With around 2700km of coastline and hundreds of beautiful beaches, Northlanders may find it hard to believe that only Ninety Mile Beach made it onto a list of New Zealand's top 10 beaches.
Influential American outdoor adventure magazine Outside has published its list of the the top 10 NewZealand beaches and Ninety Mile Beach is on the list.
One of the magazine's writers, Nick Davidson raves about the beach, saying as the longest stretch of sand in New Zealand, Ninety Mile Beach is "lined with big, grass-topped dunes and the piney Aupori (sic) Forest on the island's northernmost peninsula".
"Part of the official highway system, the misnamed beach covers 64 miles of packed golden sand, best seen by tour buses outfitted to race down the surf's edge at low tide while spray lashes the windows," Mr Davidson says.
"Swim or surf the southern end at Ahipara, or fish the roiling waters - Ninety Mile Beach hosts the Snapper Classic, an annual five-day surfcasting competition at the end of February - then sled down the massive Te Paki dunes."
But no other Northland beaches rate a mention on the list, with Karekare Beach, in West Auckland; Hot Water Beach and New Chums Beach, both in the Coromandel; Manu Bay, Raglan and Wainui Beach, Gisborne the other North Island beaches on the list.
Four South Island beaches are on the list: Koekohe Beach near Moeraki, in North Otago; Gillespies Beach, near Hokitika, Allans Beach, Dunedin and Mosquito Bay, Abel Tasman.
