airua's sand island built to evade a New Year's Eve liquor ban has been picked up by international media. File photoA sand island built to evade a New Year's Eve liquor ban at Tairua has gone global. GQ magazine praised the "heroic New Zealanders" who built the giant sand castle off the beach on the Coromandel Peninsula so that they could have a few drinks. The BBC reported that the sand island was still intact the next morning. "That's creative thinking — if I had known [about it] I probably would have joined them', said local police commander Inspector John Kelly when told about the sand island.

Source: Otago Daily Times January 02, 2018 20:15 UTC