An Australian man was rescued from the middle of Lake Wakatipu early yesterday evening after being caught out in cold, windy conditions near Hidden Island.

The man had no lifejacket and was paddling a plastic ride-on kayak when he was spotted by local man Brendan Quill 1-2km off Hidden Island. Mr Quill was so concerned that he contacted the harbourmaster and diverted his own boat to scoop up the kayaker and his small craft and deliver him safely back to Queenstown.

Mr Quill, who was in a 9-metre vessel with family members, described the conditions as “rough as guts”. “There was a howling sou-wester and there were waves coming off the top of the waves. He was drenched. We just couldn’t leave him there – it’s not what you do.”

On the trip back to shore, Mr Quill said that the ill-prepared kayaker seemed to have had little understanding of the danger he had been in, how quickly conditions could change or how cold the lake was.

Harbourmaster Marty Black was full of praise for Mr Quill’s actions, which he believed had prevented a fatality on the lake, in an area where two French kayakers drowned in 2010. “He went out of his way and saved the guy’s butt.”

Mr Black said he was keen to catch up with the man, understood to be an architect from Perth, after talking to him briefly by phone last night. Aside from issuing him with a $300 fine for not wearing a life jacket, Mr Black said he wanted to talk to the man about water safety so he understood what to do in future.

“You can’t afford to take the lake for granted. It may be calm and mild when you set out, but conditions can change in a few minutes like they did last night. Going out in the middle of the lake in an unsuitable craft with no life jacket and no ‘Plan B’ is just plain daft.”