Paddle Boats in New Zealand
Found your website the other day and thought you might like to her about some of the paddle boats operating in New Zealand.
Auckland is our biggest city. It’s up the top of the country and enjoys a mild climate, no snow in winter and not too hot in summer. You can have a paddle around in a paddle boat at one of the inner city beaches. Mission Bay is about 15 minutes from the centre of town. It comprises restaurants, cafes and parks and one of the cleanest sandy beaches you'll find in any city in the world. It’s pretty shallow, so the best time to go is high tide, or a couple of hours either side. Windsurfers, canoes, yachts and paddle boats are available to hire. Being close to the city it gets a lot of tourists. The locals also turn up with picnic baskets and a ball for a bit of a kick around on the park next to the fountain.
I often go down there with my kids for a paddle around in the bay. It only costs a few bucks and gives us the chance to paddle up and down the bay and people watch. The exercise is good too.
About 4 hours south of the main city, Auckland, is the thermal city of Rotorua. Its thermal because it lies inland in an active volcanic seam that runs through the country and out to sea. New Zealand has a history of many volcanos. One of the worlds biggest, is just up the road from Lake Rotorua, called Lake Taupo. A lake in an extinct volcano. Anyway, back to Rotorua. This is where many of our native tribes, called "Maoris" live. The lake is populated with freshwater trout and has many attractions nearby. Seaplanes and lunch cruises operate on the lake as well as the "hire a boat" operator. This is where we stop to hire a paddle boat when we are in town. The water's usually calm and the lake is usually flat, so it’s a great place to cruise up and down watching the steam from the thermals rising from the lake and the comings and goings of the local craft.
Wellington is New Zealand's capital city. Located in the middle of the country but on the southern coast of the North Island. New Zealand comprises two main islands strangely called the North and South islands. A car ferry travels between the two and Wellington is located in a sheltered harbour at the very bottom of the North Island. Our National Museum is located here, very close to the water, in the centre of town. Its here the paddle boats operate from. There is a small man made "harbour" close the shipping docks and it’s been developed into a recreation area, with restaurants and show facilities. Paddle boats can be hired and it’s common to see almost all of them on the water chugging away.
There are quite a few other places you can hire paddle boats too. I'll drop you a line again and tell you about them. Enjoyed your site. Look forward t seeing more about these little craft.
Article by John Franzis.www.campervanhirenz.net