Today went spent the day on Swan Song in Lake Wanaka.  Pete’s wife calls it, She Who Must Be Obeyed.  She’s almost too pretty to get wet.  Swan Song is Pete’s baby.  A James Bond-ian wooden boat, the thing causes crowds when out in pubic.  Grown men (it’s mostly men) stare, opened mouthed in awe.  I don’t really understand it, however I can’t be too hard on Pete.  We all have our Swan Song.  Mine’s my camera, probably the only material possession I own I truly, truly care about.  So, you can imagine my annoyance when I fell ass over tea kettle into the lake, camera and all.  

Neither of us fared very well.  I banged my good knee (the one I didn’t have surgery on six weeks ago) hard on the way down.  The bruise is remarkable.  Camera got doused.  So much for personal responsibility.  Where was the sign that said, “Slippery When Wet?”  We had boated to this island within Lake Wanaka that had … I know this will sound strange … another separate lake on it.  We briefly hiked straight up to see this hidden gem, but, alas, I had no camera with which to document the experience.  Fortunately my pal, Chad, took over photog duties.  He snapped a pic of us snapping a pic of ourselves.  It’s a picture within a picture of a lake within a lake.  Needless to say, the view of a lake within a lake was spectacular.  After the hike we had lunch on the beach.  To reduce the soreness I ate lunch with my pants off, waist deep in the lake.  “Refreshing” is a word that might describe the experience.  Other words also come to mind, most unprintable.  

Lake Wanaka is fed by glaciers and is New Zealand’s fourth largest lake.  I’ve included a pic of a glacier below, it’s that big white blob that looks like snow or clouds on the mountain top.  Water and rocks (though high up they start as boulders) drip down to create the lake’s crystal clear water and rocky beaches.  Lake Wanaka was also carved by glaciers, which means it’s deep – 1300’ at its deepest.  Because of the depth the lake never warms.  A helicopter crashed some time ago, and it took the Navy three months to retrieve it.  The pressure was too great for conventional retrieval means.     

A picture below shows a house on a small rise, behind which is the tall mountain.  These smaller foothills were caused by debris falling from the higher mountains and piling onto the sides of the receding glacier.  This patterns is prevalent through much of the area.  It also gives you a sense of the immensity of these slow moving ice rivers that are conspicuously absent.  

The kids and grandkids are coming shortly.  The family is all quite excited.  Pete has been running around the house getting ready for their arrival.  Soon Christmas will be in full swing. 

Oh, and after some time in the sun my camera started working again.  Hopefully my knee soon follows suit.