Twizel
| Twizel | ||
| Geographical location | ||
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| Coordinates | 44 ° 15 ′ S , 170 ° 6 ′ E | |
| Region ISO | NZ-CAN | |
| Country |
 New Zealand
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| region | Canterbury | |
| District | Mackenzie District | |
| Ward | Pukaki Ward | |
| Residents | 1 137 (2013) | |
| height | 466 m | |
| Post Code | 7901 | |
| Telephone code | +64 (0) 3 | |
| UN / LOCODE | NZ TWZ | |
| website | www.twizel.com | |
| Photography of the place | ||
 Tasman Road in place |
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Twizel is a town in the Mackenzie District of the Canterbury regionon the South Island of New Zealand .
Origin of name
The place was named after the Twizel River , which in turn got its name from the surveyor John Turnbull Thomson , named after a bridge over the Tweed in his home in Scotland .
geography
The place is located in the triangle of the three lakes Lake Ohau , Lake Pukaki and Lake Benmore , which are located around 13 km to the west, 8 km to the north and 13 km to the southeast. Timaru as the next largest city is around 93 km to the east. With the Ben Ohau Range just under 10 km northwest of Twizel , the New Zealand Alps rise up and give the place a considerable mountain panorama to view. The Twizel River passes northeast of the village and the Ohau River flows past 3 km to the south .
On its east side, the New Zealand State Highway 8 touches the place and connects it with Omarama 27 km further south and with Fairlie around 60 km further northeast.
history
Before 1968 the area of today's Twizel was simple farmland. The place was only built in 1968 on the "green field" as a housing estate for the hydropower project on the upper reaches of the Waitaki River and should be given up again after the project was completed. In 1983, however, the residents fought for the village to survive. At the height of the hydropower project, Twizel had around 6,000 residents.
The city was designed according to the Scandinavian pattern, where the shops, school and a recreation park form the city center and the residential areas are arranged around them. This includes specially laid out roads and paths that usually make it easier to walk than to drive. A previous version of this layout was previously tested in Otematata .
The accommodations in the planned city were separated according to social criteria. In addition to the residential buildings for single people in the city center, there were different types of houses. The smallest were intended for workers, somewhat larger staff houses for teachers and specialists, and the largest for engineers and other residents with a high social status. Most of the houses were demountable prefabricated houses. Some of the houses were specially brought to Twizel by Otematata and some of them were transported to the next hydropower project in Clyde at the end of the project .
Since the city originally wanted to be converted back into farmland, there were many makeshift solutions in the city, so they did not make the effort to build the streets with footpaths, curbs and canals. Instead, the pavement was laid in a very flat W shape. The road surface was highest on the outer edges, which served as a footpath, and the driveway in the middle. The two lower lying areas served as a canal and demarcation between the footpath and the driveway.
population
In the 2013 census, the town had 1,137 inhabitants, 11.8% more than in the 2006 census.
economy
Today Twizel is a service center for the surrounding area and a tourist destination.
Sports
The nearby Lake Ruataniwha allows sailing, water skiing and has hosted rowing competitions such as the Maadi Cup . The Ohau -Skigebiet and Roundhill Ski Area attract winter visitors.
Observatories
The region has one of the cleanest, driest and darkest night skies in New Zealand. This has long led astronomers to observe Twizel and the Mackenzie Basin area. There are several facilities for astronomers at Lake Tekapo and in Omarama, and further observatories in Twizel and in Aoraki / Mount Cook are under construction.
literature
- Helga Neubauer: Twizel . In: The New Zealand Book . 1st edition. NZ Visitor Publications , Nelson 2003, ISBN 1-877339-00-8 , pp. 777 .
Web links
- Homepage . Twizel Goods,accessed October 19, 2017.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b 2013 Census QuickStats about a place: Twizel . Statistics New Zealand , accessed October 19, 2017 .
- ^ Neubauer: Twizel . In: The New Zealand Book . 2003, p. 777 .
- ↑ a b Topo250 maps . Land Information New Zealand , accessed October 19, 2017 .