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Ninety Mile Beach, New Zealand
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ninety Mile Beach is a beach located on the western coast of the far north of the North Island of New Zealand.
The beach stretches from just west of Kaitaia towards Cape Reinga along the Aupouri Peninsula. It begins close to the headland of Reef Point, to the west of Ahipara Bay, sweeping briefly northeast before turning northwest for the majority of its length. It ends at Scott Point, five kilometres south of Cape Maria van Diemen.
The name Ninety Mile Beach is a misnomer—it is actually 88 km (55 miles) long. The reason for its name is unknown, although several theories have been put forward.
In 1932, Ninety Mile Beach was used as the runway for some of the earliest airmail services between Australia and New Zealand. It is still used as an alternative road to the largely poor quality official route north from Kaitaia.
- Google Maps satellite view of beach - zoomable
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The most common theory behind the name stems from the missionary days when the missionaries would travel on horse back. On average a horse could travel 30 miles in a day before needing to be rested. The beach took three days to travel on horseback therefore earning it the title 90 Mile Beach but the missionaries did not take into account the slower pace of the horses walking in the sand thus thinking they had travelled 90 Miles when in fact the had only travelled 60 Miles.