Kawarau Bridge: Home of the Bungy

Even though Andy and I saw some bungy jumping while we were on Bob's Peak in Queenstown, we knew we had to see it at the Kawarau Bridge.

Why?

Because this is where commercial bungy jumping officially began! Opened by AJ Hackett in 1988, the Kawarau Bridge is the world's first permanent commercial bungee site and home to the original 43-meter jump!

About half an hour east of Queenstown, the Kawarau Bridge was, conveniently, on our way out to Dunedin. But after Andy finished panning and we finally left Arrowtown, the sun was going down fast and I was convinced we had missed our opportunity to see the bungy jumpers that day.

When we pulled into the lot of the Kawarau Bungy Center in our dusty black van (and wearing jandals no less), we were met with fancy cars and people with champagne glasses wearing suits and evening gowns. Clearly there was an event going on that night and the viewing area appeared closed off to the general public.

But one step out of the van and I began to hear a countdown going on.  5... 4... 3... 2...  I looked towards the bridge just in time to see the back of a man in a white shirt leap off to screams and cheers.

As we ran around the center looking for a place to watch without sticking out like a sore thumb, we ended up rushing to the other side of the bungy centre out by the road for a better view just as we heard the announcer say "Okay, this will be the last jump of the night..."

And with the sun setting behind us, we quickly readied our camera and videotaped just as the countdown began again:

Sweet as!

After the final jump, all the well-dressed spectators headed indoors for what must have been a wedding reception or a cocktail party of some sort. As the crew was packing up, Andy and I had the chance to cross the bridge and admire the amazing views from the top (which included yet another great Lord of the Rings filming location!):

The Kawarau River and Gorge (a.k.a. the Anduin River and the Argonath/Pillars of the Kings)

Great end to a great day.

Next stop: Dunedin!

Gold Fever: Part II - The Arrow River

In the spring of 1862, Jack Tewa, a sheep shearer, found a chunk of gold in the Arrow River just outside of present-day Arrowtown. By the fall of the same year over 1,500 miners had set up shop along the river to lay claim to one of the richest strikes of alluvial gold in history. Here, I followed in their footsteps and tried my luck.

This also happens to be the same area as another Lord of the Rings filming location. This is where the Ringwraiths were swept away while trying to cross the Ford of Bruinen in Fellowship of the Ring.

At first I only found a speck or two but I knew I had the scent. I decided to hike downstream for a while and then I found it. A huge pool that was clearly the remains of a historical dredging operation. Just upriver of this pool was a little island in the middle of the river with a lone shrub growing on it. Little more then a sandbar, I knew that this was a fresh deposit of sediment untouched by other tourists. I waded across the river and started digging into the loose gravel.

When I met the other prospector over at Twelve Mile Delta, one of the things I learned from our conversation was that you won't find black sand at Twelve Mile like you do in most other rivers. Black sand contains iron and is much heavier then most other sediment that you find in a river. In most cases if you don't find black sand you won't find any gold. After a short time, I had dug a cross-section out of the sandbar and could see the layers of sediment. Layers of black sand were clearly visible. I focused on these areas and started to find more specks here and there. Clearly, my luck has improved:

Here is a rough estimate of what I found while panning near Arrowtown.

Time passes very quickly when you are panning for gold. There are some crazy panning competitions where people can go through a pan in under thirty seconds. However, when you are first developing your technique it can take up to half an hour to sift through a single pan. Even after all that work you can come up empty, which is discouraging. But once you start finding two or three specks of gold after each attempt, you start to lose all sense of time as you work from pan to pan. After spending three or four hours down on the river it started to get dark and we wanted to make it to Kawarau Gorge in time to watch some bungee jumping!

Discovering History in Arrowtown

As much as we liked the vibe and energy of Queenstown, it was definitely a tourist town. Meaning everything was expensive, from the activities and the restaurants to the campsites and the grocery stores (In other words, it is very easy to blow your budget here). So after about a week, we were ready to move on.

Arrowtown was our last stop in the area before making our way east towards Dunedin. About 20 minutes northeast of Queenstown, this small historic gold-mining town definitely had a different vibe then the "Adventure Capital of the World."

With its quiet charm and laid-back atmosphere, we couldn't get enough of this place and ended up spending a whole day there wandering the streets and absorbing the rich history.

There was an inexpensive museum you can visit:

But who needs a museum when the very streets you walk on look like they come right out of an exhibit!

The library

Saffron was apparently frequented by the Lord of the Rings cast while filming in the area. We thought about eating there ourselves but the prices scared us away...

There was a lot more to see in Arrowtown other than the little shops and restaurants on main street. As we continued further down the road, we came across a street lined with miner's cottages that had been built in the late 1800s and later restored:

On the other side of town we spent about an hour exploring the Chinese Settlement, which had been established by Chinese gold seekers in the mid-late 1800s:

A sign near the entrance.  Can you read the Chinese, mom? :)
(Click the picture to zoom)

Stone outhouse

Ah Lum's store

The interior of Ah Lum's store; surprisingly small considering it was a community meeting place for gold seekers.

In conclusion, if Andy and I ever decide to retire in New Zealand, Arrowtown would be a top contender. This cute little town has a ton of history and is appealing in more ways than one. The Arrow River, where gold was first discovered in 1862, continues to attract gold miners to this day. And you can bet Andy wouldn't pass up an opportunity like this...

Stay tuned!

Paradise: The Gateway to Middle Earth

**Nerd Alert**

Paradise provided the amazing landscape for movies such as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Hobbit, and of course The Lord of the Rings trilogy!

To get there, we followed the signs from Glenorchy, which took us down a gravel road for about 20km. Soon enough, the scenery began to look very "LOTRish."

Several Lord of the Rings locations were filmed here, including: Isengard, Lothlorien, and Amon Hen. Boromir's death scene was filmed here as well.

Like our experience at Twelve Mile Delta, we knew we were in the general area, but we didn't know the exact locations for each place. Without even a guidebook to help us out, we had to guess. Luckily, some of them didn't seem too difficult...

Entrance to Lothlorien(?)

Lothlorien or Amon Hen. What do you think?

Just take out the cows and the fence and add the Tower of Orthanc... Isengard, anyone?

We followed the gravel road as far as we could go, through forests and over creeks, until we ended up at a car park and the start of several trails, including the Dart Trail. Though we didn't end up going tramping this day, Andy did do a bit of panning along the creeks we passed:

Movies aside, Paradise really is a beautiful place that definitely lives up to its name. If we ever make it back here, I would love to explore this area more thoroughly on horseback. :)

Glenorchy: The Gateway to Paradise

While we were in Queenstown, we took a day trip out to Glenorchy, a tiny township about a 45 minute drive northwest along Lake Wakatipu. The drive there has been renown as one of the most scenic drives in the world:

The town itself didn't have a whole lot other then this really nice park where we stopped for lunch:

But the real reason we wanted to go to Glenorchy was because it was known as the “Gateway to Paradise,” and Paradise, like Twelve Mile Delta, was a major Lord of the Rings filming location!

More on Paradise in the next post...