This is a really lovely, short, flat walk around Arrowtown following the banks of the Arrow river front then downstream past the site of the old Arrow Quartz Reefs. This walk is actually part of the Queenstown Trail now. It’s only 4.2k and will take you around 1 hour to walk or 30 mins to bike it. I choose to ride on my e-bike only because I had it with us plus it’s quicker.
The Arrow Anniversary walkway was built by the Otago Regional Council in 1998 to celebrate 150 years of European settlement in the area. It was also to help with public access to the Arrow River. On a hot day you will be sheltered from the suns rays by a forest of big Willow, Sycamore and Larch trees.
It is said that somewhere along the Arrow Anniversary walk there are scenes of the Arrow River in the Garden Fields in the Lord of the Rings movie, see if you can spot them.
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To start your walk along the Arrowtown Anniversary walk make your way to the car park between the river and Arrowtown, then walk down to the rivers edge where we you will meet up with the track, turn right.
This section of the Arrowtown Anniversary walk you will be in the shade of the willow and sycamore trees and will not see much of the Arrow River until you reach the bridge.
For some reason I decided to walk the Anniversary walk in a clockwise direction. You could walk in an anticlockwise direction by continuing down the river and crossing at the next bridge. But today I crossed over the bridge and turned right and continued along the Arrowtown Anniversary walkway. Once across the bridge there was a very good information board with a very detailed map and a number of tracks including the times and distances, a very good reference for walks in the future.
This next section of the Arrowtown Anniversary walk was very enjoyable, the sun was out and the light breeze on my back to keep me cool. There was no shortage of excellent views of the Arrow River. There were plenty of opportunities to walk down to the Arrow river and remove your shoes and socks and have a little paddle for a few minutes to cool down. I just missed three boys on the other side of the river jumping off this high rock into a deep pool. With a little bit of luck I might catch them jumping off the rock when I walk back on the other side of the river.
Now I did stop for a few minutes to talk to a gold prospector with his small portable dredge in the Arrow River. He said he wasn’t having much luck today, but I don’t think he would tell me if he was making his fortune today, if he did, it might start another gold rush in Arrowtown!
The second bridge, make sure you cross the bridge, otherwise you might find yourself sleeping in Cromwell for the night. This bridge was a little longer than the first and it was in a beautiful setting of Willow trees, just the place to sit down by the river bank and relax for 5 minutes.
Halfway already? The walk was so interesting the time just flew by, what will I find on the last section of this Arrowtown Anniversary walk. So far I have only met two other walkers on the walkway, for a beautiful relaxing river walk in the heart of Arrowtown I was expecting to be shoulder to shoulder with people today. But I’m not complaining if it wasn’t for the gold prospector with his noisy petrol powered portable sluice, the only noise would have been from the wind in the trees and the sound of the Arrow River trickling over the stones.
All I have to do now is follow the track back to Arrowtown and time for a hot flat white coffee, maybe a small piece of chocolate cake to go with my coffee, would not hurt.
There was a really great swimming hole, a rope was suspended from the willow tree, so you could swing out and drop into the cold deep Arrow river, what a great spot.
Just before you meet up with the first bridge you crossed at the beginning of the walk, there was a family and two dogs enjoying a swim. I think the dogs are having more fun than the kids. The kids found the water a little too cold for them, but the dogs would not come out of the river until the lady gave them a strong command to get out. Happy days!
When you arrive at the first bridge you crossed at the beginning of the Arrowtown anniversary walk you have a choice of walking back along the river or you can cut up to the street on your Left and then follow the street back into town, either way you are only 5 minutes away from Arrowtown,
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