The story of a group of friends who built an island in Tairua to evade a liquor ban has made its way around the world.
It's been picked up by major outlets including Time, BBC, Fox, The Independent and the New York Daily News.
The friends built the sandcastle on New Year's Eve in the hopes that being out on the water would allow them to evade alcohol laws in the area.
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Organiser Leon Hayward told Time he and his friends spent six hours building the platform.
Using spades, they piled up black sand and sea shells to about 1.5 metres high and used wooden planks to help support the weight of the group.
Thames-Coromandel Mayor Sandra Goudie told TIME that the incident was entertaining to the locals, and the Coromandel peninsula town likes to see "a bit of creative and innovative activity over the summer period".
Mr Hayward told Stuff the group were disappointed to find the picnic table had been stolen, when they returned to the spot on New Year's Day, and he's appealing for it to be returned.
He said the group might do it all again next year, at a new spot.
Newshub.
