OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Thursday morning we left the rain of Dunedin and drove to Alexandra for lunch on our way to Wanaka. We enjoyed some very picturesque farmland. Wanaka is surrounded by mountains and is situated in the Otago region at the southern end of Lake Wanaka and overlooks Mt Aspiring National Park. It is primarily a resort town with both summer and winter seasons and was originally settled during the gold rush of the nineteenth century. 

The weather was ideal to photograph Mt Aspiring and also the little willow tree which has become popular with photographers from all around the world. It is only small and grows in the water a few metres from the shore.

Wanaka's "willow with wet feet" is now New Zealand's most photographed tree. About five years ago, Wanaka photographers and writers began sending images of the tree through social media. Since then it has been posted on New Zealand tourism media and therefore has gained notoriety throughout the world. The tree started life in 1939 as part of a fence used to keep the sheep out of town. Its determination to live makes interesting reading. It is located in a gentle curve in Roys Bay opposite the showgrounds.