Glenorchy at the Head of Lake Wakatipu

Glenorchy is a small settlement at the northern end of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand’s Otago region. It stands near the mouth of the Rees River, within a landscape shaped by glaciers and enclosed by the mountains of the Southern Alps.

Māori traveled through the wider Whakatipu region before European settlement, using routes through the mountains to reach sources of pounamu, or greenstone, on the West Coast. Archaeological evidence also records Māori camps and settlement sites near Glenorchy.

European pastoral settlement began at the head of the lake in the early 1860s, when shepherds brought sheep into the district for landholder William Gilbert Rees. Glenorchy was surveyed as a township in 1864. Farming remained important, while nearby gold and later scheelite mining contributed to the district’s development.

Before completion of the road from Queenstown in 1962, lake steamers provided an important connection for residents, supplies, livestock, and minerals. The red railway shed beside the Glenorchy wharf recalls this period: goods arriving by steamer were transferred along a short section of railway track between the wharf and the shed.

The photographs made in 2015 document Lake Wakatipu, Glenorchy, and the surrounding alpine landscape during early winter, when snow covered the higher ranges and calm water created extensive mountain reflections.