Kangaroo Lake | |
---|---|
Location | Grey District, West Coast region, South Island |
Coordinates | 42°36′45″S 171°33′01″E / 42.6125°S 171.5503°E |
Etymology | Named for a mining party in the area[1] |
Primary inflows | Eight unnamed streams[2] |
Primary outflows | No surface outflow[2] |
Catchment area | 6.05 square kilometres (2.34 sq mi) |
Max. length | 2.2 kilometres (1.4 mi) |
Max. width | 860 metres (2,820 ft) |
Surface area | 125.5 hectares (310 acres) |
Average depth | 9.5 metres (31 ft) |
Surface elevation | 99 metres (325 ft) |
Kangaroo Lake is a small dystrophic lake on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. The lake is roughly 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of the much larger Lake Brunner, and is popular with both duck hunters and recreational fishermen.[3] There is no road access to the lake, with access only via tracks.[4]
During the West Coast gold rush of the 1860s, the lake was the scene of a rush in which a party of some 800 men followed a so-called "kangaroo party" which held a claim near the lake. The men were ferried across Kangaroo Lake, with up to a quarter of them suffering hardship as a result of the swamp around the lake.[1]
Along with nearby lakes Hochstetter, Ahaura, Haupiri, Brunner, Lady and Poerua, Kangaroo Lake is part of a series of interconnected lakes known collectively as the North Westland Ecological Region Complex.[5] These lakes are all fluvio-glacial in origin, having been formed by large glaciers from the nearby Southern Alps / Kā Tiritiri o te Moana during the last glacial maximum.[5]