Blue Lake, St. Bathans

Blue Lake is a small lake adjacent to the town of St. Bathans in Central Otago, New Zealand. The lake is man-made, the result of sluicing operations that began in 1873 when John Ewing (1844–1922) formed the St.Bathans Channel Company, to mine the Kildare Hill Gold Claim in St Bathans. Natural drainage from the surrounding hills filled the hole with water and created the present day lake.

I would really love to kayak around this lake, especially if the conditions were similar to what GingerNan and I found this morning. What a wonderful sight! These cliffs are especially beautiful when the water is mirror calm. We had a pair of Paradise Ducks making a tremendous racket when we arrived - we'd obvious disturbed their calm!

We've moved on from Wedderburn now and are staying the night in Wanaka, meeting up with one of my sons and his family tonight, plus Tussock! Another blipmeet :)

What do I say about your response to last night's Hawkduns Range Milky Way shot? I'm totally taken aback. Your comments, stars and amazing hearts have sent it way up in Spotlight. I'm sure than things will return to what passes for normal when I get back to Christchurch! Thank you all, so much.