Regions of New Zealand closely associated with the high country include Central Otago and the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island, and parts of the North Island Volcanic Plateau. Much of the land is at a high altitude (hence its name), with the majority of the high country being more than 600 metres (2000 feet) above sea level. The land is marked with geological features associated with glaciation from the last ice age, with deep finger-shaped lakes such as Lake Wānaka and Lake Tekapo.
In popular culture
The South Island's high country was featured extensively in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, where it stood in for Gondor and Rohan.
References
^Orsman, H. W. (1999). The Dictionary of New Zealand English. Auckland: Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-558347-7.
Further reading
Steeg, Antonia (2012). High country New Zealand: the land, the people, the seasons. Wellington, N.Z: Te Papa Press. ISBN9781877385896.