Lindis Pass Hotel - A Historic Campsite
Located on State Highway 8 in Central Otago, Lindis Pass stands at an altitude of 971m. Prior to English settlement, the Maori named the main route through Lindis Pass to the Clutha River "Okahu". Evidence shows that Maori were familiar with this area and often camped by Omako, now commonly known as Lindis River. In 1857 a man named John Turbull Thomson crossed the area and gave it its name. He named it after Lindisfarne island in North East England which was his home. During his travels, he noticed that there was gold in the area but not in substantial quantaties. It wasn't until 1861 when Samuel Mcintyre found a substantial amount in Lindis Pass that actually had payable quantaties. The Lindis River saw the small scale gold rush in the Otago area. Mcintyre had previously worked in gold fields in California and could therefore indentify the similarities between the two regions, noticing the area's potential for goldmining that others had not. By April that year