Queens Birthday Weekend

What a fabulous weekend it was, a bit of rain on Saturday but brilliant sunshine and warmth on Sunday and Monday! Unfortunately I was stuck in bed with a bout of the bot and did not venture out for 3 whole days.......so can only tell what has happened from others.

The bestest biggest news of the weekend is that our very own Irene Barnes from Manapouri received a Queens Service Medal, what a well deserved honour this is for Irene. She has worked tirelessly in the Manapouri and Te Anau community for nearly 50 years!!

Several events happened this weekend to tantalise the locals and visitors with the first being our annual Friends of the Library book sale, this gets bigger and better every year.

An ACDC tribute band played at the club and from what I hear, once they eventually got on stage, they were brilliant.

And last but definitely not least was the Te Anau School Polar Plunge. This was the Year 6's big chance to make big bucks for their camp at the end of the year but this didn't come easily with all students (and teachers ..............AND PRINCIPALS!) jumping in the lake. To be fair, the day was warm and the water was at least 1 degree warmer than normal so it did bring out a few extras that wouldn't have normally taken the plunge! One notable resident - Mr Willett strapped a hot water bottle to his best bits in the hope that he would be a little warmer than everyone else - I don't THINK so RAY!! Jealous I wasn't there to join in the fun - NOT!!

We are waiting for winter to happen but so far so good, my rhubarb has decided to sprout again and still have strawberries ripening in the garden - who knows, it may not happen!

Manapouri

Manapouri

The small township of Manapouri is situated 20km south of Te Anau and nestles itself alongside the crystal clear waters of Lake Manapouri.

Manapouri hosts a range of services which include a garage selling fuel, swimming pool, library, galleries, cafes, shops, bars and even a resident hairdresser. As well as a large array of accommodation,t here are several tourist excursions based here to transport people all over the lake and to our famous Doubtful Sound.

Manapouri is mostlyknown for Frasers Beach and hugely popular in the summer months. It stretches for approximately one kilometre with families swimming, fishing, boating and waterskiing, walking or just relaxing overlooking the glistening Lake Manapouri and the glorious mountains beyond.

Day walks available close by are the Fraser's Beach Reserve walkways, Circle Track, the Hope Arm Track and the Shallow Bay portion of the Kepler Track.

Lake Manapouri

Lake Manapouri with its 33 islands, is one of New Zealand's most beautiful with its backdrop made up of glacial mountains, rainforests and crystal blue skies. It is the 5th largest lake in New Zealand with 190km of shoreline and has four arms which are up to 10km long. It is also the second deepest lake at a maximum of 440 metres.

The Maori name for Lake Manapouri is 'sorrowful heart' though this name is misapplied due to an early cartographical error, the real Lake Manapouri was North Mavora Lake which lies further east. Local Maori called Lake Manapouri 'Moturau' which means 'many islands.' Before 'Motorau' the ancient Maori name was Roto-ua which means 'the rainy lake'.

There are a number of secluded bays and coves on Lake Manapouri which makes it probably the best boating lake in New Zealand.