GWYNETH HYNDMAN
SUN WORSHIPPERS: Lucy Timpany, left, and friends Tayo Dobias, centre, and Brooke Thompsonwere among the hundreds who enjoyed Boxing Day at Oreti Beach.
All hands were on deck at Oreti Beach yesterday as sun revellers took advantage of the free time and perfect holiday weather before tomorrow’s forecasted rainfall.
Oreti Beach surf patrol business manager and lifeguard Simon Cook said there were 10 lifeguards on duty with a rescue boat and a fleet of rescue boards, prepared for anything.
But by 2pm, the only calls for help had been from people needing a battery charge or a push to get a stuck car out of the sand behind the lifeguard stand.
“It’s fine,” Mr Cook said, from his perch by the water.
“It keeps us busy. We’ve also had a few stubbed toes and people getting scratched by driftwood. But most people out here are pretty sensible.”
Beach-goers seemed to be adhering to sun warnings and were applying sunscreen, he said.
Dehydration hadn’t been a problem so far, but the patrol had water on hand in case someone needed it.
At the 1pm count, there were more than 220 people at the beach, he said, with about 800 to 900 expected for the day.
Although people had been approaching the lifeguard’s stand with questions about sharks, there had been no reports of any in the last year.
Generally, larger sharks stayed away from shallow beaches such as Oreti, he said.
The biggest danger in the water yesterday was from big plastic Christmas gifts people were trying out in the water for the first time.
“Lots of shiny new floatie boats and body boards today,” he said.
“And those sit-on kayaks tend to lose their riders pretty quickly.”
Further down the beach, Gore resident Vicky Tamakehu said she was staying far away from the Boxing Day sales and was letting her kids try out their new toys – beach balls, a sand digging pail and spade, and a new boogie board – in the waves to burn off some post-Christmas day energy.
“I just said, `right, we’re going to the beach’. This has been perfect.”
– © Fairfax NZ News
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