Some clever New Zealanders built an island off the beach at Tairua estuary in the Coromandel to avoid a citywide alcohol ban. (iStock)
When a group of New Zealanders were faced with a liquor ban preventing them from drinking at the beach on New Year’s Eve, they literally took matters into their own hands — they built their own little island where they could celebrate legally.
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In a photo shared on Tairua ChitChat, a local Facebook page, the group can be seen sitting at a picnic table on a tiny sand island drinking what appears to be beer, surrounded by a boat, a kayaker and a paddle boarder.
The ban was meant to be enforced across the Coromandel Peninsula, on New Zealand's north island.
The New Zealand Herald speculates the clever bunch likely built the sand island with a shovel when the tide was down.
The liquor ban was put in place to keep the community more safe during the holidays, the Herald reports. Anyone in violation of the ban faced a fine of $250 (£130; US$180) or arrest, according to the BBC.
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Locals joked that they were in "international waters" and therefore exempt from the official liquor ban, according to the BBC. Even local law enforcement thought it was a clever idea.
"That's creative thinking — if I had known [about it] I probably would have joined them," said local Police Commander Inspector John Kelly to BBC.