Lake Wakatipu (Meiklejohns Bay)

Description

Lake Wakatipu fills a deep valley carved into the mountains by ancient glaciers. It’s an inland lake in the South Island of New Zealand specifically lying in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland. The Dart and Rees Rivers flows into the northern end of Lake Wakatipu; the Kawarau River, beginning near Queenstown, handles its outflow.

Shaped like a lightning bolt, Lake Wakatipe has a length of 80 kilometres, making it is New Zealand’s longest lake. At 289 km2, Lake Wakatipu is the third largest lake in New Zealand. The lake is also very deep, its floor being below sea level (−110 metres), with a maximum depth of 420 metres. At the north end of the lake is the settlement of Glenorchy, in the north-east corner, and the smaller isolated locality of Kinloch in the north-west corner.

The lake was a backdrop for several scenes in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.