'Mucking in' with dragons and seagulls

IAIN MCGREGOR/The Press

LIVING ART: Taylor Dhue played a central role in his family's octopus creation, which was part of the sand sculpture competition at Waikuku Beach.

Relevant offers

Surfing and dragons have proved standout ideas in a North Canterbury beach sand sculpture competition.

About 200 participants created more than 50 sculptures in two hours at the annual Waikuku Beach event yesterday.

Top entries included a surfer catching a wave, a dragon nesting its eggs and a large koru.

A seabird being squashed by a motorbike was sculpted in support of a local campaign to keep vehicles off the beach.

Organiser Julia Racle, of Waikuku Artists Inc, said numbers were up on last year.

"A lot more people came out just to look at what was happening on the beach," she said.

"A few came out from Christchurch especially."

The quality had improved each year, she said.

"There were some really cool kids who just did it on their own. Little entries by themselves, but very creative."

The event was positive for the community. "It's about getting people out on the beach, doing traditional family activities.

"It was neat to see people mucking in with the kids and doing something together."

Canterbury has enjoyed a warm start to the new year, with Christchurch temperatures reaching 32 degrees Celsius on Friday, 33C on Saturday and 29.4C yesterday.