I thought they said it was a four-wheel-dive

SUBTERRANEAN BLUES: Mark Dowling, of Mobil Te Anau, about to winch a Toyota four-wheel-drive back to safety after its driver almost sank it in Lake Gunn, near Te Anau.

A man keen to capture the beauty of Lake Gunn didn't get his photograph. Instead he ended up battling to stop his four-wheel-drive from sinking below the water.

Senior Constable Phillip Robertson, of Te Anau Highway Patrol, said he was called to the lake, off State Highway 94, after the man, who is in New Zealand from Europe on a working visa, drove out on to a shelf in the lake to take his photo on Sunday.

"He wanted to get a nice photo without getting the shoreline in the picture." But, the man didn't realise the shelf extended only a short distance into the water before dropping steeply at an angle of about 45 degrees, Mr Robertson said.

The man's Toyota was soon teetering on the edge of the shelf, he said. "Every time he tried to move it, it slipped in a bit deeper."

Realising his efforts were futile, he did "the right thing" in abandoning the vehicle and calling for help, Mr Robertson said.

He called in Mark Dowling, of Mobil Te Anau, who was able to winch the vehicle back to safety.

"There was no damage to the vehicle or the lake," he said.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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