Man hurt sandboarding on giant Northland dune

The Northland Rescue Helicopter waits at Te Paki dunes while in the distance emergency workers tend to the injured man. PHOTO / Northland Rescue Helicopter

A man has suffered suspected spinal injuries while sandboarding on New Zealand's biggest dunes.

The accident occurred on Wednesday afternoon at Te Paki, just south of Cape Reinga. It is thought the middle-aged Wellington man was riding down one of the biggest, steepest dune faces when he came to grief.

The Northland Rescue Helicopter was dispatched from Whangarei about 3.45pm, arriving at 4.30pm.

Sand-boarders ride New Zealand's highest dunes, at Te Paki, while the Northland Rescue Helicopter awaits a patient injured on a steeper dune. PHOTO / Northland Rescue Helicopter

The man was thought to have suffered a spinal injury because he was unable to feel anything below his waist.

Pilot Peter Davies said the man was initially in a serious condition when flown to Whangarei Hospital but improved en route, giving flight paramedics hope he had avoided permanent injury.

The dunes, said to be the tallest in New Zealand, are a popular stop-off point for bus tours and independent travellers heading to and from the Cape.

Tourist groups are usually directed to a gentler slope than the monster dune where the Wellington man was injured.

In December 2016 an 11-year-old Auckland boy was seriously hurt in the same area when he was hit by a vehicle as he was sandboarding. Some of the dunes border Te Paki Stream, which is used by vehicles to access the northern end of Ninety Mile Beach.