Hi Everyone,

Ronnie went down the street early to get some breakfast. We opted to grab another bagel from balls and bangles because we enjoyed it so much last time. We decided to get it takeaway this time and have it at the accommodation. For the most part it was excellent again. Ronnie went a bit too crazy and ordered a fried chicken with everything on it bagel which he said was just way too much for this early in the morning, it probably would have been alright for lunch.

After this we hopped into the car and ventured about 15 minutes away from Queenstown to a beautiful little historic gold mining town settlement called Arrowtown.

Arrowntown is a quaint little village. It is known for having small boutique shops and bougie restaurants. There is really only one main street that you walk down and it has the old-style storefronts. You can imagine the old horse and carts hoofing it down the middle of this street. It was quite busy but we were able to explore at our own pace.

There is a little park at the end which is lovely and we spent some time sitting in it and letting Julian run around

After we were done having our little walk around the town and browsing it was time for lunch. Today’s lunch was not quite at a bougie restaurant that Arrowtown is known for, but a slow cooked meats and burgers place called Slow Cuts. We ordered the braised brisket sliders which is two small burgers that had delicious, tender beef brisket, chimichurri, jalepeno mayo and rocket on them. These were delicious. The beef was tender, the bun was soft and the sauce was A++.

We also ordered some fried chicken wings that came with ‘slow cuts red hot sauce’ and a ranch dressing. These wings were very good, but the true star was the hot sauce. Wow. Amazing. Nan ordered some cauliflower fritters which had this amazing masala sauce on the side. Slow Cuts sauce game is unmatched. We ordered Julian some buttermilk fried chicken which he only ate a bit of so we ended up using his fried chicken to dip in the magical sauces and it was damn unreal.

After lunch we kept strolling through Arrowtown and we went down to the Arrow River that runs parallel to the main street. It is a really nice grassy spot to hang out. If we were in Australia we would’ve been on high alert for snakes in areas like this, but in NZ there is nothing of the sort. There are literally zero land snakes in New Zealand. What a paradise. We spent some time on the grassy area mucking around and letting Julian run around.

Then we went and got into the river. The spot that we were at was just a very shallow stream, but like all bodies of water around here, it was incredibly cold.

That didn’t stop us from putting our feet in and having a bit of a splash around.

Julian did not enjoy this part at all.

After this we drove back into town and went back to the accommodation so that Julian could have a little nap and we could all have a rest. After our rest we ended up strolling down into the town centre and doing a bit of shopping. We really just enjoy spending time down at the wharf. We can’t describe how beautiful the scenery is and pictures don’t do it justice. The shops are all nice and it is such a great vibe in this area too.

We pulled up for dinner at the local Irish pub called Pog Mahones. It was very much like a typical pub you’d see in Australia. They at least had a high chair for Julian which was a step up from a lot of the places we have been to recently – I’m looking at you Bolliwood, Slow Cuts & Cardrona Hotel. One of the biggest challenges with travelling with a baby has been eating out at restaurants. A high chair makes a massive difference. Julian still doesn’t want to sit still for very long, but it is a massive step up from having to hold him while we try to eat.

At Pog Mahones we ordered some crispy arancini balls that had a mushroom risotto filling with a cheese centre & truffle oil, and some coconut chilli calamari with siracha. Both of these meals were okay. Pretty much what you’d expect from a pub meal. We also got some chips with curry sauce which was yet again a delicious combination.

After dinner we spent a little bit of time at the wharf watching a street performer play his piano. It was a rather nice moment and then we went and got some gelato at Mrs Ferg’s gelataria which was the last of the trio if gelato places that we had intended on trying. We got a 3 in-1 and the flavours were chocolate peanut, pistachio and white chocolate macadamia. We would say this was the best gelato we had in NZ. For sure above Patagonia by a longshot and moderately better than Anita.

After dessert we went home and called it a night. We fly out tomorrow, but we still have some things to check off the list.

Much love,

Ronnie, Aimee & Julian.