoured by the river through long centuries, the thine dredges,'owned by the Sew Hoy Co., may be seen in active operation on the Big Beach, and if time permit the process will be courteously explained by the employes. The rest of the way to Arrowtown lies along a beautiful and fertile valley, known as Miller’s Elat. If Queenstown may be regarded as the centre of the scenic attractions of the Lake District, Arrowtown may be said to be the: centre of the gold-saving and agricultural communities. No rail or steam beingin its vicinity, it presents the spec-, tacle of a typical gold-field township, with all its paraphernalia of coaches, horses, waggons and hostelries. Situated in a hollow on the bank of the Arrow, it possesses a magnificent sheltered climate, and is an urban paradise in appearance. Lovely gardens and orchards surround the houses ; all growth is luxuriant, and pea dies, apricots, and other fruits are grown in abundance. The river Arrow divides with the Shotover the honours for wonderful gold production. An expedition up the river 4fco Macetown (nine miles) where are several rich quartz mines (the Premier, Tipperary, Homeward Bound, and others) is full of interest. The country is very precipitous, but the track is good. Everywhere may he seen traces of the untiring search for gold—the many tunnels in the rocks, the various lines of water-races, and the terraces neatly piled with stones, many of which have been the scenes of the rich yields before mentioned. At the quartz mines the whole process may be observed —the quarrying of the" quartz in the mine, the crushing in the battery, and, on fortunate occasions, the assaying or smelting of the amalgam and production of the gold. All these things are full of absorbing interest to the traveller.

If time permit, no visitor to Arrow should miss the walk up the Crown Terrace, which, though it may tax his wind, will feast his eyes. The Crown Terrace is a plateau some three miles in extent, and 1.000 feet above the township. It is composed of land of splendid quality, is settled in choice farms, and in favourable seasons grows magnificent crops of wheat and _ barley. Arrived at the top of the ascent and looking’ hack towards hake AYakatipu, a magnificent view is obtained, comprising' hake WakaOpu and its attendant mountains in the distance : the courses of the Kawarau and Shotover

rivers; the still beauty of Lake Hayes, with its fringe of farm houses enclosed in blue gums; the fresh pastures of Miller’s Flat and Speargrass Flat, the latter with its beautiful Thurlby Domain; and, nearer, the winding Arrow, with its township apparently composed of fairy dolls’ houses —the whole encased in a magnificent amphitheatre of hills, scarred by storms, entraced by tracks, and brightened by patches of almost everlasting snow. There are many other points of interest around Arrowtown, and any length of time can be agreeably spent there.

The town has an athenaeum, though rather a primitive one. Hotel accommodation at Messrs Jopp’s (Royal Oak) and Dyson’s (New Orleans) is of first-clasa quality, but there is a felt want in the absence of well-kept boarding-houses for visitors who desire privacy and are willing to pay for it. There is a hospital, which is frequently called into requisition in a country where accidents are frequent, and where the heat of summer and the difficulty of inducing ventilation occasionally encourages the development of epidemics; As at Queenstown, a weekly paper supplies the jieople with mental pabulum, and occasionally' helps to make local affairs pretty lively. The inhabitants of the whole Lake district are exceedingly hospitable and kindly. They are accustomed to see numbers of visitors, and are ever ready to contribute to the enjoyment of holiday-makers if within their power. The visit to Arrowtown is by no means the least enjoyable of the Lake trips, and every tourist who can make it will be repaid amply in enjoyment, interest, ami information.