If you go to the lagoon today you’re sure of a big surprise,

If you go to the lagoon today you just won’t believe your eyes,

For every kid that ever there was has gathered there for certain because,

Today’s the day of the Canoe Polo Oceania Championships!

Palmerston North’s Hokowhitu Lagoon is usually a lovely peaceful place full of picnickers and ducks wandering about together under the trees. But water beside the happy sandwich eaters and bread throwers isn’t always just for aesthetics. Every now and then the New Zealand Canoe Polo Association holds a tournament on the spread of water, roughing it up for a while.

Canoe polo is like a cross between water polo and basketball, with five players on each team, all in kayaks, trying to get a volleyball sized ball into a suspended goal. With the rules stating that it’s completely legal to ram into other players’ boats and push them under if they have the ball, it’s an exciting game to watch.

So if you’ve seen your fair share of picnic tables and grunting geese and are ready for a change of pace, hop onto the NZCPA website’s calendar page and see if there’s a canoe polo tournament in Palmerston North coming up anytime soon.