Glenorchy hotels collection

Before a road came along the shore from Queenstown, Glenorchy could be reached only by the lake, and the steamer tied up beside a red shed, which still stands by the wharf. The township holds the head of Lake Wakatipu, where the Dart and the Rees spread their braids of gravel beneath the glaciers of Mount Earnslaw. For Māori, the lake has the shape of a giant, Matau, burnt in his sleep with his knees drawn up; his heart still beats, and the water rises and falls a few centimetres, roughly twice an hour.