Yesterday, 20 Year 13 Geographers from Craighead stopped in at the museum as part of their tourist trip South!! They were here to learn about how tourism operates in the Queenstown Area. Why do 1.9 million visitors come here annually? What are the attractions? How have they changed over time? They also heard about the effects of tourists on the area (positive & negative) and challenges Queenstown faces in the future.

We hope you found the information useful and wish you well for your end of year exams!!

Today saw the correspondence students from Branches make a flying (literally) visit to the Museum with their families. They expereinced three different acitivties during their visit. Miss Grey and the 1880s classroom, hands on artefacts and gold panning. In Miss Grey's classroom they sketched, practised hand-writing and counted using an abacus! Hands on artefacts saw them put on white gloves and learn about objects from the Wakatipu's past. They panned in the Arrow River and were experts  - all finding gold!!

We hope you enjoyed your trip and look forward to hearing your comments on this blog!!

To kick off Arrowtown's GOLD 150 celebrations in October we are running a school holiday programme focused on GOLD!!

Sessions run on 2nd, 3rd and 4th Oct, from 10am-12noon and 1-3pm.

Some key things to note about the programme:

• You must sign-up your child(ren), pay, collect a consent and information form and leave your contact details at the museum’s front desk by Monday 1st October, 1pm.
• $4 per session, per child, Maximum 15 students each session, Years 3-8 only.
• Parents/caregivers must complete & sign a consent form on your child(ren) behalf and it must be brought to the first session your child takes – NO CONSENT FORM, NO SESSION.
• Minimum 8 students to run a session – you will be notified if the session is cancelled.
• Please ensure your child(ren) has the appropriate clothing and equipment for each session (outlined on information form).
• Due to set-up constraints we can not supervise your child between 12noon and 1pm – you will need to make arrangements for supervision during this time.

Email us [email protected] or call 03 4420317 for more information : )

Today saw Winton Primary school's Year 6 camp head to the museum! The had a full on day with lots of activities all focussed on life in the past.

They searched for things in the museum, survived Miss Grey's classroom, were locked up in the Old Gaol, squeezed into Saint Mary MacKillop's cottage, explored the Chinese village and finally panned for gold!

Can you remember the year gold was first found in the Arrow River, or what happened to criminals before the gaol was built? And what was the name of the Chinese man who ran the store in the village?

We hope you enjoyed the visit as much as we did and look forward to hearing from you on this blog!!

Yesterday saw Makikihi School visit the museum for a day full of activities about the past. First they explored the museum and looked at the displays on gold mining and life in the late 1800s. Then they visited the Chinese village and had a chance to imagine what life must have been like for these men. After lunch saw them survive Miss Grey (just!!) and then a walk around some of Arrowtown's historic buildings. Lastly they went panning at the Arrow River - just as the miners would have 150 years ago.

We hope you enjoyed your visit to us and it would be great if you could write any comments on this blog!!

Today, saw Year 7 & 8 students from Timaru Christian School learn all about the past!! They survived Miss Grey's classroom, explored the museum and Chinese village and panned for gold in the freezing Arrow River.

The students proved to be expert panners and everyone found gold! Can you remember when the first gold was discovered in the Arrow? Why did the Chinese miners come to the goldfields? What was the name of the carriage in the Bank room of the museum? Who might have been lucky enough to ride in it? How has technology changed? Why were a lot of the buildings made from schist rock?

We hope you had a good time at the museum and look forward to hearing about it on this blog!

Today saw the Year 7 & 8 students from John McGlashan College in Dunedin visit the museum to learn about life in the past! They experienced a range of activities including exploring the museum and looking for information about how life was so different during the goldrush; a walk around the streets of Arrowtown looking at buildings the miners used including the Old Gaol; visiting the Chinese village huts and the conditions these men had to live in; and finally trying their luck in the Arrow River to pan for gold!

We hope you enjoyed your visit and look forward to hearing any comments on this blog!

Today, saw the second set of New Entrant and Year 1 classes from Remarkables Primary visit the museum. It was a lovely day for exploring and the students did plenty of that!! In the museum to find things the miners used in the past, along Buckingham street looking at old buildings and then at the Arrow River where they searched for GOLD!

While everyone had a go at apnning only some got lucky and struck a small flake of gold in their pans! We hope you enjoyed your trip to the museum tell us your favourite part on this blog!

Today the sun shone (and the wind blew!!) and Remarkables New Entrant and Year One classes learnt all about the MINERS! At the museum to study life in during the goldrush the classes completed three different activities.

They exlpored the museum hunting for 'old things' the miners used, walked up and down Buckingham Street looking at where the miners shopped and experienced life as a 'real life miner' at the Arrow River - making butter, washing clothes and of course panning for gold!! Some struck it lucky but most didn't which was very similiar to the miners...they could often go days without any gold : (

We hope you had a good time and it would be great to hear what you thought about your visit on this blog!!

Last Thursday the Year 13 Geography students from Queen's High School in Dunedin listened to a presentation about tourism which covered the information that was needed for AS3.2 and the topic 'how tourism operates in Queenstown and the surrounding area.' The students took notes and completed progressive sketch maps showing the changes in the distribution of tourist attractions from the late 1800s until the present day. They also discussed the effects of tourism in the Wakatipu Basin.

A group of Year 13 Tourism sutdents also attended the trip as they were working towards their Level 2 Tourism certificate. They took notes on the changes in tourism in the area along with the issues and problems associated with living in a tourist town. This was followed by an interesting discussion on employment opportunities, the level of skills required and the cost of living in Queenstown!

On Friday, Waitaki Girls visited the Lakes District Museum in order to hear a presentation about the changes (temporal and spatial) in Queenstown's tourism industry. The slides and talk I hope underlined the massive changes to the town and its surrounds over the last 150 years (since the discovery of gold in 1862).

The girls asked good quenstions and managed to keep their focus throughout. There was much mention of the phenominal growth of the airport - so it was appropriate that they were to vist that next. Well done girls and good luck with your finals!