Arrowtown (1 of ?)

Yay for Karen at the reception desk of my hotel.  Could not figure out what to do today -- one of the other people suggested I take a bus out to Milford Sound -- now, I understand it's supposed to be beautiful and all, but I am SO not up for a 4 1/2 hour bus ride each way -- not with a big bus trip tomorrow when I leave Queenstown and head for the glaciers (updates if I find the internet cafe out there).  So, Karen suggested I take a bus out to Arrowtown.

Arrowtown is this tiny little gold mining town about 25 minutes outside of Queenstown.  It's about one street long.  But Karen said it had a lot of things going for it -- like good meat pies, authentic fish and chips, shopping that wasn't overpriced for the tourists, and a nice place to walk along the river.  This seemed like exactly what I wanted before a day on a bus, so I took the shuttle over to Arrowtown.

First thing I did when I got off the bus was walk down to the river.  They had a loop track walk (both sides of the river) that was 4.2 km -- well marked, generally flat, and you were supposed to finish in 45 minutes to an hour.  Seemed just the ticket for me.  I went 'round it, communed with nature, looked at birdies and plant life, listened to the river gurgle, and finished the damn thing at just about an hour.  (Like I said, low end of average fitness.)

(In retrospect, I probably would've done better had I:  (a) worn my hiking boots; (b) brought some water; (c) worn my sun hat; and (d) put on more bug spray.  You'd think I'd plan these things better.  Clearly had myself a "moron moment" when I got ready for Arrowtown.)

Thereafter, I treated myself to a blackberry ice cream (vanilla with a tasty blackberry swirl) and walked up and down the street that is Arrowtown.