History of the Lake
Carved by Glaciers
Carved out during the last ice age 15,000 years ago it took four glaciers advancing & retreating through the Wakatipu Basin to create Lake Wakatipu. Each glacier gouged the lake deeper & carved the five rivers which flow into Lake Wakatipu: the Dart, the Rees, the Greenstone-Caples, the Von and the Lochy. The Kawarau River is the only outlet through which the lake is drained.
Image: Queenstown in winter
Early Maori & Pounamu
The Wakatipu was important to early Southern Maori as a valuable source of food & of trading commodities, including Pounamu. Pounamu was a symbol of chiefly authority that was traded around New Zealand. Trails were created to transport it to the east coast tribes. Pounamu is found in plentiful supply at the head of Lake Wakatipu especially around the Routeburn & Dart Valleys.
Image: Pounamu stone
Early European Explorers
Nathaniel Chalmers was the first European to lay eyes on Lake Wakatipu while exploring the South Island in 1853. William Rees & Nicholas Von Tunzelmann on the hunt for suitable farmland arrived from Cardrona in 1859. Settling in the Wakatipu, Rees built a homestead for his farm. He launched the first permanent boat on Lake Wakatipu, a five oar whale boat from Southland. This enabled access to the farms far reaches and ensured supplies were easily brought into the district.
Image: William Rees
Gold Rush
Jack Tewa is credited with the discovery of the first strike of gold, which he found in 1862 by the Arrow River. His discovery would change the Wakatipu district from a pastoral area to a gold-mining settlement and one of the world's richest sources of alluvial gold. Jack Tewa is also credited with the heroic deed of saving a man from drowning in Lake Wakatipu when their boat capsized by a cove opposite the Devil's Staircase.
Image: Goldmining village
