Mackenzie Basin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Mackenzie Basin, popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately 100 kilometers (62 miles) north-south, and 40 kilometers (25 miles) east-west. The Southern Alps constitute its western edge.
Using State Highway 8, it can be accessed via Burke's Pass (elev. 709m/2,326') from the north and the Lindis Pass (elev. 965m/3,166') from the south, or via S.H.83 through the Waitaki Valley from the east. Apart from these passes, the terrain is generally highest at the northern end and gradually descends in a southward direction.
The majority of the Mackenzie Basin is within Canterbury, although the small part of the basin to the south of the Waitaki River is in Otago.
Prominent rivers to cross the Mackenzie Basin include the Waitaki, the Ahuriri, the Hakataramea and the Tekapo Rivers. Lakes Ohau, Pukaki, Alexandrina and Tekapo lie within the Mackenzie Basin, as do the artificial hydroelectric lakes of Ruataniwha, Benmore and Aviemore.
Sparsely populated, and with only four settlements (Lake Tekapo, population <500; Mount Cook Village, population <150; Twizel, population <1,000; Omarama, population <400), the Mackenzie Country comprises an extraordinarily beautiful area of huge glacial lakes and magnificent snow-capped mountains, particularly favored by tourists and skiers. The Ohau skifield near Omarama and Roundhill Ski Area at Lake Tekapo are small club skifields popular amongst many living in Canterbury and Otago.
The Mackenzie Country is increasingly being put to use as the principal location for many motion pictures, including much of Peter Jackson's epic Lord of the Rings film trilogy, as well as numerous television shows, documentaries and commercials.
Gliding is another prominent activity within the Mackenzie Basin, hosting a Gliding World Cup event, as well as being the location of several clubs, airfields, and numerous private sailplane pilots, of both amateur and professional status.
Due to its clean, dry and dark sky, the Mackenzie Basin serves as an important area for astronomy, with a number of related facilities located there, including the University of Canterbury's Mount John University Observatory, and several prominent amateur observatories. Astronomy-related tourism has become an important and growing part of the area's economy, with two more astro-tourism ventures in development, near Lake Ohau and Omarama.
There is growing impetus to protect the area's clear, dark sky, and plans are currently well underway to have the Mackenzie Basin designated the world's first International Dark Sky Reserve, resulting in strictly-enforced ordinances to prevent light pollution.
[edit] External links
- N.Z. Department of Conservation - Lake Tekapo and Mackenzie Basin history and ecology
- Mount John University Observatory
- Nagoya University-funded Project MOA (Microlensing Observations in Astrophysics)
- Hide Ozawa's Stargazing Tours, Twizel and Mount Cook
- Earth and Sky's observatory and stargazing tours, Lake Tekapo
- Omarama Gliding Club website
- World Altitude Record Attempt website
- Ohau Skifield website
- Roundhill Ski Area website
- Ben Ohau Merino Sheep Station website
