Mou Waho
Island in Lake Wānaka
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mou Waho is a 120-hectare island in Lake Wānaka, New Zealand.[1] It is around the same size as the nearby Mou Tapu, these two islands being the largest in the lake. The island contains a small recursive lake, called Arethusa Pool: a glacial-scoured lake formed by the most recent ice age on an island, in a lake on an island.[2]
Buff weka thrive on the island are predators of much of the native wildlife including mountain stone wētā, cave wētā, and Southern Alps geckos.[3] For this reason students of the local Mount Aspiring College built 40 small wooden motels for these animals to safely live in.[4]
Name
The island was formerly variously known as Pigeon Island (therefore confused with its namesake on nearby Lake Wakatipu[5]) and Manuka Island. It was officially renamed Harwich Island in 1925[6] in honour of the Royal Navy's Harwich Force[5] but the name did not gain wide acceptance[5] and was renamed Mou Waho in 1988 after documents from the 1920s were found attesting to the original te reo Māori name.[5]
