When I first heard that there was a natural rock bridge over the mighty Kawarau River between Queenstown and Cromwell I was sceptical but my father in law was insistent that he read somewhere that Rees had seen it in the early pioneering days of Queenstown. The route also a pathway for the early Māori to collect Greenstone I did some research and came across this fascinating 1865 sepia photo taken by Joseph Perry and part of the Digital Collection and Hocken Collections at the University of Otago https://hocken.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/42150?keywords=joseph+perry&highlights=WyJwZXJyeSIsImpvc2VwaCJd&lsk=b488e8d41119259d91dc9bb09906b333 ..seemingly it was some form of natural rock bridge over the Kawarau River! There is more interesting information found here... https://www.paydirt.co.nz/forums/yaf_postst346_Kawarau-River-Natural-Bridge-Rock-Arch.aspx Looking at this photo it appears that the entire might of the enormous Kawarau River somehow squeezes through this tiny gap but it is thought the river has undercut these rocks and there is a substantial cavern underneath where the river flows through. It also noted that the image is taken during a period of very low flow. It's also accepted that several big floods have collapsed some of the bridge over the years. Fast forward 158 years and you see the view shown here, not that many even know this exists. It is hoped that a future cycle way through the gorge will maybe have a stopping near here to tell it's interesting story...