A Christchurch woman has stumbled across an incredibly large spider in the dunes of the seaside suburb New Brighton.
On Tuesday, Baylee Bensley-Howell captured footage of the spider which she described as the "biggest spider I've ever seen".
The couple spotted the giant arachnid near Bottle Lake Forest, a place where they frequently walk.
"My boyfriend Anaru and I were walking our dog, and my boyfriend was looking at the cobwebs on the bushes, and he just saw it out of the corner of his eye.
"It gave him a bit of a fright, so he had to go investigate," she told the Herald.
"We were quite surprised that it was so out in the open."
Despite being inquisitive, Bensley-Howell kept her distance.
"I wasn't frightened, but I definitely wouldn't want to come across one in my house!"
The native nursery-web spider had a black body with white stripes on its back and dark red legs, but is completely harmless.