One of the many day trips you could take from Queenstown would be to places like Milford Sounds, Glenorchy, Wanaka, Arrowtown and many more. Out of our week long stay in Queenstown, we dedicated one day to Arrowtown as we read about the walks & hikes you could take from town and venture out into the wilderness. Sounds about easy enough, they had a historical site plus various difficulty levels of hikes you could partake in depending on your physical level of fitness. My best friend and I decided to go for the easiest route that morning, the Arrow river trail. Most of the trails are available on Arrowtown’s website, click here to find out more. After grabbing a hearty breakfast in the centre of Queenstown, we started our drive to Arrowtown, arriving in under 30 minutes.

After find a beautiful parking spot in the outdoors, and finding where the trail started, we began our journey. The opening of the trail was just gorgeous, felt like I was entering a Disney cartoon world, the birds were chirping, the sun was warm, a breeze was in the air and the leaves were rustling overhead.

Gorgeous scenery greeted us right out of the parking lot.
I wasn’t sure what the little house there was for.
The beginning of our trail to Arrow river.
Turn left after this stone house for the artsy trail, or continue right to reach the river.

We were glad that we chose to go here on a weekday, as there were barely anyone else with us, it felt like a secluded private walk. We saw probably less than 10 people in total during the walk from the start till the end.

Ben going ahead into the wild.
One with nature.
We got sidetracked by the many small pathways, and there weren’t much signboards.
These tiny weed looking flowers look so pretty in the light.
I’m just taking a break under a tree, unfortunately no picnic spread.
Little streams of crystal clear waters.
Ben is my GPS, always leading the way.
Isn’t it about time that we see the river yet?
Running in the river.
Finally, we got the river bank.

As there weren’t really any signs on where to navigate your way through the trail, we randomly took a left turn and headed upstream after arriving at the river bank. It was a beautiful walk, but the sand flies were really quite a bother. With no bug repellant, and proper clothing to avoid them, I soon gave up and turned back around, the many bites on my legs were already itching like hell. Don’t forget to bring adequate protection along with you when you take the trail.

Got my tripod set up and got this shot of the river bending around the rocky banks.
I just sat here for 10 minutes or so appreciating the silence around me.
Time to find my way back out to the little town, I’m getting hungry for a snack.
Mirror image of the beautiful surroundings.
Historical Dudley house.

The shops that surrounded Arrowtown were just so quaint. Little shops selling mostly souvenirs of the area littered the streets alongside cafe’s and restaurants. I was on a hunt for a snack as the trail walk made me so hungry. After 15 minute hunt through the quiet streets, I found myself in a nice little cafe having a delicious freshly baked scone.

Township of Arrowtown.
It looked more like a dinner roll than a scone, but it was SO GOOD !

After gobbling up my snack and my bestie indulging in some wine, we started to make our drive back to Queenstown as the sun started to set over the horizon. It was a fuss free chilled out day, highly recommended if you just want a slow day taking things easy with no itinerary in mind. Could be a good end to a hectic trip mingling around nature. No one ever said no to lots of fresh air and a good walk through the forest. The only regret i had, was not ordering 2 of those gorgeous scones, otherwise it would have been a perfect day.