Standing ovation!

A student from school was today making an attempt on a record set by her mother when she was roughly the same age.......just under 15.

The feat.....to swim the length of Lake Rotoiti and back.

Now you should know at this stage that the lake is fed by sub-alpine rivers and whilst it is the end of summer, the water is still darned cold! You should also know that the entire swim is roughly 15kms or 9.5 miles. And you should also know that L was swimming in togs and grease, not a wetsuit!

(Do you feel cold yet? Tired?!)

Anyway, I'd decided yesterday that a leisurely drive to the lake - about 90 minutes south - would be a wonderful way to spend Good Friday.....and it was.

I took my book and some goodies for a water-side picnic and I had a gorgeous afternoon watching the ducks, the black swans, the kids, the eels (yuk!!), the kayakers, the boaties, the biscuiters and I even got a spot of reading in too.

Somewhere around 2.30 L was visible a way down the lake and by about 3.00pm she 'landed' back on the shore. It turns out that quite a few of the kayakers, the biscuiters, the boaties and the kids were all there to welcome L in and congratulate her on her fine achievement.

And I think this black swan was there for the same reason too.

Clap, flap, clap, flap, clap.........

Awesome effort L - absolutely awesome!


Btw - I should also mention that I have been trying to get a shot of a black swan flapping it's wings on many, many occasions when I've been over in Golden Bay. The swans over there gather in their dozens and lurk just out of zoom range making it difficult to capture one.

Today there were 2 at the lake and they were virtually having a picnic with us!! They certainly didn't suffer from the shyness their Golden Bay cousins suffer from!