The New Zealand Alps are a mountain on the South island of New Zealand.
background
The South Island of New Zealand is characterized by the mountain range of the New Zealand Alps. They were created by the opposing movement of the Australian and Pacific plates. This process is still ongoing and is responsible for the frequent earthquakes, hot springs and volcanoes along the Pacific Ring of Fire. The highest peaks are roughly in the middle of the South Island, they are the areas around the Mount Cook, which is New Zealand's highest mountain at 3,754 m. Another 16 peaks reach a height of over 3,000 m, and there are several mountain ranges with peaks over 2,000 m, which are snow-covered in the winter months. Most of the highest mountain regions are also glaciated, the most famous are the Franz Josef-Glacier and the Fox glacier.
Regions
There is no exact definition from which point on the fold mountain range gets its name Alps wearing. Following a common division, the Alps are divided into a northern and a southern part.
- The northern part begins with the mountains south of Blenheim in the region Marlborough, one counts the Nelson Lakes National Park, the St Arnaud Ranges and the Spenser Ranges. The mountains here reach a height of 2,000 m to 2,300 m, although the Kaikoura Ranges are geologically the same and their peaks with the Te ao Whekere (2,596 m) and the Tapuae-o-Uenuku (2,885 m) are higher, they are not counted among the Alps.
- The southern part is divided into three parts:
- The axial zone begins on Arthur's Pass National Park, it continues over that Arrowsmith Range and the highest mountains and glaciers around the Mount Cook and the Mount Aspiring up to Mount Earnslaw, the axial zone ends roughly at the Haast Pass.
- The western part lies between the coast and the axial zone and the main ridge, including the Lake Mathesonwho have favourited glacier areas around Franz Josef and Fox until Hollyford Valley in the vicinity of the Milford Sound.
- The eastern part is in the regions Canterbury and Otago, these include mountain regions such as Puketeraki, Torlesse, Mount Hutt, Old Man, Two Thumb, Ben Ohau and the Barrier ranges.
climate
The South Island of New Zealand extends roughly between the 40th and 50th parallel and is therefore the Roaring Forties exposed. These winds hit the Alps along the west coast, and it occurs Uphill rain. This is first visible in the accumulation of clouds in front of the main ridge of the Alps, probably one of the reasons that the Maori New Zealand as Aotearoa, Land of the great white cloud. And the highest mountain in the country, the Mount Cook, is called in their language Aoraki or Piercing the Clouds, it towers over the surrounding mountains so that its top pierces the cloud cover. They are reliable Roaring Forties. And they bring enough water with them. Incline rain is the logical consequence. On average, the west coast of New Zealand is exposed to rain for over 200 days a year. And not a little, in the area of the Fiordland National Park the annual rainfall is around 7,000 mm per year, in some years it is sometimes over 10,000 mm. In Hokitika the rain is still given at around 2,740 mm annually, that on the east coast Christchurch does not even get a quarter of that at 624 mm per year. (For comparison: Hamburg 773 mm per year).
particularities
The west side
The west side of the South Island is only easily accessible in the northern half. In the area of the region West coast) there is enough space for larger settlements between the mountain ranges of the Alps and the coast. But the country is green, and that is due to the frequent rain. In the narrow strip between the coast and the mountains, the rainforest thrives splendidly, albeit because of the rather moderate temperatures cold rainforest applies.
The east side
The eastern half of New Zealand's South Island is in the rain shadow. The country is correspondingly drier here, the regions then have a continental climate with more extreme values than on the west coast. Here the thermometer can show values down to -20 ° C in winter, and then rises to well over 30 ° C in summer. But it's dry and the air is clear. But here too there is a phenomenon that, among other things, has the name Canterbury Northwester carries, in Maori it is called parera, and with us it is as hairdryer known. The effect is also the same.
Despite the little rain, the country is not too dry. The water masses from the mountains not only flow to the west coast, but mostly to the east. In addition to a large amount of water, these rivers also have a large gradient and a high flow velocity. This is exploited in several ways. Once the rivers are well suited for white water rafting, then they are usually good fishing waters, and their barrages are suitable for generating electrical energy. An example of this is the Waitaki Riverthat between Oamaru and Omarama is dammed up several times.
The glaciers
There are only a few glaciers in the New Zealand Alps that are open to tourists. These are primarily the two glaciers already mentioned Franz Josef and Fox. Their ice masses flow towards the west, the glacier tongues reach right up to the cold rainforest. They are also well developed Hooker Glacier and the Tasman glacier, they can be reached from the village Mount Cook at the Mount Cook National Park. These glaciers differ from those of the European Alps, among other things, in the significantly higher flow speed. Another phenomenon is that, unlike their alpine brothers in Europe, these glaciers have been growing since around 1970, detailed explanations can be found e.g. in the information centers of the national park in Franz Josef and in Mount Cook Village.
places
Other goals
language
getting there
The SH 6 runs along the west side of the Alps as the main traffic route. On the east side there is a main access road to SH 8, it branches off at Timaru from SH 1 and goes over Lake Tekapo, Twizel and Omarama along the Alps through the Mackenzie Basin, then further over Lidis Pass in the direction Queenstown Lakes District and finally over Cromwell and Alexandra back to the Pacific coast.
Crossing the Alps is only possible in a few places for normal vehicles:
- the SH 7 goes off Greymouth and Reefton üder Lewis Pass to Hanmer Springs and Amberley.
- the SH 73 also goes from Greymouth over the Alps, it takes over the route Arthur's Pass to Christchurch. The uses a very similar route Tranzalpine, the passenger train through the Alps.
- the SH 6 joins on its way south Haast into the mountains, cross the Haast Pass and leads over Wanaka and Cromwell after Queenstown or. Lumsden and Invercargill
- In the far north the SH 63 goes from Blenheim by the Wairau Valley and over the foothills of the Alps St Arnaud and on over Murchison to Westport.
mobility
Tourist Attractions
Of the 14 New Zealand national parks, 9 are located on the South Island, 7 of which are at least partially in the Alps:
The four following parks, together with a few other landscape and wildlife sanctuaries, form the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage Area:
activities
Winter sports
Winter sports are possible in many places, the season is between June and October. Ski areas are:
- Rainbow Ski Arena. It is on Nelson Lakes National Park at Saint Arnaud, Access on the SH 63.
- Mount Lyford Ski Field. Access from Kaikoura on the SH 7.
- Hanmer Springs Ski Area. Access via Hanmer Springs.
- Craigieburn Valley Ski Area. At Craigieburn Forst Park, accessible on SH 73 towards Arthur's Pass.
- Broken River Ski Field. Also near Arthur's Pass, accessible via SH 73.
- Mount Cheeseman Ski Area. Access from Castle Hill Village, located on SH 73.
- Mount Olympus. Access via Windwhistle.
- Porter Heights Ski Field, in the Craigieburn Ranges, located at SH 73.
- Mount Hutt Ski Field. Accessible via Methven.
- Fox Peak Ski Area. Access from SH 79 from Geraldine to Fairlie, there north to Clayton.
- Roundhill Ski Field, Near Lake Tekapo.
- Mount Dobson Ski Field. Accessible via Lake Tekapo and Geraldine.
- Ohau Snow Fields, Near Omarama and Twizel.
- Treblecone Ski Field, Near Wanaka.
- Waiorau Snow Farm. Accessible from Wanaka and Queenstown.
- Coronet Peak Ski Field, near Queenstown. In operation since 1947, the country's oldest commercial ski area.
- The Remarkables. Also near Queenstown.
