Cathedral Cove

This is looking like a classic case of locals vs tourists. The locals have their homes do don’t see any merit in having a stall selling water and ice creams, but the tourists love it.

The Herald reports:

The owner of a seaside stall that locals accuse of spoiling pristine Cathedral Cove on the Coromandel Peninsula says tourists are relieved to see him at the end of a long, hot walk, and that he is leaving the white-sand beach cleaner than he finds it each day.

Shanan Laird, 31, said he had had nothing but positive feedback from visitors – and only two negative comments from locals – since he began selling drinks and sandwiches at the untouched spot, 30 minutes’ walk from the road.

The former ski-patroller carries a 2m x 2m table by boat to the cove each day and offers basic first aid, sunblock, snorkels, drinks and sandwiches to beachgoers.

As part of his contract with the Department of Conservation, he must clean the beach of all rubbish before he leaves each day.

Looks like a win/win to me.

Mr Laird said he got the idea last summer after seeing people arrive at the beach, hot and bothered, with no food or water and having to turn back.

“All the tourists are just so happy that someone is there with water because they didn’t realise the walk was so difficult,” he said. “Lots of people just forget [to bring drinks]. It’s a beautiful place so I may as well enhance it by offering cold drinks so people can spend longer there.”

Mr Laird’s brother, Ryan, a restaurant owner at nearby Cooks Beach, said visitors could not believe there was nowhere to buy drinks at the cove before this summer. The stall was tucked into the bush so it would not interfere with the vista.

“The place is already highly commercialised with the snorkelling tours and boat trips and everything … but there is no support on the beach to remove anything [rubbish] that gets left there,” he said.

The photo in the Herald article makes it pretty clear the stall is not intrusive.