Kawarau Jet:

Kawarau Jet boats, the world's first commercial jet boat operation started here in Queenstown New Zealand. Kawarau Jet has its origins in a Christian youth trust set up to ensure the "spiritual, moral and physical wellbeing of the young people in Otago and Southland.

Queenstown's famous jet boat industry became inextricably linked with Lakeland Christian Camp in 1960 when camp trustees and Invercargill brothers Alan and Harold Melhop made the first powered navigation of the Kawarau Falls dam in a Hamilton Jet.

The pair, whose Invercargill engineering business was an agency for the revolutionary Hamilton jet-boat, found that holidaymakers soon lined up for rides on the thrilling new boat, and at five shillings a go, the trip provided efficient fundraising for the Christian camp.

The brothers eventually convinced the six-person Christian trust to invest in the operation by buying its own Hamilton Jet boat. The price was 1200 pounds. So began one of Queenstown's most successful and enduring tourist operations.

The Kawarau Jet tradition of innovation is still in evidence - the world's first jet-boat operation also pioneered the twin jet units on the narrow shallow braids of the Shotover River and still leads the way worldwide with constant research and development.

Reservations are essential, either direct or through guest services staff at Lake Vista Bed and Breakfast.

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