Arrowtown and Queenstown

Before and after the Routeburn Track, we spent several nights in Arrowtown and Queenstown.  Arrowtown is a quaint old mining town not far outside of Queenstown.  It was our favorite of the two without a doubt!  After dinner (and ice cream, of course) we wandered around the town.  And speaking of ice cream, Hokey Pokey (vanilla with honeycomb) is the most popular flavor in NZ and a new favorite for Sara!!

Main Street in Arrowtown

An old church in Arrowtown

The best things happen when you just wander around, which is just what we were doing after dinner and ice cream.  Next thing you know we found ourselves in a lawn bowling club making friends with a lively group of locals.  In between their Speights (the local beer on the South Island), the group gathered together some equipment and taught us the rules.  After a few ends, we clearly needed help.  In walked Tom.  Tom is an Arrowtown local, who took it upon himself to coach us on the proper bowling technique.  We were very confused when Tom kept telling us to "just keep the wee bit to the inside."  We finally realized that Tom meant that we should keep the smaller picture on the weighted balls to the left as we bowled.  All in all, we had a great time learning.  Visitors are invited into almost all of the bowling clubs in New Zealand and Australia, so we are hoping to find more clubs over the next few weeks and to improve our games!

David getting instruction on scoring from Tom

Sara practcing her new lawn bowling technique action with Tom watching on

Queenstown lived up to its title as the adventure capital of New Zealand.  There was so much going on.  Around every corner there was an amazing and easy way to spend $300+ on an adrenaline-pumping activity.  While it wasn't our favorite town, it was very picturesque and a perfect jumping off point for the Routeburn Track and other activities!