Lake Wakatipu
Whakatipu Waimāori
Whakatipu Waimāori (Māori)
Lake Wakatipu and The Remarkables
Lake Wakatipu Lake Wakatipu is in the Otago Region of the South Island.
Location	Queenstown-Lakes District, Otago Region, South Island
Coordinates	45°3′S 168°30′E / 45.050°S 168.500°E / -45.050; 168.500
Lake type	Glacial lake
Primary inflows	Dart River / Te Awa Whakatipu, Rees River
Primary outflows	Kawarau River
Catchment area	2,674 km2 (1,032 sq mi)
Basin countries	New Zealand
Max. length	75.2 km (46.7 mi)
Max. width	5 km (3.1 mi)
Surface area	289 km2 (112 sq mi)
Average depth	130 metres (430 ft)
Max. depth	420 metres (1,380 ft)
Water volume	37.57 cubic kilometres (9.01 cu mi)
Residence time	c. 12 years
Surface elevation	310 m (1,020 ft)
Islands	Pig Island, Pigeon Island, Tree Island & Hidden Island.
Settlements	Kingston, Queenstown, Glenorchy

Lake Wakatipu (Māori: Whakatipu Waimāori) is an inland lake (finger lake) in the South Island of New Zealand. It is in the southwest corner of the Otago region, near its boundary with Southland. Lake Wakatipu comes from the original Māori name Whakatipu wai-māori.^[1]

With a length of 80 kilometres (50 mi), it is New Zealand's longest lake, and, at 289 km² (112 sq mi), its third largest. The lake is also very deep, its floor being below sea level (−110 metres), with a maximum depth of 420 metres (1,380 ft). It is at an altitude of 310 metres (1,020 ft), towards the southern end of the Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana. The general topography is a reversed "N" shape or "dog leg". The Dart River / Te Awa Whakatipu flows into the northern end, the lake then runs south for 30 kilometres before turning abruptly to the east. Twenty kilometres (12.4 mi) further along, it turns sharply to the south, reaching its southern end 30 kilometres (19 mi) further south, near Kingston. 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 is drained by the Kawarau River, which flows out from the lake's only arm, the Frankton Arm, 8 km (5.0 mi) east of Queenstown. Until about 18,000 years ago the Mataura River drained Lake Wakatipu. The Kingston Flyer follows part of the former river bed now blocked by glacial moraine.^[2] Queenstown is on the northern shore of the lake close to the eastern end of its middle section. It has a seiche period of 26.7 minutes which, in Queenstown Bay, causes the water level to rise and fall some 200 millimetres (8 in).^[3]

Lake Wakatipu is known for its scenery and is surrounded by mountains. Two mountain ranges, the Remarkables and the Tapuae-o-Uenuku / Hector Mountains, lie along its southeastern edge. It is a common venue for adventure tourism, with skifields, paragliding, bungy jumping and tramping tracks within easy reach. A vintage steamboat, the TSS Earnslaw regularly plies its waters. Several vineyards are nearby in Gibbston.

The full original name of the lake is Whakatipu-wai-Māori.^[4] While the lake lacks an official name,^[5] it is generally referred to as "Lake Wakatipu".^[4]

The name is believed to originate from the Waitaha people, who were later displaced by Kāti Māmoe. Elders from the modern iwi Ngāi Tahu say that while the name Whakatipu is archaic and its original meaning is a mystery, whaka means causative and tipu means growth.^[4] Wakatipu could mean "growing bay" if the original was Whakatipu and the h elided as a result of the Southern Māori dialect.^[6] The dialect is also known for dropping final vowels. Waka can also mean 'hollow'.^[6] Wakatipua or Whakatipua (Canoe/Bay of spirits) have been recorded historically, as has Wakatapu (sacred vessel).

A legend says that the lake bed was formed when a giant ogre, Kopu-wai, was burned while lying asleep, leaving only his heart behind, which according to the same legend is the cause of the rhythmic rise and fall of the lake's seiche. A variation on that is that Wakatipu is a contraction of Waka (trough) and tipua (enchanted giant), the giant was burnt when the surrounding bush was lit and his breathing causes the seiche. Another possibility, if the name was Whakatipu (make grow), is that a defeated group regrew their strength here.^[7]

Whakatipu is also the name of another six unrelated geographical features in the South Island, including Tarahaka Whakatipu, the Harris Saddle at the head of the Routeburn Track; Te Awa Whakatipu, the main Dart River / Te Awa Whakatipu flowing into the lake; Whakatipu Kā Tuka, the Hollyford River and Valley; and Whakatipu Kohurangi, Māori Bay in Pelorus Sound / Te Hoiere, Marlborough.^[8]

Lake Wakatipu has experienced periodic flooding^[9] affecting the lakeside communities of Kingston, Glenorchy and Queenstown. Notable flooding events include the 1878 Queenstown floods, which affected a large part of the outlying Queenstown and Otago areas, the 1995 Queenstown floods, and most notably the 1999 Queenstown floods, which significantly damaged the Queenstown CBD and road infrastructure resulting in approximately $50 million worth of damage.^[10][11][12]

Lake Wakatipu is a habitat for the longfin eel (a specimen caught in 1886 is the largest known of this species^[13]), and for introduced brown trout, salmon and rainbow trout.^[14] These and other fish support predators such as the pied shag. The black-billed gull is often found around the lake while the most common birds are the black-billed gull and the introduced mallard. A smaller bird often not noticed because of its size is the New Zealand scaup.

Lake Wakatipu doubled as the Scottish Loch Ness in the 2007 film The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep.^[15]

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

Lake Wakatipu is the eponymous lake in the murder mystery television series Top of the Lake (2013).^[16]

The first person to swim the length of the lake was Ben Campbell-Macdonald in 2012. The 81 km solo wetsuit swim from Kingston on the lake's southern point to Glenorchy took 18.5 hours.^[17][18]

• List of lakes in New Zealand

• Lake Wakatipu information at the NZ Department of Conservation