20 minutes from Queenstown, the famous heritage village of Arrowtown is nestled beside the Arrow River. It's a standout town, with an impressive line up of heritage buildings, tree-lined avenues and a long history of treasure seekers.
The valleys around the arrow river were quiet pasture lands until May 1861, when shepherd "Māori Jack" Tewa's eyes lit up while discovering gold in the Arrow River. But as many-a-story goes, a self-promoting European, William Fox, claimed the glory and stealthily hauled out 18 kilos in his saddle bag over a two week stretch. Fox started calling all the shots, allocating 60 feet of river frontage to each prospector. I'm certain men worked early mornings, late nights, and survived on very little sleep. Just like the casinos, the luring promise of fame and a bright future would've been just around the corner.
Before long, the gold-hunters needed to restock supplies, and as they did so the suspicions of others were heightened. Unable to keep their lucrative find under wraps, prospectors further east raced to the Arrow River. The life-changing news was out, and one of New Zealand's richest gold rushes had begun!
By the end of 1862, 1100 gold-hunters were working the Arrow River near the current town, with another 500 men (and a few gals no doubt) working the upper section of the river near Macetown. With so many workers and so much gold (either in-hand or about to be), a canvas town sprung up. 340 kilos of gold were carried out on the first gold escort in January 1863.
The banks of the Arrow River would never be the same again.
And treasure comes in many shapes and sizes. The stories of those old gold-panner boys are incredibly inspiring. Driven by the desire to find gold, they left family and loved ones, travelled great distances, many to never return. Long days on the rivers, numb hands from cold water, worn boots and sun-weathered skin. All costs were shouldered for the sake of the dream. Those guys would have felt every emotion under the sun, and they would've felt very very alive.
But what about us?! When I think about my dreams of building a sustainable tiny house and living off-grid, sometimes I'm slack in shouldering the harder parts of making that happen. Procrastination takes its toll. Laziness wastes an hour here or there. Sometimes the vision gets a bit hazy, so a resource is spent somewhere else. How many of our dreams get put on hold?
Arrowtown is a reminder that if something is worth achieving/obtaining/developing/being, then we may as well gun for it with our all. Better to be passionate and focused than mediocre. Better to wake up ready to achieve great things, than feel it's only duty that's hauling us outta bed. Better to be thought of as insane and following a dream, than to never try at all. The quote below was penned by a spiritual advisor to Martin Luther King Jnr, and is worth putting somewhere visible as we get out of bed.
The Otago Provincial Government invited Chinese miners to come to the Otago goldfields. Lots arrived. To this day in Arrowtown you can wander through the remains of the seperate Chinese settlement. In the 1870's, these reputable quiet and hard-working Chinese miners made up 40% of the Otago-Southland miners, and discovered around 30% of the gold. The Chinese miners remained in Arrowtown till 1928.
After the initial flurry of Arrowtown gold, a more permanent town established in European style. The town transformed into a farming service centre, but many left the area. During the 1950's Arrowtown built a reputation as a popular tourist destination. Cottages were restored. The charm and sparkle of the town were alive once more. And now you can get a good sticky bun there, while you listen to the locals spin yarns under a warm autumn sun!
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