Mackenzie Basin

thumb|right|The Mackenzie Country's typical autumn colouration

The Mackenzie Basin (), popularly and traditionally known as the Mackenzie Country, is an elliptical intermontane basin located in the Mackenzie and Waitaki Districts, near the centre of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the largest such basin in New Zealand. Historically famous mainly for sheep farming, the sparsely populated area is now also a popular tourism destination.

The basin was named in the 1850s by and after James Mckenzie, a shepherd and would-be farmer of Scottish origin. Mckenzie was captured for allegedly stealing sheep; he herded his flocks in what was then an area almost totally empty of any human habitation, though Māori previously lived there intermittently. After his capture, the area was soon divided up amongst new sheep pasture stations in 1857.

Geography

thumb|right|The [[Southern Alps form the northern and western boundaries of the basin.]]

thumb|right|The [[Ben Ohau Range from the eastern shore of Tekapo B hydrogenerator station headgate pond]]

The basin extends approximately north to south, and east to west. The Southern Alps constitute its western edge. The Mackenzie Basin is located entirely within South Canterbury.

Using State Highway 8, it can be accessed via Burkes Pass (elevation 709m / 2,326 ft) from the north and the Lindis Pass (elevation 965m / 3,166 ft) from the south, or via State Highway 83 through the Waitaki Valley from the east. Aside from these passes, the terrain is generally highest at the northern end and gradually descends in a southward direction.

The basin is drained by the Waitaki River. Prominent rivers crossing the Mackenzie Basin include the Ahuriri, the Hakataramea and the Tekapo Rivers. Lakes Ōhau, Pukaki, Alexandrina and Tekapo lie within the Mackenzie Basin, as do the artificial hydroelectric lakes of Ruataniwha, Benmore and Aviemore.

Settlement and activities

Sparsely populated, and with only four settlements (Lake Tekapo, population <500; Mount Cook Village, population <150; Twizel, population <1,000; and Omarama, population <400), the Mackenzie Country comprises an area of huge glacial lakes and snow-capped mountains, particularly favoured by tourists and skiers.

The Ōhau skifield near Omarama, and Roundhill and Mount Dobson Ski Areas at Lake Tekapo, are small commercial skifields popular amongst many people living in Canterbury and Otago.

The Mackenzie Country is frequently utilised as the principal and second-unit location for television commercials, documentaries, and motion pictures, including much of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Hobbit film trilogy.

Gliding is another common activity within the Mackenzie Basin, and the area was host to a Gliding World Cup event in 1995, as well as being the home of several gliding clubs, airfields, and numerous private glider pilots, of both amateur and professional status.

International Dark Sky Reserve

Due to its clean, dry and dark sky, the Mackenzie Basin serves as an important area for New Zealand-based astronomy, with a number of related facilities located there, including the nation's premier astronomical observatory, the University of Canterbury's Mount John University Observatory, and several amateur observatories. Astronomy-related tourism is an increasing contributor to the area's economy, with more astro-tourism ventures in development near Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook village (planetarium) and Omarama. Each June the annual mid winter star party is held at new moon on the Omarama airfield.

In June 2012, an area of 430,000 hectares (1,100,000 acres) including Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park and the Mackenzie Basin was declared the Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve by the International Dark-Sky Association. At the time of the designation in 2012, the reserve was the largest in the world, and the only reserve of its type in the Southern Hemisphere.

Demographics

thumb|right|[[Aoraki / Mount Cook from Lake Pukaki]]

The statistical area of Mackenzie Lakes corresponds to the portion of the Mackenzie Basin within the Mackenzie District. It includes Mt Cook Village and Lake Tekapo, but not Twizel. Mackenzie Lakes covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km².