Blue Lake (Tasman)

Clear Rochester lake in the world

The Blue Lake ( Māori Rangimairewhenua ) is a small lake in the region Tasman in Nelson Lakes National Park in the north of the South Island of New Zealand. It lies in the northern part of the Southern Alps.

Description

The lake is fed by the headwaters of the East Branch Sabine River from the south and much larger Lake Constance, from which the water seeps underground through the debris of a landslide, the anstaute the Lake Constance. Also the drain happens purely by seepage, the water being changed every 24 hours. The seepage water from a spring in the West branch of the Sabine River, which is part of the river system of the Buller River. The water is cold with temperatures of 5-8 ° C.

Visibility

The lake water has the highest visibility of all natural fresh waters worldwide. A study of 2011 certain visibility of 70-80 meters, which are significantly larger than the 63 m of the previous record holder, the Te Waikoropupu Springs. Distilled water for laboratory use has a visibility of about 80 m. The clarity of the water is being filtered by the seepage from Lake Constance ago attributed, which almost all particles are filtered out. Therefore, the water shows the blue - violet color of pure H2O.

Tourism

Accessible is the lake is on the Blue Lake track, a branch of the Travers -Sabine Circuit or running over the Waiau Pass south trail. The slightly west of the lake located Wanderhütte Blue Lake Hut has 16 beds and annually hosts more than 700 walkers.

Role in the Māori

The Blue Lake is located in the Rohe ( tribal area ) of the iwi Ngāti Apa ki te rA Tō. As part of the 2010 Treaty of Waitangi signed in agreements he was returned to the ownership of the tribe, who then returned it after the crown. The lake has traditionally been used in ceremonies in which the bones of dead male cleaned and the soul of the deceased was discharged to his journey to the mythical Hawaiki. For the Iwi the lake water is therefore tapu. The Lake Constance were used for the same purpose in female deceased. The name of the lake in the language of Māori, Rangimairewhenua, means " lake in the peaceful land."