A tunnel to no where

NASA false-colour landsat-7 satellite image of Lake Wakatipu .

Deep in the Southern Alps of New Zealand’s South Island lies an “S” shaped glacial lake, known by its ancient Maori name… Wakatipu, which means, “living or breathing waters”. The deep blue, almost green waters of the lake are bordered on one side by a saw toothed mountain range, simply referred to as “The Remarkables”. 

The lake was the setting for scenes in Peter Jackson's movie adaption of the "Lord of the Rings". It also doubled as Loch Ness in "The Water Horse"

The lake is a source of fascination. Here a visitor can view the 12-centimeter (5 inch) rise and fall of the level of the water every 5 minutes. There is a prosaic geological reason for this lakes existence; about 15,000 years ago glaciers tore through the Southern Alps, carving a vast bowl between ranges, and changes in the atmospheric pressure cause the lake level to rise and fall regularly. 

However I prefer the Maori legend that explains the creation of this lake. Maori are the indigenous people of New Zealand and have many myths and legends explaining the origins of the features of my beautiful homeland. 

The legend tells of the tale of Manata, the beautiful daughter of a Maori chieftain, prevented by her father from marrying the warrior she loved, being kidnapped by the feared giant Matau, and eventually rescued by the only man brave enough to face Matau… yep you guessed it, Matakauri, the dejected lover of Manata.

He found his love in the giant’s lair, and in a move of brazen boldness, tied up the sleeping giant and covered him with all manner of brush wood, which he promptly set fire to. As the giant perished, his burning body formed the depression that is the lake. As everyone knows, you can never kill a giant’s heart, so to this day it rests at the bottom of the 300-meter deep lake, still beating and slowly rising and lowering the millions of tons of water covering it.

European explorers first opened up the whole magnificent Wakatipu region in the 1850’s and 60’s, and gold miners quickly followed these hardy souls when the precious yellow metal was discovered in abundance. Once the easily won alluvial gold was worked out, various schemes and wild plans were launched in an effort to locate the rich “mother-load” everyone knew must be located in the locality.

One of the more bizarre plans called for the diverting (by tunnels and low dams) of the only outflow of the lake, the rugged and voluminous Kawarau River, which, almost as soon as it begins its life on an “arm” of the lake, enters a rugged and until recently, virtually impenetrable gorge; some of the almost vertical sides of this gorge are more than 600 meters high. The river is itself rich in history, and tributaries with the colorful names like Roaring Meg, and Gentle Annie (named after two women with obvious but very differing personalities, sharing however, an equal propensity to entertain the local miners) give an indication of some of that history.   

 Kawarau river outflow.

The promoters of this wild scheme managed to convince many investors that it was viable, and promised massive returns on their investments.  For several years they contended with floods, rock falls, cave-ins, drownings and many other hazards, before finally conceding defeat. Today the forlorn entrance to the tunnel system that was going to be an engineering marvel, is just visible from the bridge that crosses the river as it leaves the lake, and is the only reminder of the energies and money spent and lost on a ill fated scheme. This tunnel to nowhere is a mute reminder of the folly of chasing wealth.  

Jesus encountered a man who was more concerned with earthly wealth than his eternal well-being.         

And behold, one came and said to Him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? And He said to him, Why do you call Me good? There is none good but one, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.

He said to Him, Which? Jesus said, You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and mother, and, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The young man said to Him, I have kept all these things from my youth up; what do I lack yet? Jesus said to him, If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in Heaven. And come, follow Me.

But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. Matthew 19:16-22

I think that it’s unlikely that we will meet that young man in Heaven. Like so many others, he neglected his eternal destiny.

Many people spend their lives digging a tunnel to nowhere…don’t become one of them.