New Zealanders will do anything to ring in the New Year with alcohol. A group of people constructed an island in coastal waters to celebrate New Year and avoid alcohol ban that was in effect in New Zealand's town.
The group of "kiwis" built the tiny private structure at low tide in the Tairua estuary on the Coromandel peninsula on Sunday afternoon to avoid the liquor ban in during New Year, Stuff.co.nz reported.
The people spent the early Sunday afternoon building the sandcastle and later installed a wooden table and icebox for drinks. Locals even joked and said the group of people enjoyed the New Year in international waters. They drank and watched fireworks on New Year. The tiny island was intact.
"That's creative thinking - if I had known that I probably would have joined them," John Kelly, a local commander inspector, told the The New Zealand Herald.
How to avoid a NYE liquor ban in New Zealand: Build your own island https://t.co/97je61WInB
— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) January 1, 2018
Coromandel, a coastal town on the Coromandel Peninsula of New Zealand's North Island, had banned alcohol during the New Year's period. But authorities didn't charge the group of people for drinking alcohol.
"That's the one thing I absolutely love about the Coromandel: the inventive nature of the people. It's about creativity, the legal reality is somewhat different," Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie told Stuff.co.nz.
Even Waikato eastern area commander Inspector John Kelly said police were not aware of the sand island. "That's creative thinking - if I had known that I probably would have joined them," he added.
Public drinking was banned to avoid violence during the celebrations, but Whangamata community stalwart and Beach Hop founder Noddy Watts said the ban was not working.
"They were dealing with drunk teens. That's not what they are there for. That's what parents are there for. The police and St John were getting frustrated with the result and said it has to change," Watts told the New Zealand Herald.
