Lake Dunstan is a man made lake in the Otago region of the South Island. Located near the town of Cromwell, when the lake was created in 1992 (completed the following year) some parts of the town had to be relocated. The lake itself serves to irrigate much of the surrounding region’s stone fruit orchards and vineyards.
A favourite of mine is Mt Difficulty wines, where you can enjoy views over the valley & Cromwell town as you enjoy tasting some of the wines.
Interestingly, the dam and lake became well known in New Zealand due to media coverage of the geological problems during its construction. While the dam was being built at least one landslide occurred at Cairnmuir, a series of bluffs overlooking the gorge where the dam was built. All parties involved denied responsibility for not finding the problem.
