Happy campers at `remote' lake

Moke Lake campsite feels as though it's nestled in the back of beyond, but in fact it's just a short drive from busy Queenstown. Reporter Matt Stewart visited the Department of Conservation reserve and met two Auckland schoolteachers who found the Christmas rain annoying but romantic.

Unseasonal snow dusts Cecil Peak across Lake Wakatipu - no doubt stirring memories of a northern winter for two former Sheffield secondary school teachers indulging a spot of Christmas camping at Moke Lake. 

Louise Evans and Mike Caley are based in Auckland as they size up New Zealand as a permanent home and when I meet the couple on the soggy lakeshore they are rolling up their tent's groundsheet and planning Christmas Day in Queenstown, only a 15-minute drive away.

"It's a beautiful setting - I've been swimming in the lake ...," Mike enthuses before Louise gently interjects to point out his aquatic adventure was more of a "dip" than any episode of full-blown athleticism.

Nestled in the mountains on Ben Lomond station off the Glenorchy road, Moke Lake campsite provides travellers with a sense of Clayton's isolation.

"You feel well away from Queenstown, even though it's only 15k away.

"It's like its own little hideaway," Mike muses.

The pair discovered the site in a Doc brochure and spent two blissful nights there, with only a handful of neighbours sharing the tranquility.

According to Mike, "Doc sites tend to be in beautiful places" and a quick browse on the internet bears this out, with travellers' testimonials running heavy with adjectives like "blissful," "serene" and the popular "swell".

All this for only about $7 per night per person! However, living under canvas in the great outdoors can also mean coping with the occasional rain shower, and on Thursday night "Huey" was "chucking it down".

The drill of droplets on tent canvas created a sonic cocoon that was, according to Louise, both "annoying" and "romantic".

Theirs is a school holiday tour, and from Queenstown the couple plan to head over to Franz Josef and up the West Coast and eventually back to Auckland in time for New Year's Eve - from the Moke to the Smoke.

"It's the best way to see the true New Zealand," Mike says.

Lake history:

• Moke Lake is a popular boating, fishing, cycling and horse trekking spot.

• Following the discovery of a copper seam in the area, mining engineer T R Hacket prepared a report, which was republished in the Otago Daily Times in 1864.  He thought the little lake would provide adequate resources for the mine, as the area offered plenty of grass for the horses and trees to provide timber for the mine.

• Moke Lake is named after the first donkey to encounter it (moke is an old name for donkey).

•  In 1862, Australian prospector George Moonlight strikes gold near Moke Lake and a gold rush ensues. To cater for the miners, Sefferstown tent village springs up where Moonlight and Moke creeks meet. Education, retail and drinking activities ensue. At the peak of the rush there are more than 2000 people living in the area.

• In 1863, prospectors find copper in the Shotover tributary Moke Creek. Speculation (and a little bit of mining) ensues. In 1869 at Moke Creek "a regular definite deep lead of gold" is struck. Wealth ensues.

• During the 1890s and early 1900s the area is heavily sluiced. An estimated 4 million worth of gold is won before the area is abandoned by miners.