We took a great bike trip from Queenstown to Arrowtown to Gibbston Winery. The weather didn’t cooperate most of the day with torrential downpours at times, but we didn’t let it stop us. It is amazing how many bike friendly trails there are in New Zealand, and how well maintained they are.
We also made a quick detour to an old Chinese mining museum. Apparently Chinese immigrants (mostly men) used to work in New Zealand, helping with mining for gold and other minerals despite racism and hatred from the locals. This work helped them support their families abroad. They lived in tiny huts and in very poor conditions.
We then proceeded to the town called Arrowtown, which was an old gold mining town, followed by many miles of winding hills and farms to the Gibbston Winery & Cheesery . Unfortunately, we got there a bit too late for wine tasting, but Igor promised Lindsay a winery visit later.
Finally, we finished the day off by doing a 2 hour grueling trail up to the Gondola because Lindsay refused to pay $32 per person for a ride despite Igor’s pleas! At the end of the 2 hour climb, she finally caved and agreed to ride the gondola down, for a mere $22 per person. The views – priceless. Suggest going at sunset!
At night, we took the water taxi back to our suite, having a feast of New Zealand free range lamb, of course, with some New Zealand pinot noir. Yum.