Floating inflatable fun park with ecological twist to open near Christchurch

Nicole Mathewson Reporter from Northern Outlook

A new aqua fun park not only aims to bring a summer of fun to Kaiapoi but will also teach children about ecology.

The WHōW charitable trust has been granted consent to operate a 160-metre inflatable fun park on Courtenay Lake.

Kaikanui​ Aqualand will open on Saturday and run until the end of March. It has consent to operate from October to March each year for the next three years.

The aqua park has been six years in the making and is a transitional project to build support for the trust’s other main project – the development of a whitewater, surf, and cable wake park next to the Kaiapoi River in the east regeneration area.

A single 50-minute session at the fun park will cost $30, but WHōW vice chairman Jason Mill​ said a youth price would soon be available, as well as early-bird specials.

He said children from low-decile schools across the area would be offered the chance to play at the park for free. They would also be given an ecology lesson at the same time, and would have the opportunity to plant trees around the lake.