   right|thumb|aerial view of cromwell from the south cromwell is a town in central otago in the otago region of new zealand. it is situated between state highway 6 (linking to wanaka, 50&nbsp;km north, and queenstown, 60&nbsp;km west) and state highway 8 leading to the lindis pass, 75&nbsp;km northeast, and alexandra, 33&nbsp;km south. the road to alexandra winds through the cromwell gorge. a point near cromwell lies 119 kilometres from the sea, the farthest from the sea anywhere in new zealand. a prominent feature surrounding much of the town is the man-made lake dunstan. cromwell also has the newly constructed highlands motorsport park. nearby settlements are at bannockburn, lowburn, tarras, and ripponvale. cromwell is also the home of the cromwell chafer beetle (prodontria lewisi). == history == cromwell was originally known as "the junction", being at the confluence of the clutha and kawarau rivers. in 1862, gold was discovered below the junction by two miners, hartley and reilly. once the word of a gold strike was out, there was an influx of several thousand miners to the area. as gold ran out, cromwell became the service centre for an extensive farming and stone fruit growing area. it has a strategic location between the lindis and the haast passes, and acts as a hub between the towns of wanaka, queenstown and alexandra. the former is commemorated with the giant sculpture of stone fruit which stands outside the northern end of the town. cromwell lay at the confluence of the clutha river and kawarau river, which was noted for the difference between the 
Clutha_River Otago_Gold_Rush Populated_places_in_Otago