The lake breathes

Nov. 24 – On the way to Dart River

We drove past Lake Wakatipu which has the unusual habit of rising and falling 12 cm several times an hour. There is only one other lake in the world that is known to do that and that is Lake Geneva in Switzerland. The Maori believe the lake is a sleeping giant that is breathing as it rises and falls. The lake is roughly the shape of a person laying down. The 3 islands in the center are approximately where the heart would be, and the islands themselves are sacred.