Town Basin turns into waterslide wonderland

Jed Pettiit-Court couldn't get enough of the giant water slide at Whangarei Town Basin, he'd been down 55 times by the time we got this photograph. Photo / Alex Woods

There will be more screaming and laughter than usual at the Town Basin for the next few weeks as children zoom down a giant water slide.

About 100 kids of all ages headed to the Town Basin to get wet and wild on the first day of the Mega Mountain water slide on Wednesday.

The slide is 3.4 metres high and, on Wednesday, Kobe Seymour, 9 and his sister, Peyton, 6, just couldn't get enough.

"It's good because it's really slippery when you go down," said Kobe. "And you go down really fast," added Peyton.

Patariki Kooti was in town from Wellington with his moko, 7-year-old Jed Pettiit-Court.

The pair had been there for an hour and while Mr Kooti was getting a bit bored, Jed wanted to keep going. "I've been down 55 times."

Majka Cherrington, who was managing the Wet'n'Wild event, said for their first day the slide was "pretty busy".

The slide will be at the Town Basin, until January 21 with prices from $8.