Arrowtown

Arrowtown is an historic gold mining town in Otago, located about 20 minutes away from Queenstown. As you wander around the town, you can see so much evidence of the town's history, from the Chinese Settlement to the historic buildings. It is a rather quaint and charming place.

Till today, there is gold in 'them rivers' and many tourists have had a hand in panning for gold. We met Vicky, a cousin of Kate's, who lives in the area. She took us for a walk around the town and pointed out interesting historical facts.

There was the Provisions shop and cafe, well known for it's sticky buns. Apparently the best in the area and I saw people queueing at the store placing their orders.

There was the Arrowtown bakery, apparently renowned for having the best pies in the area or dare I say best pies in NZ? I strolled in hoping to take a photo of one of their famous pies. The pies were not easily visible so I snuck out.

A few minutes later I bumped into Maeve who asked how I went with the checking out of the famous pies. I mentioned how I couldn't get a decent shot. Lo and behold Maeve said 'Come on, let's go in and check it out! We walked into the bakery, Maeve asked if we could take a photo of their famous Steak and Mushroom pie and explained that I have a food blog which I wanted to feature their pie in. I was so surprised that the lady behind the counter accommodated her request. That's Maeve for you!

The venison pie!

Then Maeve decided to buy a pie and we chose the venison pie. Wow! It was delicious, full of meat and the sauce had a berry based flavour and I can see why it is so popular. Seriously good shortcrust pastry for the base and the puff pastry at the top. The lady was kind enough to cut the pie in half so we could share.

We strolled out and proceeded to show the rest of the group the pie we just got and as we were standing outside Saffron munching on the pie (the restaurant we were about to adjourn for lunch), Peter Gawron (owner and chef of the renowned restaurant) came out and had a go at us for eating a pie outside his restaurant. Maeve and I looked so guilty but it turns out it was all in jest. Phew!

A couple of bikies saw Maeve, our famous Maeve, and wanted to take a photo with her. Which was great so I took the opportunity to take a photo of them with Maeve. One for the books I say!!

I will post a separate blog about our lunch but after our lunch, we proceeded to the boutique cinema located right behind the restaurant and in plush surrounds saw the movie The Sapphires. Since I hadn't seen it before, it was all brand new for me and I did enjoy it. It was quite a chick flick! Perfect for the Gorgeous Girls!

It was an absolutely lovely day hanging out with the group, wandering through Arrowtown and enjoying a great movie.