Cromwell
Cromwell, originally known as "The Junction” and situated between State Highway 6 (linking to Wanaka, 50 km north, and Queenstown, 60 km west) and State Highway 8 leading to the Lindis Pass, 75 km northeast, and Alexandra, 33 km south through the Cromwell Gorge.
Named after Oliver Cromwell and, as well as "The Junction", previously known as "The Point" and "Kawarau". Now it bears the nickname of the "Fruit Bowl of the South". Nearby are the settlements of Bannockburn, Lowburn, Tarras, and Ripponvale.
The discovery of gold in 1862 below “The Junction”, (the confluence of the Clutha and Kawarau Rivers) by two miners, Hartley and Reilly brought an influx of several thousand miners to the area.
Once the gold ran out, Cromwell became the service centre for an extensive farming and stone fruit growing area between the towns of Wanaka, Queenstown and Alexandra.
The construction of the Clyde Dam and the filling of Lake Dunstan in the early 1990s drowned the river confluence, (“The Junction) and the old town centre.
The Clyde Dam and brought many changes to Cromwell and roughly one-third of the town was rebuilt on higher ground. The changes include an historic precinct close to the shore of the Kawarau that retains those old buildings of the town that escaped the flooding.
The future of Cromwell is in farming, horticulture, viticulture, and tourism. Cromwell
Cromwell Climate
Central Otago is the coldest, driest part of New Zealand and a land of extremes with sharply defined seasons. Summers are hot and low in humidity; winter mornings are often misty, the days cloudless and windless and the nights freezing.
Ophir, 27 km away, holds the record for the lowest air temperature recorded - minus 21.6 deg C in mid -1995.
Spring warms the soil and fruit tree blossom dominates the district’s orchard areas. Temperatures range from minus 3 to 20 deg C, with 10 frosts a month. Average rainfall is 28mm a month and sunshine 206 hours.
In summer, daylight lasts until 10pm. Temperatures can range from 10 to plus 30 deg C while rainfall averages 38mm a month and sunshine 227 hours.
Autumn is brilliant as the extensive orchards and poplar shelterbelts turn red, yellow and gold. Temperatures range from minus 3 to 24 deg C and rainfall averages 30mm a month with 11 frosts monthly and 150 hours of sunshine.
Winter brings a temperature range of minus 6 to 15 deg C, and average monthly rainfall of 15mm.
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