My companion for the morning is Craig Fahey, boat skipper and hiking guide for Eco Wānaka Adventures, and a regular visitor to Lake Wānaka's most remote island.
En route to the compact lake that also resembles a rugged natural infinity pool, he introduces me to Mōu Waho's island residents. Extinct on the New Zealand mainland since 1920, the buff weka was only reintroduced from offshore islands in 2004, but now there's more than 200 of the squat and curious birds ranging across Mōu Waho's 120 hectares.
We're met by one as we arrive on the island, and Craig also points out the well-known Sally, confidently patrolling the scrubby fringes of Arethusa Pool as we arrive closer to the island's 473m summit at Tyrwhitt Peak.