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The Cyclopedia of New Zealand [Otago & Southland Provincial Districts]

Scenery And Climate

Scenery And Climate.

The natural scenery of Otago is not less remarkable for variety than for impressiveness and beauty. Though the great Sounds on the West Coast belong, strictly speaking, to Southland, yet they are for the purpose of the tourist an essential part of Otago. There the snow peak and glacier and mountain cataract combine, with the wonders of that wild sea coast, to produce a panorama unsurpassed for majesty throughout the world. In Central and Northern Otago the great lakes, with Wakatipu as the central point, must always present strong attractions to the constantly increasing number of those who come from afar to visit the scenic wonders of New Zealand. Scores of untrodden peaks, only a little lower than Earnslaw and Aspiring, are waiting to be scaled by the adventurous mountaineer. Below the Alpine levels, the broken country, whither settlement has spread in the search for gold, is full of interest to the lover of the picturesque. The upper course of the Clutha and all its tributaries includes scenery that would alone make the province famous as a tourist's resort, if it were not overshadowed by the Alpine country. Of the wonders of Wakatipu and the adjacent lakes and mountains it is almost unnecessary to speak; but in a later section some attempt will be made to do justice to the scenery of Otago from the tourist's point of view. It is sufficient to say that the prophecy of Anthony Trollope, that the Lake district of Otago would some day become renowned throughout the world, has already been amply verified.

Photo by Dr. De Lautour. A Bush Waterfall.

Photo by Dr. De Lautour.
A Bush Waterfall.

Dunedin is situated about 46 degrees south latitude, and London is 51 1/2 degrees north latitude, so that it might be expected that the climate of Otago would be, on the whole, milder than that of the south of England. As a matter of fact, the average yearly temperature of Dunedin is about three degrees higher than that of London. The maximum heat in summer rarely rises above 80 degrees in the shade, and 120 degrees in the sun; while in spite of occasional falls of snow, even in the ocastal towns, the winter in the greater part of the settled districts, is not remarkable for severity. But considering the elevation of a great part of the province above sea level, the existence of enormous deposits of perpetual ice and snow in the mountain regions of the West Coast, and the exposure of the whole province to the cold southerly winds that sweep up from the Antarctic Circle, it is not strange that in the higher levels of the country an Otago winter is a severe trial for both man and beast.

According to the meteorological statistics published for Dunedin in 1991, the highest temperature reached in that year was 83 degrees Fahrenheit and the lowest 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Strangely enough, the minimum reading for Canterbury (Lincoln) in 1901 was 21 degrees Fahrenheit or 4 below the Otago minimum. But the average temperature in mid-winter is considerably higher than this. In 1889, which was the coldest winter on record, the lowest monthly average was 42 degrees. At the same time the temperature falls below freezing point long enough and often enough to provide ample opportunities for winter sport to skaters and curlers; and to render snow storms a serious danger to sheep farmers even on the lower hills.

One favourable characteristic of the Otago climate is that the coldest weather is usually very dry. In 1889, which was supposed to be the coldest winter for forty years, only seventeen inches of rain were registered. This, of course, is out of all proportion to the annual average, which ranges from 32 to 37 inches. However, there is no doubt that Otago, considering its latitude, enjoys a comparatively dry climate. Rain seems to fall on a great many days in the year, but the total fall is comparatively slight. In 1901, rain fell on 173 days in Dunedin, while Auckland registered 176 rainy days, and Wellington 175. But none of these provinces are so subject to rain as Taranaki, where 245 days were rainy, nor as Westland, where 188 days were rainy in 1901. Of page 30 course in the extreme west, among the fiords, the rainfall is excessive, rising even to 100 inches in the year; but there the conditions are different from those that prevail elsewhere in Otago. A large portion of the interior of Otago enjoys what may be termed a dry climate. This section of the province includes the Maniototo Plains and Idaburn and Manuberikia valleys, running across to Lakes Wakatipu, Wanaka, and Ohau, in the north-west, and as far as the Waitaki, in the north-east. The south and south-east coastal district is of course moist, though 35 inches as a rule marks the utmost extent of the rainfall.

The prevailing winds in Otago, as in most parts of the colony, are south-west and north-east. The son'-wester, as in Canterbury, is the typical rainy wind; the nor'-wester, as in Westland, reaches the coast laden with moisture and accounts for the enormous amount of rain precipitated upon the hill tops in Fiordland. Perhaps the most striking feature of the climate of Otago, especially in and near Dunedin, is its variability, and the suddenness with which sunshine and shadow, calm and storm, succeed one another. While this peculiarity certainly adds to the picturesqueness of the country, it is occasionally too inconvenient to be regarded with much enthusiasm by the inhabitants.

Lake Wanaka.

Lake Wanaka.

It is interesting to compare the experiences of early explorers—for example Mr. Tuckett and Mr. W. H. S. Roberts—with our contemporary knowledge of the climate of Otago. Yet fifty years ago the chief characteristics of Otago weather seem to have been precisely what they are to-day: though the destruction of the forests has probably had the effect of slightly decreasing the rainfall, while depriving the more exposed country of much of the shelter that it once enjoyed.