By
Richard Moore
For
a very different - and fun - look at Rotorua then put aside
90 minutes and hop on board Rotorua Duck Tours.
Now
just to set the scene - and the tone of the journey you
are about to embark on - you are handed a plastic quacker
when you hop aboard the Duck, or more accurately the DUKH.
The
Duck is a bright yellow amphibious craft from WWII that
can also motor about on the roads.
Your
guide for the outing, in our case Grant, is known as the
Conducktor. He will entertain you with information about
Rotorua and its environs in a very amusing way and one of
his many tasks is to get you to quack your quacker as loudly
as you can at just about everyone and everything you pass
along the way. Except the hunting shop - for some reason
that has an exemption.
Anyway
you begin your tour down at Lake Rotorua where the conducktor
will fill you in on various Maori legends of the area, including
the real-life love match of Hinemoa and Tutanekai.
From
there you set off at a surprisingly brisk pace to the Government
Gardens, zip around the Museum and Blue Baths, check out
Sulphur Point (where Rotorua gets most of its odour from)
and then on to Lake Tikitapu, the Blue Lake.
For
an old girl the DUKH does motor and it's with some excitement,
not to mention masses of water, that you splashdown in the
Blue Lake for the first of two amphibious ventures out on
to the water.
And,
for a heavy beast, it's suprising how the Duck takes to
the lake like a DUKH to water. Funny that. After a bit of
a spin on Tikitapu, where you get to see the vessel at top
speed on the water (it doesn't seem much faster than its
low speed) it's then back on to land for a trip to Lake
Okareka.
There
you ogle houses of the idle rich - and the idle fabulously
rich - before doing a safety check and then motoring back
to the drop-off at Rotorua's I-Site.
As
said before the Duck is a fun thing to do and the kids love
their quackers, which also provide you with discounts at
various places around the city.
Grant
the Conduktor was very personable and funny guy who had
the tourists enjoying themselves immensely. Oh and listen
up as there is a quiz at the end.
The
Duck is well worth doing.
Tours
depart from the Rotorua I-site Fenton St.
Departures
Times: Summer - 11am; 1pm; 3.30pm. Winter - 11am, 2.15pm.
Tours depart 7 days per week (except Christmas Day), regardless
of rain.
Book a Trip on the
Duck
