After a wonderful relaxing ten day stay at Carol and James Airbnb in Arthurs Point I headed over for a three day stay in Cromwell.  Cromwell is only about an 45 minutes from Queenstown but the geography is completely different.  Unlike Queenstown, which is surrounded by tall, steep, snow-capped mountains, Cromwell, another wine growing region, has a topography that reminds me a bit of Southern California– tall, bare, rocky hills surrounded by green vineyards that climb the slopes as high as they can.  I had done a wine tasting excursion from Queenstown but when I had been doing my research realized it would be handy to be based out of Cromwell, too, in order to more easily access some of the eastern wine growing areas.

I did not head directly to Cromwell, however.  Leaving Arthurs Point I turned northeast, instead of south into town, heading for Arrowtown.  I had not yet investigated the small, historic mining community, saving that for my drive to Cromwell as the route allowed me to avoid the traffic that always exists when driving east through Queenstown.  Arrowtown is a historic mining town with remains of a small Chinatown, occupied by the huge amount of Cantonese miners that came to New Zealand in the mid-1800’s to participate in the gold rush.  The town is also the jumping off point for several cycle paths.  Add a picturesque downtown area with bars, restaurants and stores and it shouldn’t have surprised me to find a full parking lot and a lot of activity when I arrived.  I found a parking spot near the river (happy I did not have to negotiate a camper van through the tight spaces) and set out to explore the town.  I found a bakery and tried one of their pies– which seems to be a developing theme for me– and sat down to enjoy the day before the rain that threatened arrived.  I also explored the remains of the Chinatown, enjoying the storyboards at the different locations which explained the history.  I spent a couple of hours wandering around and left when the sky opened up and the rain started.

I had one other stop to make on my way to Cromwell, the Kawarau Gorge suspension bridge, made world-famous as the iconic “bungy jumping” bridge of New Zealand.  When I was in New Zealand with friends in 1990, A.J Hackett and his partners had started the bungy jumping craze at the very same bridge; it was still going on, even though under a different name.  I had no desire to jump in 1990 and still did not have a desire to jump, but I wanted to stop by and check out the action.  Luckily it was only slightly misting at the bridge, which was not enough to stop the operations, so I stayed there for a bit to watch people jump.  The most surprising thing was that it is possible to jump as a couple now, and not just individually.  I was a bit dumbfounded to see a couple, tied together at the ankles, with their arms around each other, take the plunge!  I still think it’s crazy……(some things don’t change in 35 years).

The iconic NZ bungy jumping spot. After the bungy comes to rest, they lower you to a boat and untie you. You walk back up the hill.

I had a nice drive over to Cromwell through the Kawarau River gorge, outrunning the rain and finding myself back in sunshine and easily found my Airbnb, which was nicely located within walking distance of everything in town.  The next morning I set out on foot to find the information center to get a copy of the “wine strolling” route I had read about, a comfortable way to visit a bunch of wineries (no driving!).  After searching for the info center with no luck, I stopped in a hotel to ask for help and was told the info center had closed.  The nice lady at the reception desk provided me an update on the wineries within walking distance and a map. Studying the map I decided I could walk in a counter-clockwise circle around Cromwell and hit between three and four wineries, so I set out south to find the first one.

After a short ten minute walk, I found the first two, which were right next to each other.  I spent a pleasant time sampling at both and talking with the proprietor of the second, who as I tasted and explained what I liked and did not, kept providing other suggestions.  Eight samples later, I was ready for a walk!  Cromwell sits on Lake Dunstan, which was formed when dams were built to create hydroelectric power.  As I exited the last tasting room, I followed the directions I had been given to find a path along the lake that led to the historic district of Cromwell.  It was a nice sunny day and I was not the only one out walking.  As I strolled on the path I caught up with two women, Carol and Helen, who were also out enjoying the weather.  We started talking and I walked with them to the historic district where we sat down and had a drink together.  They were super friendly and ended up inviting me to dinner with them and their husbands at a local club that evening.  I accepted (because, why not???).  Plans made, we separated and I headed out to visit one final winery for the day.

The last winery was actually very near my Airbnb, about a fifteen minute walk from the historic district, so I knew I had time to stop by before being home in time for dinner.  I enjoyed a Pinot Noir tasting on a scenic hill overlooking Cromwell before heading home.  Carol and her husband were going to pick my up for dinner and I wanted to be ready.  The club they took me to for dinner reminded me of the Moose Lodge or Knights of Columbus Hall in my home town growing up.  It was very causal, they had music, which some were dancing to,, a bar, a casual restaurant and pool.  I had a nice dinner with Carol and her husband Mike, and Helen and her husband Jeff.  Helen and Jeff were visiting from the North Island; Carol and Mike moved to Cromwell a few years earlier (from the North Island).  We had such a good time, they Carol invited me to dinner the following night with the four of them at her house, which turned out was only a 15 minute walk from my Airbnb. I accepted (because, why not???).

Standing at the 45th South Parallel sign.

The next morning I decided to go explore the 45th parallel walk, which had some scenic views of the lake and surrounding area.  The hike was named for the fact that the path intersects the southern 45th parallel, which does not intersect land very often.  The starting point was easy to find, only 10 minutes from my Airbnb, because there was a marker for the 45th parallel by the highway.  The hike to the hill was straight up a steep slope, luckily broken up a bit by steps that had been built into the hillside.  At the top was a loop with a bench that overlooked the lake.  I sat for a while and watched some of the boat traffic on the lake.  It was another sunny, warm day and there were about a dozen boats on the lake, some towing water skiers.  The water looked way too cold for me to consider dipping in a toe; I hoped the water skiers were wearing wet suits!  I had the whole place to myself, only seeing another person as I descended.

It’s hard to see, but this is the steep hill (with stairs) I had to climb.

But the view from the top was excellent. This is looking back at Cromwell.

I headed back to the Airbnb to shower and do some work before heading over to Carol and Mike’s for dinner.  Dinner was lovely and we had a great time, covering a lot of different topics, while we sat around.  It turned out that the next day was Mike’s birthday, so we even had a birthday cake.  I headed out before dark, as I was walking back to my Airbnb, thanking them profusely for their hospitality.

The next day I headed, retracing my steps partially back towards Queenstown, to visit the Goldfelds Mining museum.  The site encompassed an old gold mining camp, with buildings and equipment still strewn about.  The mines, small, dark holes in the ground or rock walls, were also in evidence, but were locked up as they were not safe to enter anymore.  There were a couple of different trails through the site and I wandered around poking into different areas.  I also participated in a guided tour which was interesting as the guide explained what the equipment was for and how it worked.  Of course, they had gold panning available for those who wanted to try their luck.  I tried one pan just to say I did it (and no, I did not find gold).

Stone, one-room huts occupied by the Cantonese miners that lived in this area searching for gold.

A mine, still with the rusted old trolley in front of it.

There were two more wineries that I wanted to visit, south of Cromwell in Bannockburn, so after I was done at the gold mining museum I headed over to Bannockburn.  It was another lovely day and I lingered at both wineries as they both sat on hills overlooking the lake.  I had a wonderful conversation with the Italian gentleman who ran the wine tasting at one of the wineries. We talked wine, but he also gave me some good suggestions for what to see on the North Island.

The North Island is my next stop.  I headed to the airport the following day and got on a flight to Auckland where I am going to pick up another camper van and spend three weeks roaming around the North Island.