Day 18: Lake Wanaka

Up reasonably early to catch our 9 am departure with ECO Wanaka for an exploration of Mou Waho, the largest island in the lake, and a designated nature preserve. Co-owner and guide, Chris Riley, was friendly, passionate about the area, and well informed about flora, fauna, and geology.

Here he is showing us an example of a plant that evolved to have inedible leaves up to a certain height to prevent the moa (now extinct) from eating them. Above moa height, the original leaves and blooms remain. Pretty amazing!
Invasive species of plants and animals have been eliminated from the island and ECO is part of an ongoing effort to restore the island by planting a native species of tree each time they bring a group.

One of the flightless bird species wiped out on the mainland, the Buff Weka, has been re-introduced to the island and appears to be thriving.

We met Wally, one of the original birds put on this island (he still bears his leg band) and, as you can see, they are totally unafraid of the humans. He joined us for tea, and while I was talking to a fellow traveler, he came right up and stole a biscuit out of my hand.

We also saw some gecko motels, built by local college students, which protect them from being eaten by the wekas.

We saw wood pigeons (below), bell birds, and heard a number of other species that we didn't see.

One of the really unique aspects of Mou Waho Island is that it holds a rain fed lake several hundred meters up from the shoreline.

In the middle of this lake, is a small island that itself sports a teeny little lake when it rains. So then there's a lake on an island in a lake on an island in a lake on an island in the middle of the ocean.

Chris was nice enough to take pictures of us when we reached the top of the island.

The scenery was really wonderful in spite of the overcast day. This photo is from the west side of the island.
We head home tomorrow, so this will probably be the last post for a few days.

Day 17: Wanaka

After two fairly intense days of activity, we decided to lay low. We took a walk along Lake Wanaka past beaches paved with sparkly schist/mica stone and vineyards for Rippon Winery.

We missed our turn on the way back and wandered into Wanaka Station park which had a small rose garden and an absolutely massive redwood.

Hal had a nap. I read. We bought groceries. Then headed to the "i-site" to meet new friends, Margaret and Peter Sage for dinner at The Landing. The food was very good. There was a lovely view of the lake and mountains from the 2nd floor dining room, and we had a great time getting acquainted.

After Peter let it slip that Margaret's pre-retirement career had been as a hired assassin, I readily agreed to publish a picture of their adorable and very smart Norfolk Terrier, Tilly ;-) Hopefully, now that her picture has appeared in this blog, she will become famous as I promised them!

We had an exciting time trying to find their B & B (The Tin Tub) in the pitch dark, and seemingly out in the middle of nowhere, and then headed for home.