We drove to Lake Wanaka on Tuesday the 8thof January. At 192 km2 (119 miles2), it is the fourth largest lake in New Zealand. Carved out by glaciers about 10,000 years ago, Wanaka is really deep with an estimated depth of 300 metres (980 feet). It is very pretty with turquoise water, deeply cut walls, and high ridges almost all the way around the lake.
We took a water taxi to a very special island in the lake, Mou Waho, which is a protected reserve accessible only by boat. Invasive animals and plants have been eradicated from the island allowing the native plants and animals to thrive. The endangered Bluff Weka, a flightless bird about the size of a chicken, was once common on the South Island but is no longer due to predation from introduced species such as ferrets and stoats. However, it has been successfully reintroduced to Mou Waho with a current population estimate of 200 birds. Some describe the Weka as shy, others say it is curious and will approach humans. We were lucky to see two while we were on the island and I’d say both descriptions fit this bird. The ones we saw did approach us but were also quite shy and easily startled; they didn’t hang around for long. It was exciting to see such a rare bird, even briefly, and I managed to get one decent picture.
Mou Waho is a tall island with a steep path climbing 200 metres (656 feet) to the top. 150 metres up the track is a small lake called Arethusa Pool which is beautiful.
The last 50 metres of the trail is even steeper but worth the effort. The views from the top are stunning.
The very top of the island
In the photo above, Arethusa Pool is in the foreground. Lake Wanaka is just behind it and you can also see a sliver of Lake Hawea on the upper left of the photo. Arethusa Pool contains two small islands. Each island is on a lake (Arethusa Pool) on an island (Mou Waho) on a lake (Lake Wanaka) on an island (New Zealand) in the ocean.
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