Tourist Operations
Gold mining featured in its early history and it was one of the richest gold bearing rivers in the world. Beginning in 1862 when gold was first discovered on the river at Arthurs Point, the river has been panned, cradled, sluiced and dredged. Today small time gold seekers still work the river and two of its tributaries, Moke and Moonlight Creeks, for gold. It is now a popular river for tourism.
The river is used for commercial white water rafting trips and jet boating rides which operate out of the nearby tourist resort of Queenstown. There is also a canyon swing site on the river a short distance upriver from Arthurs Point. Three jet boat operators have rights to use the river, as do two rafting companies. Much of the land that surrounds the Shotover River, upstream from Arthurs Point, is now foreign owned by Robert Lange, the former husband of singer Shania Twain.
Read more about this topic: Shotover River
Famous quotes containing the words tourist and/or operations:
“The modern American tourist now fills his experience with pseudo-events. He has come to expect both more strangeness and more familiarity than the world naturally offers. He has come to believe that he can have a lifetime of adventure in two weeks and all the thrills of risking his life without any real risk at all.”
—Daniel J. Boorstin (b. 1914)
“It may seem strange that any road through such a wilderness should be passable, even in winter, when the snow is three or four feet deep, but at that season, wherever lumbering operations are actively carried on, teams are continually passing on the single track, and it becomes as smooth almost as a railway.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)