In the Old Prospecting Days

A cowboy town in New Zealand?? Yup, this is Cromwell. More precisely, this is its Heritage Precinct, in Otago, South Island, NZ.

The family’s reunion in New Zealand is fast approaching. Dad, Hazel, and finally, Jason and family are gonna visit Kim in Auckland in the middle of this month, and then, they’re gonna head out on a hectic, all-out NZ excursion, covering the North as well as the South Islands. Jason’s hired a campervan. No, make that a Motorhome! It’s the larger, nicer version, of a campervan, with built-in toilet, shower, kitchen, and what have you, not like the little Jucy campervan we rented in 2018.

Alas. We’re not gonna be there. So, here’s to remembering our own New Zealand trip, a continuation of my posts of our South Island trip in 2018. This is gonna be my last NZ post.. Wait, make that the second-last (I realized I’ve still got a lot of photos left to post, heehee). Till we visit again. Here goes!


Cromwell’s a gold prospecting town in the old Otago Gold Rush days… Now it’s known more for its fruits, than gold. Heck, it even has a monument for its fruits! (Nope, didn’t take a photo. What’s so interesting about giant peaches on poles?) It’s known as the “Fruit Bowl of the South” now! Hell, yeah! Sez the lady whose house we stayed in, in Cromwell, on our last night of our South Island trip. Don’t believe me?! Go Google Cromwell, NZ, and you’ll see!


That’s the house we stayed in! No 42, Barry Avenue, Cromwell. On our last night in the South Island. I hadn’t planned this actually; it was a last-minute thing. The original plan was to sleep in the campervan, in a camping ground, somewhere. Anywhere! And then Anu suggested, that since this was our last night, could we have something better? B’coz, we still had to pack up, and stuff like that before we fly off? And she's right! It didn’t help that the only available camping ground near us, had only one berth left, and it was cramped to the brim with people, like the trailer parks that you see in movies! And so, we started our search, but there weren’t many hotels around, and each and everyone that we contacted was full. (It was peak Christmas season!) And then, one of the hotels informed that they knew someone who could let out their rooms for a night, and we got the number of this lady, I still remember her name, Jacinda, just like the name of the then New Zealand Prime Minister! (I’ve never come across a Jacinda in my life before, and two popped out in NZ. It must be a really common Kiwi name!)


And this is the ‘trailer park’ that we nearly stayed in. The Cromwell Holiday Park. I think we paid, and decided otherwise when we saw where we had to park, and they refunded the money. Good on them. I tried checking it out on Google Maps, and it’s completely gone now! I think it’s being redeveloped into a housing area, or something… Bye-bye! (It was at the plot surrounded by Alpha St on its east, and Midlothian Ave on its north…)


Back at the Precinct District. It lies beside the Kawarau River. Cromwell lies at the mouth of the Kawarau River, where it meets the Clutha River


That’s the Kawarau River… which incidentally, is also the river (one of the rivers anyway) used to film the River Anduin in the Lord of the Rings movie… you know the river flanked by the 2 huge statues of kings with their hands extended… the “Pillars of Kings” or “the Gate of Argonath”? That’s on this river, but further upstream. This photo is at the river's mouth…


It sure is windy, huh? Cromwell, Otago, New Zealand


Huh? What’s this? The house of the Illuminati? It’s a Masonic Lodge! Cromwell


Here’s another quaint gold prospecting town, Arrowtown! Near Queenstown, Otago




Anu loves this town, with its white cottages, flowers, trees… This is her idea of a nice town to stay in!


And that’s the Arrowtown church! Let’s see, it’s the St Patrick’s Catholic Church!

That’s all for now, folks! One more NZ post to go after this. See ya!