#678 Arrowtown, New Zealand

www.arrowtownautumnfestival.co.nz 

When I think of yellow and autumn leaves, no matter where I am in the world one of the first things I think of is Arrowtown, New Zealand, a small town near where I grew up in Queenstown (#998) which had an Autumn Festival every year and was always splashed in brilliant color by the leaves. But there's more than that.

I also love the history. A gold-mining center (similar to Skipper's #731 and Cardrona #696, both in the area) from the early 1860s until the gold rush moved to the West Coast (after which many Chinese miners arrived), and the lines of pretty trees were planted in 1867. It really only has one main street, Buckingham Street, a single lane, one way road, nowadays full of cars parked, and it is flanked by (mostly replaced) old stores and cottages dating from this time. The one story buildings and old stone constructions are wild west and very timely. At its highest it had 7000 people, but it dropped as low as 200 in the 1960s; now it maintains around 2100 permanent residents.

What about the nature? Queenstown has lots to offer, of course, but at the foot of the Crown Range Mountains (where parapenters regularly jump off), very close to Coronet Peak ski field and Millbrook and Sir Michael Hill's Golf Courses, and the gateway where the Arrow River meets the Wakatipu Basin and 4WD tracks lead up to the old gold mining center of Macetown, plus multiple cycling and biking trails nearby, it has its own share of fun.


Don't forget to have an icecream while shopping on Buckingham Street - it's a tradition!

Old Buckingham Steet from www.arrowtown.com

Source: http://www.arrowtown.com/ This site has a great Buckingham Street panorama.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arrowtown