Gisborne beaches: Paid surf lifeguards extend weekday patrol hours

Paid surf lifeguards will be patrolling Gisborne beaches weekdays from this Monday until near the end of January. Photo / Murray Robertson

Paid surf lifeguards start work on the city beaches weekdays from Monday.

It will be an earlier start than previously, thanks to extra funding from Gisborne District Council for this season.

The selection process has been completed and the lifeguards have undergone an induction.

Surf Life Saving New Zealand’s club support lead for Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, Thomas Dodds, said the extra funding was welcome.

“It’s extremely pleasing because with the heat we’ve been getting, we’re expecting to see heaps more people using the beaches.”

The paid lifeguards will be on duty from 10am until 6pm each weekday.

“That’s up until January 12, and then their hours will be from 11am to 6pm until near the end of January,” Dodds said.

“They will be patrolling for six weeks this season.”

Dodds said paid lifeguard patrols at Ūawa Tolaga Bay would start on December 22 and run for three weeks.

Volunteers at the Gisborne surf clubs will, as usual, patrol at weekends.

Volunteer patrols at the three Gisborne beaches started their weekend duties at the end of November and will patrol to the middle of March. Photo / Murray Robertson

The Dawson Building Midway, Kaiaponi Farms Waikanae and Riversun Wainui clubs started their weekend patrols at the end of November.

“They will patrol from 1pm till 5pm on Saturdays, and from 10am till 5pm on Sundays.

Tolaga Bay start volunteer patrols this weekend.

Lifeguards around New Zealand worked 7893 hours from Monday, December 1, to Sunday, December 7, as warm weather resulted in strong visitor numbers to many beaches.

Surf Life Saving NZ reported that lifeguards performed 61 rescues, assisted 65 people and undertook 1199 preventative actions across the country.

In other parts of the Eastern Region (which includes Gisborne and the East Coast), lifeguards rescued a kayaker 1km offshore at Pāpāmoa, searched for a missing 9-year-old at Waihī Beach (lifeguards located the child quickly) and carried out a rescue at Mount Maunganui.