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| Arrowtown |
Yesterday we drove from Wanaka to Queenstown, stopping at several places along the way. It was a bright sunny, slightly cool day, for a welcome change. That drive isn't very long, but we took a leisurely pace.
First up was the gem, Bradrona. The Cardrona Bra Fence began as a mystery between Christmas 1998 and New Year 1999, when four bras mysteriously appeared on a roadside wire fence. Though the original motive remains unknown, the local landowners decided to leave them up. As word spread, the collection grew to 60 by February—only to be stripped away by an anonymous "cleanser."
Ironically, this attempt to clear the fence only fueled its fame. Following widespread media coverage in New Zealand, the bras returned in droves. By October 2000, the count hit 200; after another mass removal, the story went global, capturing interest as far away as Europe. What started as a local quirk soon became a major tourist landmark, with people visiting in person or mailing garments from across the world. By early 2006, the fence boasted nearly 800 bras.
In November 2014, Cardrona 2 tour guides decided to take voluntary guardianship of the fence after it had been stripped by anonymous people on a number of occasions. They shifted the fence to their private driveway about 100 yards away from its original spot. A pink sign and a collection box were put up in March 2015 to help raise funds for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. The area is now known as Bradrona.
A short distance away is the small town of Cardrona, established in the 1860s in the midst of the gold rush of the time. A large flood in 1878 wiped out most mine claimed, and most people left the area. There are a few original building left in town.
As we traveled the road, the scenery changed dramatically. Views were more open, gone were the lush forests. Further along, we came to Arrowtown, another gold mining town. There are many well preserved buildings here that were used by the European and Chinese immigrants who settled during the town's gold mining era. Arrowtown is a lovely town with tree lined streets that is chock full of boutiques, restaurants, gift shops and boutiques. It's another major tourist spot. We stopped here for an ice cream cone. We do find it odd that there are very few public trash cans, but very little litter--anywhere.
By the end of the afternoon, we arrived at our hotel located on a hill overlooking Lake Wakatipu with great views of the mountains across the lake. We enjoyed the degustation menu (as we diecovered, a curated, multi-course tasting menu designed to showcase a chef’s skills, local ingredients, and varied culinary techniques) at the restaurant here, and were mostly bewildered by whatever it was they served. Each course looked beautiful and had lots of textures and flavors, but we couldn't understand most of the waiter's elaborate descriptions of what we were going to be eating. He spoke fast and with a French accent, and I wasnt going to ask him to slow down, or speak more clearly. I just figured that no matter, we'd eat the dish. Every so often, we could pick out a word: "foam" or "eel"...We've laughed a lot about that whole experience, and it will always be a funny memory for us.
Photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/ahpsGVjrpyrTK4Kk8
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