By Kim Choe
The re-launch of Christchurch’s iconic punting boats today will give passengers a new view of the city’s red zone.
Punting on the Avon’s central city branch has been out of action since the February 2011 earthquake, although rides have been available at the Antigua Boat Sheds southwest of the central business district.
The route, opened by Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker, will take punters on a river tour through the heart of the red zone, taking in areas not currently accessible on foot.
The tour will give them views of the damaged Town Hall and the Edmonds Band Rotunda, which is due to be dismantled in the near future.
Michael Esposito, the managing director of Wood Scenic Line, the company that owns Punting on the Avon, says he is delighted to be operating in the city centre again.
“People have shown a lot of interest and are happy to see it back up running,” he says.
“It’ll be an interesting trip because they will get the tranquillity and romance of the Avon River with the mayhem of the red zone as well.”
The five metre-long wooden boats, propelled by pole-wielding drivers in waistcoats, have operated on the Avon since the 1980s.
They were originally used in England in the 1800s for fishing, dredging, and transport in waters too shallow for rowing conventional boats.
Bob Parker takes a punt: watch the full video.
3 News