LOCAL NEWS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2021 AT 10 AM– 2 PM

Picnic at the Punt for Waitangi Monday

Punters from near and far will be in Tuapeka Mouth for an informal gathering, which will include celebratory photos at 11am, Noon and 1pm, and Vicki and The Morris Coffee Co will be there with coffee, cake, and cold drinks. Bring your own picnic, or register with The Morris Coffee Co on Facebook to pre-order one. NB. BYO table and chairs, as there's only the 6 seater picnic table there, and we expect to be busy! https://www.facebook.com/HeritageHub

Hopefully weather and river conditions will be good for this occasion. Some 25 punts used to operate on the Clutha River, but the Tuapeka Mouth Ferry is the only one remaining in service. In fact, it is the last remaining river powered ferry in the Southern Hemisphere. It's FREE and extremely enjoyable, and it's recently gained nationwide attention in the past few months, thanks to the increased number of Kiwi travellers, and recent social media exposure, and they come from as far afield as Thames, Kapiti Coast, Whakatane, Kaitaia and Nelson, and we've even had some from Auckland...

It will also be a chance to visit other spots at Tuapeka Mouth: the Heritage Hub for its historical details and a caravan park over property, the restored Catholic Church St Augustine’s, the old primary school, the cricket ground the ‘wasp’s nest’ home to the Clutha Valley Stingers, who are due to play a T20 game, starting at 1pm, and the Tuapeka River Dam walk to the 100 year old concrete dam and other remnants of the goldmining era.

You can find out more about the history of the Tuapeka Mouth Ferry, and a list of the operators over the last 125 years. Check out http://www.tuapekamouthferry.co.nz/Tuapeka-Mouth-Ferry/

And updates on the ferry here (recommended to Like and Follow) as you'll get daily updates, and in case of cancellation or for further details: