A helicopter was called in to search for missing people after a small boat was spotted drifting overturned near the A. J. Hackett Bungy Bridge on the Kawarau River.
Crew members at the bungy bridge spotted the boat and alerted the police and harbour master Marty Black, who called in the helicopter to search for whoever had been operating the boat.
Staff from Queenstown Rafting managed to secure the boat and bring it to shore.
Shortly after, the police received a call from the owner of the boat.
Mr Black said the owner had been fishing a few kilometres upriver from the bridge.
He got caught in quicksand along the river bank and could not hold on to the boat while he was struggling to get out of the sand.
Once free, the owner walked over farmland to a house, where he called authorities to notify them of the situation.
