Northland: Boats and Things

New Zealand has one of the highest boat owning per capita ratios in the world.  I know that because I read it on Pauline's boat-bottoms post a couple of days ago and even my memory stretches that far back.  When we were doing our latest Northland safari Pauline decide that we would go and explore a bay on the other side of the hill from Russell about 5 minutes away by car.  It turned out to be fi=ull of surprises... and boats:

 The traditional gaff-rigged schooner R Tucker Thompson operated by a trust of the same name which has as its mission: Learning for Life through the Sea

 I had photographed this vessel in Paihia back in 2010 and it was only when I got the photos home that I realised that it was following a pod of dolphins.

Not everyone is in it for the speed

 Although I do wonder how people manage this and travel very long distances in rough seas doing it.

This took me completely by surprise

and when I used the long focus lens  have to say that it didn't appeal to me at all.

This little craft on the other hand spends its life up and down the Northland coast checking moorings.

Whilst this one is out for the sheer exhilleration of the speed (I'm sure that on the News tonight it said that some of these jet boats can travel in calm water up to 80kph!)

Jet Boating

Wednesday's morning highlight was Jet Boating. Two massive supercharged Buick engines thrusting us along the Waikato River at speeds up to 90kph with only 10cm of the boat's keel in the water. It is an awesome experience. Needless to say you don't just wander along the river looking at the Black Swans and ducklings. We careered up and down the river inches away from the bank and various obstacles in the river and in and out of channels narrower than the boat - it didn't matter because at that speed so little of the boat was in the water who cared if the channel was only a yard wide. We also did wheelies. Serious, fast wheelies over our own wake.

Catriona had been seriously concerned about the activity (it looks really scary from the bank) and at one point it looked as though she was going to bottle out. Once we were on the water it was a different matter and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

We were very lucky because the other people booked for our boat didn't turn up so we had a bot to ourselves which not only meant that we were not squashed in with other people but our boat could go faster than a fully loaded boat by about 10kph.



We went up river to the Huka Falls. The water level in the falls was fairly low but even at that level 300,000 litres fall over it every second: enough to fill an Olympic sized swimming pool in four seconds. Impressive from where we were. When we went to the viewing point (from which everyone is waving in the picture) it looks far less impressive.