The solstice season — it’s a bit dippy.
The shortest day has just gone and sunshine (and summer) is hopefully on its way.
On Saturday, the Wanaka Waterski and Wakeboard Club holds its 23rd annual ski and swim event at Roys Bay, at the ski lane opposite Pembroke Park.
The apres-ski swim coincides with Treble Cone’s planned opening day, with dippers expected to enter the water between 1pm to 1.30pm.
Veteran ski and swim event coorganiser Gary Tweedie said people that intended to ski or swim should begin congregating on the beach from 1pm, so they could make their intentions known to himself and his co-organiser Graeme Vallance.
Funds raised would be donated to Community Networks/Link, he said.
The Wanaka Lake Swimmers Club will begin first, leading the swimmers away from the boating zone.
The emphasis is on fun, so people can wear wetsuits, togs or dress up.
A barbecue and hot drinks will be available to help warm up the participants from the inside.
Participants should bring plenty of warm clothes and perhaps a hotwater bottle too, as the lake temperature is hovering around 10degC this week.
A portable hot tub will be set up on the shore, and spectators are welcome.
A Mt Aspiring College quartet of pupils and teachers kicked off the mid-winter dipping season last weekend, performing 40leaps from the jetty to raise funds for World Vision’s 40 Hour Challenge.
More cold-water communion can be expected this weekend, with the swim club planning another swim at about 1pm on Sunday before snuggling down together in the main auditorium of the Lake Wanaka Centre to watch the New Zealand Mountain Film and Book Festival’s short film session at 3pm.
The event opens with Out of the Pool, Into the Wild, a film project by Queenstown’s Southern Lakes Swimming Club, directed by Marjin Wouters.
