Arrowtown Treasure Hunt

[nzbc]

www.fourcorners.co.nz/new-zealand/Arrowtown-story/

The restored buildings in the Chinese Settlement at the other end of town tell a mean and miserable tale. The gnomish huts tumbling higgledy-piggledy down a hillside are only tot-sized: a pair of blonde twins think they’re grand, rushing from hut to hut squealing “I want to go in this one! And that one!?
The sturdiest are made of schist stacked up from floor to the thatched or tin roof ?the original roofs were flattened kerosene tins ?while others are nothing more than a bit of canvas flapped up against bare boulders and pinioned with poles. It’s all a bit Grimm’s Fairy Tale-like, especially when you remember that it snows in these parts.
The day’s last treasure is hidden down an alleyway and up some stairs. Dorothy Browns Cinema and Bar ?named for a turn of the century photographer who cohabitated with a Chinese man and frequented the town’s opium dens - shows the cinema world how it should be done. Order a coffee, wine or Kapiti ice cream and settle into classy cube sofas in the bar.

Then hark to the call into the boudoir-ish theatre, where pink and mint chiffon sheers float floor to ceiling, pearl and crystal chandeliers dangle from padded Chinese silk ceiling panels, and armrests are spacious enough for a glass of pinot noir and the cheeseboard you ordered for the interval. What a find - it’s a jewel of a place to end an Arrowtown treasure hunt.

[nzbc]

www.arrowtown.org/chine.htm

The growth from an obscure church settlement to the foremost province in New Zeaiand was rapid and dramatic -




----But in 1865, the population plummeted as miners left in their thousands for the newly found Westland goldfields.
Not surprisingly, this greatly concerned the Otago business community, and led ultimately to the Otago Provincial Council inviting Chinese miners from Victoria, Australia to come to the goldfields.

Their hope was simple. An influx of Chinese miners would considerably bolster a flagging provincial economy. This invitation occurred after more than 10 years British experience of Chinese miners in Australia. The first group of immigrants reached Dunedin in February 1866 and went to the Tuapeka goldfield. Later in the same year another party arrived in the Cromwell district. Within two years there were 1200 Chinese in Otago and this total quadrupled in the 1870s. The Chinese immigrants were also a valuable source of cheap labour.

In the Arrowtown region the 'Celestiais' earned 5/- day carrying out street repairs for the borough or working for builders. The Presbyterian Church was erected with a great deal of Chinese labour. Their reputation as workers was it seems excellent although remuneration was considerably less than the ? a week paid for European labour.