Mayor gets on board as dreams of youth continue to hover

Sarah and Martin.

When I heard people talking about Hover Boards last year, I immediately conjured up the image of the pink scooter that Michael J Fox borrows from a little girl in Back to the Future 2. Didn't we all dream that those Hover Boards would one day become a reality? When they emerged last year, the reality was a little different from the movie version.

First of all, they don't actually hover. They roll on wheels (Self-balancing boards is a more accurate name). Secondly, there was a small problem with the early versions spontaneously bursting into flames.

Several airlines took the step of banning the boards from their flights and Amazon refused to sell them. Experts think the problem lies with the batteries which are highly flammable. In New Zealand, a Wellington company has launched their version of the Hover Board called Ghost Boards.

They say they are safety certified for New Zealand and Australia, they've solved the battery issue and these are totally safe to use. Well, safe as long as you can ride them properly.

We popped down to Napier Toyworld the other day and had a whirl on their demo one. The lovely David held my hands as I wobbled my way around the store and when I thought I had the hang on it, he let go.

I went a bit faster than I should of, almost took out a row of tricycles and fell backwards where David managed to catch me.

Good thing too as I was very close to getting a little more intimate with one of those trikes than I would have liked. But after a few more minutes, I got the hang of it and now I can ride the Ghost Board like a pro (slight exaggeration). Everyone in our office has given it a go and they have all marvelled at how fun they are to ride.

And with a maximum speed of 10km per hour and a charge that lasts 20km, you could literally ride one of these all the way from Hastings to Napier. Mayor of Hastings Lawrence Yule was in the studio with us yesterday and gave it a go.

After a couple of minutes he had it down and now that he's officially announced he's standing for Mayor again, I'm pretty sure we'll see him busting out some moves on one of these whilst on the campaign trail. Just got to work on that dismount, aye Lawrence!