Tourist fails to impress police

A29-year-old Canadian tourist's attempt to impress his Austrian girlfriend by driving across the Motueka River went awry and ended with him being arrested on two charges of intentional damage.

The man tried to drive his Mitsubishi Pajero four-wheel-drive through the river upstream of the Motueka bridge about 1am on Sunday, but the bonnet was soon under water and "the whole thing was drowning", Constable Milton Paaka said.

The man and his 22-year-old girlfriend had to swim to the riverbank. The man then broke a window to get into a nearby house to find a cellphone, and also broke into a digger, Mr Paaka said. "He clearly had no idea of how to drive it, and he broke that as well," allegedly causing $1200 worth of damage.

The man was due to appear in the Nelson District Court.