An island in a lake in an island in a lake in an island in the ocean.

March 20

It’s another beautiful day in Wānaka. Let’s go on a boat ride to an island on a lake on an island on a lake on an island.

Huh?

I’ll explain in a minute.

Brent from Wānaka Water Taxi was our skipper to the predator free island of Mou Waho on Lake Wānaka. We boarded our boat in Roy’s Bay and headed out into Lake Wānaka.

Rob Roy McGregor was an early European farmer and settler here and figured he had naming rights to the bay and the hike we did yesterday. He was a known outlaw, so nobody argued with him.

On our boat ride to Mou Waho, or “outer island” in Māori, we learned that Lake Wānaka is the 4th largest in NZ and 1,115 feet at its deepest point. Carved by glaciers thousands of years ago, four small islands reside within the lake. Brent assured us the lake water was pure and drinkable, but I didn’t test it out.

The town of Wānaka, meaning “place of learning,” was once called Pembroke after a UK Cabinet Minister. Residents changed its name to Wānaka in 1940, but Brent said no one knows why. It’s not a Māori word. To me, Wānaka is a less crowded, more chill place than Queenstown with beautiful views of the Southern Alps.

Brent dropped us and 9 other people off on the island, waved goodbye and sped away. Did I unknowingly agree to be a participant on NZ’s next season of Survivor?

Taking stock of our food supply, I wondered how long we could survive, and if I would have to share my Whittaker’s mini dark chocolate orange bar with anyone, or keep it hidden and privately nibble away at it in the dark.

Since the only way onto the island is by boat, it’s pretty remote and unpopulated.

The first sound we heard once we started walking was that of blissful silence, broken up by the melodious songs of the bellbirds, birds we became familiar with on our previo hikes.

Bird life flourishes here thanks to a pest control program and tons of trees. Tuis, kererus, fantails and buff wekas thrive here. The flightless weka, which we thought was a chicken on our first encounter at Rabbit Island, roam free and happily antagonize the island’s visitors.

We walked in the lush forest for about 20 minutes and after a steepish climb up the trail, we arrived at Arethusa Pool, where there is a tiny rock island sitting inside it. The view was amazing from above, and we wished we had more time to linger, but Brent said he was coming back to pick us up in 90 minutes. Or was he 🤔?

From there we hiked another few minutes to the overlook for an even more expansive view of the lake and mainland.

So it’s that (tiny) island in a lake (Arethusa Pool) on an island (Mou Waho) on a lake (Lake Wānaka) on an island (South Island of New Zealand) in an ocean.

Cool, huh?

We figured Brent was probably true to his word about coming back to collect us, so we hiked back down to the dock and ate our lunch, under the watchful eye of the Weka. Several people braved the cool 60 degree water of Lake Wānaka (not us!) and whooped and shrieked when they first jumped in. In the distance, Brent’s orange boat appeared, so I took out my dark chocolate orange mini bar and chomped away, happy not to be parceling it out amongst 10 other people.

Back on the mainland, we took a drive on a dirt road out towards Mt. Aspiring, passing one farm, or what they call a station, after another. Sheep, cows and deer dotted the landscape. And we hit a road block along the way.