The Water Chute, Day's Bay, Wellington. New Zealand post card (carte postale). F T Series no 2631. Printed in Britain. [1904-1914]. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.



Back when Days Bay was known as a seaside resort, capital thrillseekers flocked to a newfangled water chute that sent riders rocketing down a 67-metre drop in boats that hit the lake at speeds of up to 50kmh before bouncing them across to dry ground.

The vessels held eight people and skidded off the pond below before skipping three times and delivering passengers back to terra firma.

But daytrippers faced a long queue before getting a ride – on fine weekends up to 5000 people travelled on the ferry from Wellington to Days Bay, attracted by what was then the largest water chute in Australasia.

ALEXANDER TURNBULL LIBRARY Overlooking the water chute at Williams Park, Day's Bay, Eastbourne, Lower Hutt, circa 1910. Photographer unidentified. Wellington harbour ferries. Ref: 1/4-018460-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

Boats were hauled to the top on a tramway and guided back down by "an expert steersman" who "owing to the dexterous way in which he uses his oar ... has perfect command of his 'vessel'," the Evening Post said.

One of the highlights for onlookers must surely have been a daredevil turn by a performer known as "Demos" that was described in the January 7, 1907 edition of the newspaper about a month after the ride opened: "The well-known trick cyclist repeated the feat of riding his machine down the water chute enveloped in flames, and taking a somersault into the artificial lake at the bottom of the incline."

Originally built for Christchurch's International Exhibition in 1906, the chute was on loan at the Eastbourne bayside resort from Miramar's Wonderland amusement park, also opened in 1907. Wonderland boasted monkeys and camels, and a miniature train for children, but the star attraction was the Katzenjammer Castle - the word is German for chaos or hangover.

But by 1910 Wonderland owed millions of dollars to creditors and by 1912 was closed for good, with its amusements - including the water chute - sold to an Auckland impresario.

The chute was resurrected at Auckland's Domain for two more summers but was dismantled in 1915 as the appetite for frivolity soured with the onslaught of World War I.

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