Tourists row with coal shovel, racquet

Lake Wanaka. Photo / Isaac Davison

Have you heard the one about the Scotsman, three Englishmen and American who took two dinghies then tried to row across Lake Wanaka using an coal shovel, a tennis racquet and patta-tennis bats for oars? They got told off by police.

The tourists got into a bit of bother when they headed into chilly waters without lifejackets, using improvised oars.

One used a tennis racquet inside a plastic New World shopping bag as an oar, another had two patta-tennis bats screwed to a length of polyurethane pipe while a third had a coal shovel attached to the end of a broom handle, The Southland Times reported.

The men, aged between 20 and 22, had taken the two unlocked dinghies from the beach by Wanaka Marina and decided to row themselves to Ruby Island for lunch and some fishing.

Halfway there the lake chopped up and the breeze got stronger Senior Constable Ian Henderson of Wanaka police said.

"There were three in one wee dinghy and I don't think they had much leeway with water coming in."

The five ended up making a landfall near Edgewater Resort, with police waiting on the shore to greet them.

As the men had intended to return the dinghies, police let them off with a stern warning, Mr Henderson said.

- NZPA