Bad weather strands tourists on lake

Tourists were stranded on a tourist boat on Lake Rotorua in the early hours of this morning as bad weather prevented them returning to shore.

A Rotorua police spokesman said police were called about 1am and told that the 30 tourists were stranded on the Lakeland Queen.

The boat is a stern wheel paddleship, built on the traditional lines of Mississippi River paddleships.

The skipper of the boat had to wait for bad swells to subside before the boat could return, at 3am, he said.

There were no reported injuries.

- NZPA