Ben Ohau Station

ben ohau Hill Cottage

Ben Ohau Hill Cottage is ideally located for those who appreciate the perfect combination of relaxation and adventure. From your doorstep, you can embark on a scenic 45-minute drive to Mt Cook National Park, or take a quick 5-minute drive to Twizel village, offering cafes, restaurants, and shops.

The cottage is a stone’s throw away from trout fishing and swimming rivers, local canals and lakes, as well as access to the famous Alps to Ocean Cycle Trail and stunning DOC biking and walking trails.

A perfect Movie backdrop

Discover the stunning film location sites of Ben Ohau Station, an ideal destination for filmmakers seeking unique and captivating backdrops for their productions. Located in the heart of the picturesque Mackenzie Country, the remote vast grasslands, forests, and snowcapped mountains offer a perfect setting for movies, television shows, and TV commercials.

With close proximity to Twizel township and the main state highway, our locations are easily accessible, with cafes, accommodations, and resources nearby. Ben Ohau Station has been the site of numerous productions, including the epic trilogy The Lord of The Rings, where Director Peter Jackson staged the massive climactic battle of The Battle Of Pelennor Fields with over 1,000 cast and crew and 280 horses on-site.

Other scenes filmed on our location include The Fall of Osgiliath, The Sacrifice of Faramir, The Ride of The Rohirrim, The Nazgul and his Prey, The Shieldmaiden of Rohan and The Victory of Minus Tirith. Additionally, our location has been used for the production of John Maclean's Slow West produced by Film4 Productions and Disney's A Wrinkle in Time.

If you'd like to come and scout a location please send us an email

A Family Tradition of Merino

Internationally recognised for producing high quality super fine Merino wool. Ben Ohau continues the High Country tradition of breeding Merino sheep, supporting the NZ Merino Company who supply their international brand partners with the best quality NZ merino fibre.

AWARds

5 x Winner of the 'Loro Piana New Zealand Record Bale' 2001-2006

New Zealand Merino 'Clip of the Year' 2006

'Ermenegildo Zegna International Vellus Aureum Trophy' 2008
 

PROUDLY SUPPORTING THE NZ MERINO COMPANY:

128 years of camerons on ben ohau

On reaching the Ohou River in the spring of 1856 two Scotsmen McMurdo & Fraser admired the north facing slopes above and simultaneously exclaimed “I’ll have that country”. Instead of making off to the Christchurch Land Office to lay their claims, they decided to save their horses by racing them to a nearby matagouri bush to see who would take up the land. McMurdo was victorious and landed what he called Benmore Station and Hugh Fraser took the neighbouring property.

In 1857 the lease was first applied for by Hugh & Samual Fraser, named "Beinn Achiu" gaelic for "mountains of the dog". The lease consisted of all the land between Lake Ohou and the Pukaki River. This covered 80,356 acres. The Fraser’s culivated one acre of barley per annum and distilled their own whiskey. The Haldon Station diary dated 22nd August 1868 has an entry stating they had received one gallon of whiskey from The Frasers’. The Fraser Stream is named after the Fraser brothers.

 In 1867 the station was sold to Messrs Ostler and Dawson. The name then becoming Ben Ohau. Early maps show Lake Ohau spelt as Lake Ohou. This was most probably bought about by a spelling mistake on later government maps. William Oster died sometime after straining himself whilst trying to stop a wool bale falling from a wagon into The Ohau river. The hill to the south of the homestead is named Mt Ostler.

Mortgagees Goldsborough and Company took over the running of the property until the sale in 1889. There was however no bid due to too many rabbits. In 1891 James Preston bought Ben Ohau including 16,800 sheep. Preston lost 6,000 sheep in the massive 1895 snow. This along with the devastating rabbit plaque, and what Preston considered then as a lime and salt deficiency was reason enough for him to try and abandon the run eventually succeeding in 1897 when his manager-nephew John E.P. Cameron was granted a lease by the Crown at a special rental due to the massive degradation by rabbits.

John nurtured the land back to production and at one time had 16 rabbiters’ poisoning and trapping rabbits. His success was evident for the Crown decided to reduce the area of the property in the 1911 release of runs.  The Crown also made Cameron relinquish almost 40, 000 acres for post-war soldier resettlement in 1920 producing 3 new runs, Benrose, Omahau, and Ruataniwha.

The Cameron family have continued to farm this area for over a century. The small local town of Pukaki was flooded when the new high dam was built and a further 1200 acres of Ben Ohau was sold to the crown for the hydroelectric development for the building of the canal during 1967-1983. The town of Twizel was built during this period to accommodate all the construction workers.

In 2016 the fourth generation of The Cameron family celebrated 125 years of settlement on Ben Ohau Station, carry with them a lasting respect for the land and all that their forebears endured.     

Reading List

Steeped in history, you can read more about life on our iconic high country station below:

Jubilee History of South Canterbury       

1945, My First Eighty Years  by Helen Wilson

1964, Life On a Five Pound Note by Evelyn Hoskin

1971, Early South Canterbury Runs by Robert Pinney

2005, From Thistle to Fern by Eilidh McPherson 

2007, Frugal Country and Hard on the Boots by Eileen McMillan

2010, The Mackenzie Country by David Relph

2015, High Country Stations of the Mackenzie by Mary Hobbs

watercolours by simon cameron

If you would like to request one of Simons works, or arrange a custom artwork please send him a message with details below: