Our aerial journey continues into the central South Island of New Zealand where the dramatic landscape was largely formed by glacial action. Surrounded by the grandeur of the Southern Alps, New Zealand’s highest peak, Aoraki / Mount Cook reaches to the sky. Alpine lakes filled with cold, clear water are connected by a network of canals feeding water to dams where electricity is generated to supply 70% of the nation’s energy needs. We fly over the interior of Otago, the centre of an 1860’s gold rush which saw thousands travel to New Zealand by ship, arriving at the east coast city of Dunedin. From here the prospectors made their way to the interior in their quest to strike it rich. Now only ruins are left, relics of the turbulent gold rush era.
Today wine making is a new and successful industry in the region and the Pinot Noir produced here is regarded as being among the best in the world.
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