A lone kayaker, flouting the Alert Level 4 lockdown, evaded police and the Queenstown Lakes District Council harbour master Marty Black in Queenstown on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Black said he was called by Queenstown police at 12.48pm after reports of a kayaker entering the Shotover River.
He and three police units headed to Tucker Beach hoping to intercept the male, however, he did not turn up.
"We actually missed him.
"We had one about ... 10 days ago, similar, and what must have happened ... they put it in at the Shotover [River, near the Shotover Jet base] and then they go around the corner and pull out."
Mr Black said, generally, people were observing Alert Level 4 restrictions, which prohibit many activities including swimming, jet-boating, boating, fishing, kayaking, rafting and surfing, however there were "quite a few" requests for service on April 5.
"A couple in Queenstown, a couple in Wanaka, one in Hawea ... we got most of those ones.
"All the ones we do get, we get the police involved and tell everyone to hunker down and go home."
While no infringement notices had been issued, or charges laid, in the Queenstown Lakes district to date, Mr Black understood action had been taken against "one or two" in Te Anau.
"It [flouting the lockdown] does put other people at risk."
