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Story: Canoeing and rafting

Rob Roy canoes

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Rob Roy canoes

Members of Wellington’s Tainui Canoe Club, formed in 1870, went on canoeing holidays in the Marlborough Sounds in their English Rob Roy canoes. Made of planks and over 4 metres long, these canoes could be rigged with masts and sails. In this 1887 scene, three such canoes are under sail in Queen Charlotte Sound.

Using this item

Alexander Turnbull Library, Arthur Bothamley Collection

Reference: 1/2-035133; G

by Arthur Thomas Bothamley

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Nancy Swarbrick, Canoeing and rafting – Early canoeing, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/13079/rob-roy-canoes (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 2 March 2009, updated 18 July 2016.