Of our capacious lake, scant mentions, and a slice of ill fortune
Southland’s largest and possibly deepest lake is Te Anau with a surface area of 344 square kilometres.
It holds much more water than Lake Taupō, which is shallow and has a surface area of 616 square kilometres.
Taupō is a flooded caldera, the result of a series of violent volcanic explosions, the most recent about 1800 years ago.
Te Anau and the other southern lakes – Wakatipu, Manapouri, Hauroko and Monowai – are flooded glacial valleys.
They are deep and cold and subject to sudden changes in the weather, which make them unsuitable for much aquatic activity.
There are 41 lakes in New Zealand with a surface area of greater than 10km² and although Te Anau is the largest body of fresh water in Australasia, it is a mere pond on a world scale with Lake Superior, the world’s largest freshwater lake being 238 times larger and Lake Baikal, the deepest, being about four times the depth of Te Anau.
Te Anau has a spot perhaps 470 metres down but the difficulty in resolving the deepest spot is the sheer size of the lake and the fact that the actual lakebed is probably beneath great layers of sunken trees, washed downriver by floods, to sink as they became waterlogged.
As others see us
The very popular 1947 book about New Zealand, ‘From N to Z’ by humorist C.V. Smith and cartoonist Gordon Minhinnick contains only the briefest mention of Southland, possibly because they were over-awed and speechless at the astounding landscape or, more likely, because neither had actually visited.
Their north to south travelogue ends thus…“Down the shores of Lake Wakatipu and then across to Lake Manapouri – the Lake of a Thousand Isles.
“Owing to the fact that one part of the lake is invariably enveloped in mist, no one has been able to count the number of isles but at least no one can say the figure is wrong. A short run brings us to Lake Te Anau, the starting off point to the famous Milford Sound walk or the Eglinton Valley drive. It would only be a waste of time and paper trying to describe the beauty of these sights.
‘’A short run to Invercargill for one final meal of Stewart Island oysters and the tour is complete.”
Another good example of the south being passed over and a missed opportunity to showcase our scenic wonders.
Ill-fated vessel
One of the most unfortunate vessels with a Southland connection was the Betsy. In 1815 she landed 13 men to kill elephant seals on Macquarie Island.
Returning some months later she spent three weeks trying to make landfall but running short of supplies, she abandoned the effort and headed for Sydney.
Her rudder was lost and sails blown away and the starving crew was unable to control the vessel as she drifted up the west coast. Off the Northland coast, with no food or water, the remaining able-bodied men launched a whaleboat and rowed ashore, towing a second boat with their dying companions.
Unable to make headway, they cut the second boat adrift and eventually made landfall. The six survivors were rescued 20 months after landing, having been captives of Māori for that time. The sealing gang left on Macquarie fared better.
Feedback
We’re looking for good stories about old Southland, photos, slides and documents, early records, disasters, agricultural and sporting achievements etc; stories of early industries, Subantarctic islands and fishing.
The recent article on the marooned sailors on Snares Island transposed the names of the captains – it was Captain Keith of the sealing vessel Adventure who dropped them off and they were rescued by Captain Coffin of the Enterprise.
Californian quails have a rather wider distribution than suggested in a recent column. They are reported as being frequently seen in the riverbed and hills in the vicinity of Dipton.