Lakes

Lakes

Lakes. Clear Eyes of Mother Earth.

These are those waters!

Take a refreshing bath and come out awake and like a newborn sometimes.

Lakes can be lying calm in the sun. They can be rough and wavy with the wind. They can be clear like a mirror or even shiny like a diamond in the sun. They can be green, turquoise, and all the other colours of blue - light or dark or both or some are just muddy brown. They can have all different forms: round, long, with islands in the middle, formed like a heart, surrounded by mountains or flat meadows or beaches.

You can watch and enjoy them from a mountain, from the beach or from the boat. You can do activities like sailing, canoe, kayaking, paddling, fishing, SUPing, kiteboarding, windsurfing, waterskiing, cliff jumping, BBQing, stone skipping, diving or swimming.

When I came to Wanaka, Ruby Island seemed pretty appealing. In the middle of the lake around a km from the shore, easy to swim but still a good swim. Time went by and I explored the lake mostly from the shore by enjoying the view but on special days I was able to try waterski on you, doing a birthday boat trip with friends and going cliff jumping on the way. Volunteering for the triathlon, I was even able to go for a sunrise SUP tour. I bought a wetsuit to train again and swim but mostly to swim to Ruby Island. There are even competitions, called Ruby Island swim.

One day, I did and it wasn't hard at all. I was a swim trainer before and Hendrik, my senior trainer and almost every swim trainer I know always says, swimming is about the technique and not about power, just for sprints, maybe.

I enjoyed the island on the lake for a short break in the sun before I swam back, feeling great after this easy accomplishment and some time for myself.

During the first period of the lockdown I tried the Wim methode, just because it was only a short walk to the lake from the hostel and we even had a dock to jump from. People asked me if it's cold? Of course but just for the first moment and sometimes it's even warmer than the air. Friends joined sometimes, but Wim Hof recommended doing it constantly, so I did it.

Dave was thinking about the idea if it's possible to swim all the way to the other side and to the Wanaka tree. I gave him my wetsuit and some trust. The next day he was less convinced and found excuses. He wouldn't fit into the wetsuit without trying it, he can do it another day. He fit into the wetsuit and swam the first bit to the bojes, that was enough for him, saying you have to train for an accomplishment and he will have heaps of time. Or you just do it and look for an even bigger accomplishment after it, to grow.

I lost my faith in Dave, but apparently one day Paul another guy asked me if he could borrow the wetsuit for a swim and he swam almost all the way to the other side, not to the tree but to the other side. The other guys were cheering him and were also a little bit worried about him, but standing and cheering/worrying about him is not really helping him at all. It's like FB likes for pictures instead of reading the message, just useless and not helpful, showing that I was thinking for a second hey, not more. I decided to go and bring him his clothes and a towel instead.

I got really happy, when Edwin took the wetsuit one morning, even before the sunrise to start swimming into the sunrise. Having a wonderful sunrise swim on the lake and then reached the tree really cold and without anyone cheering him. Luckily, Sophie, another girl from the hostel was there for a morning walk/run and she called Suzanne, her mom to pick Edwin up. Just a story about a lake, a dream, a swim and trust in yourself. I like this story. The lake got closed to swim in it a few days later. I can't understand why.

But I still enjoy the view every morning :)

After 4 weeks, I'm allowed to swim in the lake again and to SUP on the lake and we build a sail out of an old umbrella, so I can even sail.

There is an amazing movie, called STAND UP (http://standfilm.com/) about the Canadian First Nation, building your own board out of wood and an action of paddling to save the area from an oil pipeline project!