A notable piece of Canterbury and Otago history - a quarrel over boundaries - will be marked today with the unveiling of a new interpretation panel near Lake Ohau.
In 1853, the boundary between the two provinces was defined as the Waitaki River to its source, but no-one knew where the source was.
Opinions differed as to which of the Upper Waitaki branches led to the source, with Canterbury favouring the Ahuriri River and Otago preferring Pukaki. The Canterbury and Otago Waste Land Boards were leasing the same pieces of land to different claimants without consulting each other.
In 1861, the General Assembly ruled a new boundary line, running from Lake Ohau towards Mt Aspiring in disregard of terrain.
It was marked over long distances by a fence and a spade-turned ditch, traces of which are still evident. The spadeline became obsolete in 1899 when the boundary was again changed to run up the middle of Lake Ohau and the Hopkins River to the main divide.
The decision gave Otago a triangular block of mountain country which had previously been Canterbury's.
A function has been organised by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust today, 14km along Lake Ohau Rd, at 11.30am. Trust chairman John Acland will unveil a panel telling the history of the boundary.
