It's not often you find something truly unique these days — most things have been done before. But on the shores of Lake Rotoiti, there is a new boat that's unlike any other, as Seven Sharp reporter Lucas de Jong found out.
Matt Horder is the first to admit it was a "beer and napkin" idea.
Horder and his friends were full of hop-fuelled confidence when they decided to take the "timeless" 1960s airstream caravan and turn it into a boat.
"I carved this [model] up in my little workshop and then covered it in foil and put all of these black dots on it to give me an idea what it might look like when it's done."
For 16 years the Pure Cruise owner has taken tourists across the picturesque waters of Lake Rotoiti on a variety of vessels.
He felt like it was time for an upgrade but none of the boats out there ticked all the right boxes.
"It would be totally easier just to go to the shop and buy something off the shelf.
"There's nothing special about that. I want people to come and not just enjoy the lake and the experiences that we offer but enjoy the boat as well."
So the local with no boat building experience called in friends from around the region to help.
'A beautiful panorama'
What was meant to be an eight-month project quickly spiralled into two-and-a-half years of construction.
Now the airstream is ready to take on passengers.
You can't help but stare as its mirrored metal exterior glides across the glassy waters of Lake Rotoiti. But it's the boat's ability to open out and link its environment that makes it special.
Along its sides, the perspex windows can fold seamlessly into the roof cavity.
"This what we really wanted from this window design — to get the windows out of the way, no frames — and you have a beautiful panorama every day of the week."
The side walls then fold down and the couches pivot out to sit just above the water line.
"Making these couches strong enough with a big strength bar in the back, and that locks into places inboard and outboard, so that people can stand here and leap into the lake."
The openness is almost alarming. But it's the silence that's most fitting for the scenery around it.
Instead of a backing track of fossil fuel burning away, the airstream opted for the selective silence of a hybrid engine.
Ra Cleave was the friend tasked with making the hybrid work.
"We thought about just a battery electric vehicle for starters but to push a boat around a long time on the water you've got to have a lot of batteries."
They've used old electric Nissan Leaf engines and an onboard generator to create the hybrid engine.
"We can tootle along at 4 knots with the batteries, and then when we want to go faster we put on the generator."
Skirting the bush-clad lakeside of Rotoiti you can sit amongst the environment you've come to see.
"To be connected, people want to be connected, who want to explore the lake. We can cruise really close to the shoreline, it's quite deep on the sides and this allows the bush to be right here," said Horder.
As the sunlight bounces from the water up into the cabin the air literally streams through the boat.
You can see this is a design dream from the mind of a man who's spent his life around Lake Rotoiti.
Now he has a boat that connects them all together.
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