South Island Road Trip * day five * travel from Lake Tekapo to Arrowtown

I got a little bit off track with the South Island Road Trip series and stopped to do some sewing and roller derby. Getting back at it with day five of our trip.

We left Lake Tekapo and drove through vineyards and orchards, past ghost towns and abandoned gold mines, along rivers, beside snow capped mountains and arrived in Arrowtown.

At the house we had lunch and then popped into town for a stroll. The Autumn Festival was in full swing and the hills were on fire with bright yellow, orange and red leaves. There was a scarecrow making contest earlier in the day and the kids had fun finding them throughout the town. It was a bit nostalgic for me, thinking about the scarecrow festival in the Illinois town where I grew up.

My favorite holiday memories are from places that are a bit off the beaten path. We always end up preferring places with fewer people. If we had it to do over again, I probably would have chosen to stay in Wanaka for this leg of the trip. Wanaka is about an hour from Arrowtown, right on the border of Mount Aspiring National Park... a park that I wish he had more time to explore. Wanaka is also the town that my sister lived in for several months in 2005.

Here are a few things I would have loved to have seen/done in this general area - if we had more time and bigger kids. 
Rob Roy Glacier Track
Poolburn Gorge (small portion of the Otago Rail Trail)
Otago Central Rail Trail - on bike
Dart River - the Dart River was stunning - we probably would have sprung for a Jetboat tour if our kids were bigger.