A classic day at Lake Rotoiti

I had been looking forward to an event at Lake Rotoiti which began last Saturday afternoon, the annual Antique and Classic Boat Show.  The weather forecast wasn’t good, so around mid-morning I looked up the Lake Rotoiti WebCam. It looked as if it was pouring down, you could hardly see the water. Then I realised that was the picture a couple of hours earlier. As I fast forwarded I saw a miraculous change. About half an hour earlier the rain had stopped and the skies cleared. The view was pretty much the same as the sight that met me when I arrived shortly after lunch:

The boats were still being launched as I arrived.  This jetty was a good place from which to observe the craftsmanship that goes into these wonderful boats. 

Some kids had brought along bread to feed the ducks. That attracted a couple of very large eels, perhaps 1.5 m long and thicker than my forearm:

It did not pay to stand downwind of some of the coal-fired boats (although one of the skippers claimed that the smell was part of their charm):

Here are some examples:

This next one was called “Little Toot”/

This gentleman spend a lot of time trying to get his immaculately presented motor started. 

Of course, not all of the boats were powered by motor.  Here is a “9.7m owner built replica Jackson Family whale boat, by Ron Perano of Blenheim”:

It was very fast, but not as fast as the modern rowing skiff which seemed to just glide along, pursued by a wild man in a wooden boat:

Wild man?  Well, judge for yourself.  (He actually was fairly fit, maintaining a high rating for most of the course.)

It was great to get some mountain air and experience something more cheerful than the news we’ve been getting from Christchurch over the last couple of weeks.