@terryliv Yes - along our coastline the sand is black and full of iron ore. It's also very, very fine and not good on camera gear. We are so used to the black sand that I forget it may seem unusual to others.
@golftragic the water in the image is the Waikato River, near to where it reaches the Tasman Sea. Just over the dunes at the top of the image is the west coast. It's an interesting area.
@dide Thanks for the more detailed information, the dune shapes now make much more sense to me. It does look like a fascinating place to wander around. I'll put it on my rather lengthy to-do-next-time-we're-in-NZ list.
