About Us

ABOUT US

About Us

The Loughnan family operate Energy Jet from Tawanui Farm in Cheviot with Tim being the fifth generation to grow up on the land.

The neighbouring Hurunui River has been a huge part of our lives, mainly on a recreational level. Endless summer afternoons swimming, weekends jet boating, fishing and socialising have created a sense of spirituality towards the river. It is like another part of our family.

Tim and Mike have over fifteen and thirty years’ experience respectively with jet boats. Both have completed trips jet boating the majority of the South Island’s rivers with the familiy's Hamilton Jet 152. A number of these trips have been completed under the ‘adventure boating’ guise which involves boating into the upper catchments of rivers where white-water and danger levels are high. The family farm, Tawanui, is located on the banks of the Hurunui River, so the majority of these combined years of experience have been jet boating the Hurunui. This wealth of local knowledge is invaluable in a commercial operation on our ‘home’ river.

Our Region

The Hurunui River and its surrounding areas have played a significant part in New Zealands history. For generations Maori have traversed the waters of the river to the West Coast to source the prized Ponaumu or Greenstone. They stopped on the river banks to rest, feed, quench their thirst and thanks the gods for providing such riches.

The abundant farmland surrounding the river was some of the first settled land in New Zealand. Settlers preferred this part of the country due to its rich soils, ideal for grazing stock. This is still the case today.

Our Farm

Tawanui Farm is situated towards the mouth of the Hurunui and overlooks its beautiful waters. We run our farm under the biological farming banner. This practice focusses on feeding our soil with more natural products as opposed to harmful chemicals, allowing healthy pastures and therefore healthy food. The health of our animals, environment and people is at the forefront of everything we do.

We operate under a take-in take-out philosophy. The river environment is a precious one and we aim to conduct all of our trips in a manner that ensures the environment remains ‘untouched’ after we depart.

A passionate part of our philosophy is educating people about respect for the environment.