Sandcastle competition bigger than ever

The Orewa Beach sandcastle competition on March 17 was the biggest yet, attracting more than 54 teams.

Each gets a spot on which to make a sand sculpture from scratch and the entrants, mostly groups of family or friends, got stuck in despite occasional showers and persistent wind.

This is the fourth year that the competition has been held and people come from as far as Te Hana and Mt Eden to get their hands dirty, side by side, all hoping to win the top prize of $500.

Buckets, spades, kitchen utensils and even a shopping trolley were used to bring in decorative materials and sculpt this year’s entries, which ranged from dragons, dinosaurs and pirate treasures to a temple, the Pyramid of Giza and Evelyn Page retirement village.

The In Good Form team of sand sculptors from Christchurch once again spent several days crafting a 20 tonne work at the Moana Reserve entrance to Orewa Beach.

Organiser of the competition, Destination Orewa Beach, plans to make next year’s prizes bigger and better as the event continues to grow.