NINETY MILE BEACH

western coast of Aupori Peninsula, the northernmost extension of North Auckland Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand. It stretches for 55 mi (88 km) from Scott Point (northwest) to Ahipara Bay (southwest) and is bordered by scrubland and sand dunes. In 1643 the Dutch navigator Abel Tasman referred to the beach as a desert coast. Now a resort area, it offers fishing (especially for toheroa, a shellfish delicacy) and automobile racing on the hard-packed strand.