63 and free

C’mon. Just the name would make you check it out too! This town lies on the route between Wanaka and Queenstown.

Turns out it is an absolutely charming town that has survived since being established at the front end of the Central Otago Gold Rush of 1861. Dozens of towns were established during one of the greatest gold rushes in history*.

The town was largely ignored until about 30 years ago, when people noticed the natural beauty and general quaintness. We are told it is now one of the hottest real estate markets in New Zealand.

After walking around a bit, we concurred with the fundamental reasons for that trend. Just for fun we asked a local realtor about buying a place there. We gave her our budget and she gave us an address:

Okay. Not really.

We couldn’t afford this place!

😂

This dwelling was actually part of a fairly recent archeological expedition to recover/reconstruct a small village of Chinese immigrants that worked the alluvial gold fields after the prime locations ran out.

Ah Lum’s “store” was the only structure still remaining from the late 19th century Chinese village. Others have been reconstructed.

The gold rush era is an incredible story here, and I would encourage anyone visiting to learn about it.

There is a FABULOUS museum in Arrowtown, detailing what life was like in the gold rush days. Bernie and I did have a favourite panel though…

* for more information: https://www.aworldofdifference.co.nz/x,963,574,0/gold-story.html