Row boat joyrider makes waves
A man who was fed-up with waiting in line to hire a row boat at New Plymouth’s Pukekura Park jumped the queue and took one for a joyride instead.
The man, aged in his early 20s, was waiting in line with three other men for around 20 minutes on Saturday night before the group began to walk off.
But instead of walking around the lake with his friends, the man hopped a small fence and jumped into a boat, much to the surprise of the crowds attending the ongoing Festival of Lights.
After untying the boat from its mooring he stood up and paddled his way into the middle of the lake.
The boats hold up to five people and are rented out for $12 for half an hour.
The man paddled to the side of the lake near the waterfall before quickly pushing off again and heading down towards Poet’s Bridge and disappearing from sight. The boat was rowed back a short time later by another man in a life jacket with no sign of the original occupant.
The boat attendant said the man had been dealt with by security but didn’t know how they had managed to get him ashore.
A spokeswoman for the New Plymouth District Council denied a boat was stolen and said no charges were laid.
‘‘Apparently one person jumped the queue and the matter was quickly resolved,’’ she said.
* During the 2015/2016 TSB Bank Festival of Lights, more than 29 alcohol-related incidents were recorded, including fighting, disorderly behaviour and excessive intoxication levels.
* In 2014 the park’s motorised buggy was destroyed when vandals took it for a joy-ride.
* In 2013, Poet’s Bridge was closed to the public after hooligans broke parts of a lighting installation.