New quake 'lake' now a popular tourist spot

Sunday, 14 January 2018

Before the quake, it was a quiet, babbling river, seldom visited by tourists and not paid too much attention by locals.

But the upper reaches of the Hapuku River north of Kaikōura had something of a makeover during 2016's 7.8-magnitude quake, and now tourists are flocking there in droves to witness what could be New Zealand's newest 'lake'.

Tucked in the rugged mountain range north of the coastal town, the lake was formed when a 150-metre landslide plunged into the Hapuku River.

More than a year later, its azure blue waters span 400 metres in length and are drawing tourists daily. 

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Access to the lake is by foot or by helicopter and Daniel Stevenson, chief executive of South Pacific Helicopters, said it had quickly become a key drawcard.

His company flew there almost daily, as part of general sight-seeing trips.

'We're sort of just trying to showcase the different areas of Kaikōura, so it's not just the marine life which is fantastic but it's into the mountains as well which are just beautiful,' he said. 

'It [the lake] is a great sight-seeing spot,' he said. 

'We take them up daily if the weather permits. Most of our trips tend to incorporate that as well.' 

Stevenson flew to Hapuku River the morning after the 2016 earthquake and said the natural dam created by the landslide had changed a lot between now and then. 

'The water level has settled down. The water level seems to have dropped a little bit from what it was straight after the earthquake,' he said. 

Kaikōura-based photographer Andrew Spencer has flown to the site for various shoots and said he was blown away by the the lake when he first saw it. 

'I was quite awe-inspired actually,' he said.

'There's nothing like that around [the colour]. It's got that glacial water kind of look. It gets a little bluer each time you see it,' he said.

'We took a couple up there for a wedding in March. It was pretty amazing.'

He said it was amazing to see how much the landscape had changed since the quake.

'I've flown over there a bit so I knew the area pre-dam and to see it afterwards was pretty impressive.

'It's pretty rugged getting up there. Especially now there are a few boulders in the river bed.'

Environment Canterbury regional lead river engineer Shaun McCracken said there were no plans to remove or alter the quake-created lake.

'The plan is to monitor it and let nature take its course.

'The lake outlet channel eroded about 5 metres during a rain event in September last year (it was previously about 40m deep). It's anticipated that while it may erode further, it will become more stable as it does so and it's likely a lake of some size will remain in the future,' McCracken said. 

The lake was approximately 400 metres long, 100m wide and 35m deep at the deepest point; it was located about 840m above sea level.

While there was no official name for the new scenic attraction, locals had come to know it as 'Hapuku Lake'.