🚤 Exploring Wairau Lagoon by Boat | Shallow Water Adventure & TSS Waverley

What happens when you take a small inflatable boat into one of New Zealand's shallowest and most challenging lagoon systems? In this adventure, I launch the Nifty Boat powered by a Mercury 8HP outboard to explore the fascinating Wairau River mouth and Wairau Lagoon near Blenheim, New Zealand. Inspired by a local duck hunter and his purpose-built shallow-water boat, I wanted to see just how capable this lightweight inflatable could be in marshes, lagoons, and extremely shallow water. Along the way I carefully navigate low tide, submerged logs, strong currents, and water so shallow that I constantly check the depth with my paddle. One unexpected highlight of the trip is seeing the historic TSS Waverley shipwreck from the river—a completely different perspective than most visitors experience. After returning from the river, I drive to the opposite side of Wairau Lagoon to explore one of Marlborough's well-known duck hunting and wildlife areas, where I spot Canadian geese and enjoy the peaceful wetlands. If you enjoy boating adventures, inflatable boats, shallow-water exploration, wildlife, and discovering hidden places around New Zealand, I hope you'll enjoy coming along. Every journey tells a story. 00:00 Adventure Begins 00:48 Why Bring a Nifty Boat Here? 02:40 Reaching the Lagoon 03:04 Navigating Ultra-Shallow Water 04:32 Turning Back 05:03 Getting on Plane 06:04 Discovering the TSS Waverley Wreck 06:42 Returning Through the River Mouth 07:31 Exploring Wairau Lagoon 09:18 Walking the Mudflats 09:50 Final Thoughts 🚤 Enjoy boating, fishing and coastal adventures? Subscribe to VoyagerTide77 for new adventures around New Zealand. 🏍️ Also explore New Zealand's scenic motorcycle roads on VoyagerMoto77. 🌍 Love travel and hidden places? Discover New Zealand and beyond on VoyagerHorizons77. 👍 If you enjoyed this adventure, please Like, Comment and Subscribe. Your support helps the channel continue growing and allows me to keep sharing more authentic New Zealand adventures. Have you ever explored extremely shallow water by boat? I honestly didn't expect the Nifty Boat to perform so well in some sections! It was a fun day exploring Wairau Lagoon, and seeing the TSS Waverley from the river was an unexpected bonus. Thanks for watching! 🚤