Holiday fun with modified kayak
Vern Houghton is travelling all over the South Island in his Ford Transit towing a trailer loaded with an electric and solar-powered kayak.
Windy conditions in Riverton on Wednesday morning made him leave the kayak on the trailer instead of taking it for a jaunt around the town’s coast line.
‘‘I’ve had my daredevil days . . . trying to battle the wind and tides is not easy,’’ Houghton, of Christchurch, said. ‘‘I love the water, had boats all my life.’’
Houghton, 78, is halfway through his six-week holiday visiting mostly the South Island’s lakes and coastal areas. He clocked up 20 kilometres of sailing on Lake Hauroko earlier this week.
Four years ago Houghton modified the kayak by adding an electric trolling motor and solar panel.
‘‘It’s my first time to Riverton, I’ve got a friend who’s got a crib in Moana St.’’
Elsewhere in the region, Colac Bay Holiday Park owner Warren Bevin and helpers were cleaning up the facility yesterday after a hectic seven days.
About 180 people holidayed there during that period and many had booked camp sites for next Christmas-New Year, Bevin said.
About 100 holidaymakers packed up and headed home yesterday morning.
Bevin also owns the Colac Bay Tavern next door.
‘‘We’ve been making 200-300 meals a day for the past week.
‘‘The weather makes it . . . everyone wins when the weather’s good.’’
Brad and Kirsty Anderson, of Invercargill, were having a great time on their first stay at the holiday park.
They had been summer holidaying at Omakau and Arrowtown in recent years but are glad they changed to Colac Bay.
‘‘There’s more to do here,’’ Kirsty said.
She and her family and friends, Wayne Todd and Daniel Bothamley, chose from diving, kayaking, swimming and wind surfing.
Former provincial rugby players Brendan Laney, of Christchurch, and Davin Heaps, of Wyndham, and their families were also at the holiday park for the first time. ‘‘It’s been fantastic, we’ve had a ball,’’ Laney said.