WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.519 Imagine in an 800 meter stretch of pristine white 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:07.740 sand, where in just a single afternoon, you could 00:00:07.740 --> 00:00:10.259 be swept away by a rogue Pacific rip current. 00:00:10.519 --> 00:00:13.439 Or get into a literal turf war with a 300 pound 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:16.219 sea lion. Right, exactly. Or even end up in a 00:00:16.219 --> 00:00:19.649 heated legal battle over a naked beachgoer. Usually 00:00:19.649 --> 00:00:21.870 when you think about epic geographical dramas 00:00:21.870 --> 00:00:24.390 or, you know, intense clashes between humanity 00:00:24.390 --> 00:00:26.890 and nature, you assume you need a massive Kansas 00:00:26.890 --> 00:00:28.929 to find them. Oh, for sure. Like a whole mountain 00:00:28.929 --> 00:00:31.649 range or a sprawling national park or, I don't 00:00:31.649 --> 00:00:34.549 know, deep historical archives detailing continental 00:00:34.549 --> 00:00:36.789 conflicts. We definitely have a bias towards 00:00:36.789 --> 00:00:38.810 size. I mean, we tend to think complex stories 00:00:38.810 --> 00:00:41.549 require thousands of square miles to properly 00:00:41.549 --> 00:00:44.929 unfold. But today we are going to prove that 00:00:44.929 --> 00:00:47.189 you don't need a whole continent to find incredible, 00:00:47.450 --> 00:00:49.729 humid and ecological drama. We're taking you 00:00:49.729 --> 00:00:52.570 on a journey through a single, seemingly unassuming 00:00:52.570 --> 00:00:55.030 Wikipedia article. Yeah, just one very specific 00:00:55.030 --> 00:00:57.810 spot. Exactly. Our source material today is entirely 00:00:57.810 --> 00:01:00.130 focused on a place called Smales Beach, that's 00:01:00.130 --> 00:01:03.390 sometimes spelled Smales, with one L. It's located 00:01:03.390 --> 00:01:06.209 just 7 .6 kilometers southeast of the city center 00:01:06.209 --> 00:01:09.120 of Dundon, down in New Zealand. And, you know, 00:01:09.219 --> 00:01:10.920 if you were just a casual observer pulling up 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:12.980 your car on a sunny afternoon, you wouldn't think 00:01:12.980 --> 00:01:15.260 twice. It really just looks like a nice spot 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:17.599 for a walk within the Ocean Grove Reserve. But 00:01:17.599 --> 00:01:20.280 our mission for this deep dive is to show you 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.480 how this one small pocket of the coast is actually 00:01:23.480 --> 00:01:26.760 a fascinating microposem. It really is. Packed 00:01:26.760 --> 00:01:29.599 into this tiny, like, half -mile stretch of sand. 00:01:30.120 --> 00:01:33.620 is a wild mix of untamed geographical hazards, 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.920 an incredibly delicate ecological balance, and 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.799 some truly surprising modern social clashes. 00:01:40.079 --> 00:01:42.500 It serves as a perfect case study of how a physical 00:01:42.500 --> 00:01:45.040 space is forced to hold entirely different meanings 00:01:45.040 --> 00:01:48.959 and entirely different rules for everyone and 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:52.000 everything that uses it. Definitely. By the time 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:53.939 we finish this deep dive, you will never look 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:56.079 at your local park or your local beach the same 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:57.780 way again. You'll definitely see it differently. 00:01:57.900 --> 00:01:59.640 You are going to start seeing the invisible lines 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:02.140 of history, of nature, and of human conflict 00:02:02.140 --> 00:02:05.500 that are constantly being drawn and redrawn in 00:02:05.500 --> 00:02:08.120 the sand right under your feet. Okay, let's unpack 00:02:08.120 --> 00:02:10.580 this. Yeah, let's ground you in the physical 00:02:10.580 --> 00:02:12.479 reality of the space first, just so you know 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:15.610 exactly what it feels like to stand there. Smale's 00:02:15.610 --> 00:02:18.669 Beach faces almost directly south, looking straight 00:02:18.669 --> 00:02:20.870 out into the teeth of the Pacific Ocean. Which 00:02:20.870 --> 00:02:23.830 is pretty intense. Very intense. And it has this 00:02:23.830 --> 00:02:27.069 very stark dramatic visual contrast. You have 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:30.509 this long sweeping stretch of bright white sand. 00:02:31.009 --> 00:02:33.930 But the western end of the beach is heavily armored 00:02:33.930 --> 00:02:37.689 by dark... jagged volcanic boulders. It paints 00:02:37.689 --> 00:02:40.770 a very rugged picture and it's bookended by these 00:02:40.770 --> 00:02:43.090 massive geological features that make it feel 00:02:43.090 --> 00:02:45.129 almost like an arena. Oh, absolutely. Like on 00:02:45.129 --> 00:02:47.289 the eastern side, the beach is bounded by Tomahawk 00:02:47.289 --> 00:02:50.090 Creek, which hugs the base of these towering 00:02:50.090 --> 00:02:53.189 cliffs. There's Maury Head. And beyond that, 00:02:53.270 --> 00:02:56.110 Putney Cliff and High Cliff, it is a highly vertical, 00:02:56.349 --> 00:02:58.569 imposing landscape. And then on the western edge, 00:02:58.669 --> 00:03:00.550 it's separated from the neighboring Tomahawk 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:03.569 Beach by Tomahawk Bluff. This is a promontory 00:03:03.569 --> 00:03:06.210 made entirely of black volcanic rock, completely 00:03:06.210 --> 00:03:08.909 punctuated by deep sea caves. Wow. Yeah, and 00:03:08.909 --> 00:03:11.050 perched right on top of that bluff is the Jack 00:03:11.050 --> 00:03:13.949 Fox Lookout. Which gives you an incredible vantage 00:03:13.949 --> 00:03:16.030 point for this sort of geographical magic trick. 00:03:16.069 --> 00:03:18.569 The tide, right. Yeah, because if you happen 00:03:18.569 --> 00:03:21.270 to be standing up there during a very low tide, 00:03:21.419 --> 00:03:25.280 The base of that volcanic promontory is completely 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:29.419 exposed. The water recedes and Smills Beach and 00:03:29.419 --> 00:03:32.479 Tomahawk Beach suddenly merge. They just connect. 00:03:32.879 --> 00:03:36.460 Right. They effectively become one secret continuous 00:03:36.460 --> 00:03:39.199 stretch of sand that only exists for a few hours 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:42.210 a day. But, you know, the defining physical feature 00:03:42.210 --> 00:03:44.449 of Smales Beach, the thing that really dictates 00:03:44.449 --> 00:03:47.310 the kinetic rhythm of the entire area, isn't 00:03:47.310 --> 00:03:50.050 actually on the beach itself, it's sitting just 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:53.090 offshore. Right. It's a rocky outcrop known as 00:03:53.090 --> 00:03:55.969 Bird Island. And Bird Island is the real troublemaker 00:03:55.969 --> 00:03:58.270 here. Yeah. Because it sits right in the path 00:03:58.270 --> 00:04:01.539 of the incoming deep water Pacific swells. That's 00:04:01.539 --> 00:04:03.860 the crucial mechanism to understand. When those 00:04:03.860 --> 00:04:06.300 massive uninterrupted ocean swells hit the shallow 00:04:06.300 --> 00:04:08.879 shelf and encounter Bird Island, the island doesn't 00:04:08.879 --> 00:04:10.860 just block the water. It kind of messes with 00:04:10.860 --> 00:04:13.960 the flow. Exactly. It forces the wave energy 00:04:13.960 --> 00:04:16.920 to refract or wrap around the rocks colliding 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:20.240 on the other side. That creates a localized pile 00:04:20.240 --> 00:04:23.240 up of water that has to violently rush back out 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:26.259 to sea to equalize the pressure. So it's fracturing 00:04:26.259 --> 00:04:29.100 the incoming energy into these incredibly complex, 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:31.480 unpredictable patterns. If you think about it, 00:04:31.660 --> 00:04:33.899 Bird Island is basically acting like a giant 00:04:33.899 --> 00:04:36.300 geological mixing bowl. That's a great way to 00:04:36.300 --> 00:04:38.680 put it. It's just out there stirring the Pacific 00:04:38.680 --> 00:04:42.560 Ocean into this chaotic irresistible trap for 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:45.000 surfers. And that dynamic is exactly what makes 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:48.100 the space so contradictory. The specific refraction 00:04:48.100 --> 00:04:50.779 around Bird Island creates these unique highly 00:04:50.779 --> 00:04:53.600 sought -after wave breaks that surfers just love. 00:04:53.620 --> 00:04:56.240 I bet. But that same churning water movement 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:59.420 generates severe hitting rip current. And there 00:04:59.420 --> 00:05:02.360 are no lifeguards on duty. The sources explicitly 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:05.160 urge the public not to surf or swim alone. Right. 00:05:05.220 --> 00:05:07.240 It's extremely dangerous. If you're standing 00:05:07.240 --> 00:05:09.639 on that white sand, The water probably looks 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.360 pristine and inviting, but just beneath the surface 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:14.819 it is actively trying to pull you away. Yeah, 00:05:14.819 --> 00:05:17.300 to highlight just how untamed the physics of 00:05:17.300 --> 00:05:20.500 this specific 800 -meter stretch are, our sources 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:23.759 note a terrifying incident from 2015. Oh, the 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:26.660 surfer incident. Yes. A surfer was caught in 00:05:26.660 --> 00:05:29.120 one of these severe rip currents and swept completely 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:31.500 out to sea. The outward pull of the water was 00:05:31.500 --> 00:05:34.579 so powerful and the ocean conditions so raw that 00:05:34.579 --> 00:05:36.800 it was noted he was lucky he didn't end up in 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:40.759 South America. Wow. That is the level of unbridled 00:05:40.759 --> 00:05:42.879 kinetic energy we were talking about. You really 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:45.720 get the sense that the ocean is the absolute 00:05:45.720 --> 00:05:48.360 authority here. Without a doubt. But it's not 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:50.399 just surfers getting caught in that kinetic trap. 00:05:50.839 --> 00:05:53.259 All that churning ocean upwelling acts like a 00:05:53.259 --> 00:05:55.480 massive dinner bell, pulling in some of the most 00:05:55.480 --> 00:05:57.579 territorial locals on the island right to the 00:05:57.579 --> 00:06:00.560 shore. Right, because Smales Beach is a critical 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:03.500 biological haven. It's a very dynamic landing 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:05.800 zone for marine life. You'll frequently find 00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:07.740 yellow -eyed penguins and little blue penguins 00:06:07.740 --> 00:06:11.000 coming ashore. Which is amazing. It is. And perhaps 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:13.579 most notably, you have the New Zealand sea lions. 00:06:13.899 --> 00:06:16.379 Plus, you've got this diverse coastal habitat 00:06:16.379 --> 00:06:19.879 for birds. There are oyster catchers, red -billed 00:06:19.879 --> 00:06:23.199 gulls, black -backed gulls, and a whole community 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:25.959 of invertebrates that thrive in the scrub -covered 00:06:25.959 --> 00:06:29.250 sand dunes rising up toward Tomahawk Road. Those 00:06:29.250 --> 00:06:32.009 dunes, however, are facing a serious environmental 00:06:32.009 --> 00:06:33.990 threat from wind erosion. And this is really 00:06:33.990 --> 00:06:36.329 where the human element starts to try and wrestle 00:06:36.329 --> 00:06:39.569 control back from nature. The Dunedin City Council 00:06:39.569 --> 00:06:42.930 actually has an ongoing program to contour and 00:06:42.930 --> 00:06:45.230 revegetate the dune system just to prevent it 00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:47.129 from completely blowing away. They actually have 00:06:47.129 --> 00:06:49.389 a memorandum of understanding with a local group 00:06:49.389 --> 00:06:52.129 called the Tomahawk Smales Beach Care Trust. 00:06:52.360 --> 00:06:54.779 Right. This group runs a plant nursery right 00:06:54.779 --> 00:06:57.279 there on site. They estimate they produce about 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:00.920 4 ,000 plants every single year just to manually 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.199 revegetate that dune system. That's a huge effort. 00:07:03.579 --> 00:07:06.259 It really is. But how does planting a few bushes 00:07:06.259 --> 00:07:08.540 actually stop a beach from blowing away? Well, 00:07:08.579 --> 00:07:11.120 it comes down to altering the aerodynamic profile 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.490 of landscape. When you hand plant native coastal 00:07:13.490 --> 00:07:17.189 species like a pingo or spine effects, their 00:07:17.189 --> 00:07:19.329 stems and leaves physically interrupt the airflow 00:07:19.329 --> 00:07:21.430 right at the surface. So they sort of catch the 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:24.230 wind. Exactly. They force the wind to drop whatever 00:07:24.230 --> 00:07:27.029 sand it's carrying. And below the surface, their 00:07:27.029 --> 00:07:29.810 extensive ute systems form a dense matrix that 00:07:29.810 --> 00:07:33.050 locks the loose sand grains together. It is a 00:07:33.050 --> 00:07:35.810 massive labor -intensive undertaking to engineer 00:07:35.810 --> 00:07:39.019 a natural wall. It's incredible. But as I was 00:07:39.019 --> 00:07:40.779 reading through these sources, I couldn't help 00:07:40.779 --> 00:07:43.620 but notice a massive contradiction in how humans 00:07:43.620 --> 00:07:46.500 are interacting with this environment. Oh, how 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:50.360 so? Well, on one hand, you have people painstakingly 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:53.660 hand planting 4 ,000 plants a year to carefully 00:07:53.660 --> 00:07:56.300 manage and protect the habitat. But on the other 00:07:56.300 --> 00:07:59.079 hand, the sources have to explicitly warn visitors 00:07:59.079 --> 00:08:01.459 to keep their distance from the wildlife for 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:04.139 their own safety. Ah, right. Particularly the 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:06.519 New Zealand sea lions. Yes. They specifically 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:08.980 ask beach goers to keep their dogs under control 00:08:08.980 --> 00:08:11.319 around the sea lions, because aggressive interactions 00:08:11.319 --> 00:08:14.379 cause severe injuries. And I just have to ask, 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:17.079 wait, if you know there are massive, highly aggressive 00:08:17.079 --> 00:08:19.720 sea lions hanging out on the beach, why on earth 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:21.639 are people bringing their dogs off leash to bother 00:08:21.639 --> 00:08:24.170 them? It's a great question, and I think it reveals 00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:26.430 the fundamental tension of the modern reserve 00:08:26.430 --> 00:08:29.889 concept. Humans have designated this area as 00:08:29.889 --> 00:08:32.649 the Ocean Grove Reserve. But to a lot of people, 00:08:32.990 --> 00:08:36.230 the word reserve translates simply to, you know, 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:38.570 public recreational playground. Like an extension 00:08:38.570 --> 00:08:40.629 of their backyard. Precisely. It's just a place 00:08:40.629 --> 00:08:43.509 to let their dogs run free on a Sunday. But to 00:08:43.509 --> 00:08:46.100 a 300 pound sea lion. It's not a recreational 00:08:46.100 --> 00:08:48.820 park. No, not at all. It is their living room. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:51.460 It's their fundamental necessary habitat. So 00:08:51.460 --> 00:08:53.500 you have a clash of definitions occurring in 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:55.740 the exact same physical space. That makes a lot 00:08:55.740 --> 00:08:58.679 of sense. The human thinks the sea lion is an 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:01.120 inconvenient obstacle in their playground, while 00:09:01.120 --> 00:09:03.539 the sea lion thinks the dog is a hostile intruder 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:06.759 in its home. And we actually see a parallel paradox 00:09:06.759 --> 00:09:09.379 with the dunes themselves. How do you mean? Well, 00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.460 we are desperately fighting natural wind erosion 00:09:12.460 --> 00:09:16.000 by hand planting thousands of root systems, essentially 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:18.059 trying to artificially freeze a landscape that 00:09:18.059 --> 00:09:20.600 naturally wants to shift and blow away. Oh, I 00:09:20.600 --> 00:09:23.799 see. We want a wild beach, but we want it to 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:26.320 be a managed wild beach. Yeah. We want the aesthetic 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:28.600 of the wild, but the predictability of a city 00:09:28.600 --> 00:09:31.289 park. Exactly. We try to curate the wilderness. 00:09:31.990 --> 00:09:34.789 And that attempt to curate and control space 00:09:34.789 --> 00:09:38.269 naturally spills over into how humans at Smales 00:09:38.269 --> 00:09:40.570 Beach interact with each other. Oh, absolutely. 00:09:41.029 --> 00:09:43.090 If you think the tension between humans and nature 00:09:43.090 --> 00:09:45.669 here is complicated, the social geography of 00:09:45.669 --> 00:09:48.830 this 800 -meter strip is just as layered. Because 00:09:48.830 --> 00:09:51.649 it has been a thoroughfare for a very long time. 00:09:51.889 --> 00:09:55.090 Long before European colonization, Smales and 00:09:55.090 --> 00:09:57.769 Tomahawk beaches weren't just spots for recreation. 00:09:57.850 --> 00:10:00.700 No. They were vital infrastructure. Right. They 00:10:00.700 --> 00:10:03.179 formed a critical part of a walking track for 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:06.700 Maori traveling between Shaku and Tomahawk Lagoon. 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:08.539 That makes perfect sense when you consider the 00:10:08.539 --> 00:10:10.639 geography. If you're trying to navigate that 00:10:10.639 --> 00:10:14.419 rugged coastal terrain, the flat packed sand 00:10:14.419 --> 00:10:17.259 of the beach at low tide is basically your natural 00:10:17.259 --> 00:10:19.960 highway. Exactly. And the name Smales Beach itself 00:10:19.960 --> 00:10:22.200 comes from the human history that followed. It's 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:24.179 named after the Smale family, who were central 00:10:24.179 --> 00:10:26.720 to the local farming community back in the 1870s 00:10:26.720 --> 00:10:29.360 and 1880s. Yeah, and their original 19th century 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:31.779 homestead actually still stands right near the 00:10:31.779 --> 00:10:35.179 beach. It's officially listed as a historic place 00:10:35.179 --> 00:10:38.259 category two by Heritage New Zealand. That designation 00:10:38.259 --> 00:10:40.720 is significant, right? It is. A category two 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:42.600 rating means the building is considered to have 00:10:42.600 --> 00:10:45.340 historical or cultural heritage significance, 00:10:45.860 --> 00:10:48.399 which protects the structure, usually preserving 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.559 the facade and the architectural integrity from 00:10:50.559 --> 00:10:52.519 being demolished. demolished or radically altered. 00:10:52.799 --> 00:10:55.340 But the amazing part is what that preserved 19th 00:10:55.340 --> 00:10:58.320 century pioneer homestead is actually used for 00:10:58.320 --> 00:11:00.320 today. Oh, it's brilliant! It currently serves 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.460 as the clubhouse for the Tatuku Fishing Club. 00:11:03.539 --> 00:11:07.200 It's just this wonderful, slightly ironic repurposing 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:10.690 of history. You have this protected pioneer architecture 00:11:10.690 --> 00:11:13.909 holding fishing gear in club meetings. It just 00:11:13.909 --> 00:11:16.009 goes to show that history is always being overwritten 00:11:16.009 --> 00:11:18.350 by current use. And current use is where the 00:11:18.350 --> 00:11:20.429 most intense friction is happening today. For 00:11:20.429 --> 00:11:22.690 sure. If we move just above the beach to the 00:11:22.690 --> 00:11:25.649 Tomahawk Road car parks, we find a major social 00:11:25.649 --> 00:11:28.100 flashpoint. The local residents are locked in 00:11:28.100 --> 00:11:30.379 a turf war with freedom campers. Yeah, they're 00:11:30.379 --> 00:11:32.639 treating these self -contained vans turning up 00:11:32.639 --> 00:11:35.500 for free overnight parking as a neighborhood 00:11:35.500 --> 00:11:38.159 crisis. The residents are pushing incredibly 00:11:38.159 --> 00:11:40.659 hard to have these campers completely banned 00:11:40.659 --> 00:11:43.480 from the area. The primary grievance they cite 00:11:43.480 --> 00:11:46.580 is sanitation. The residents state that because 00:11:46.580 --> 00:11:49.320 the campers are staying overnight, they are habitually 00:11:49.320 --> 00:11:52.080 defecating in the public reserve. Which is awful. 00:11:52.220 --> 00:11:54.259 It is. And this is where the infrastructural 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:56.870 debate gets fascinating. Because if the core 00:11:56.870 --> 00:11:59.909 problem is a lack of sanitation facilities, the 00:11:59.909 --> 00:12:02.549 obvious solution would be to simply build a public 00:12:02.549 --> 00:12:05.289 toilet in the car park to service the area. Right. 00:12:05.330 --> 00:12:08.210 But according to the sources, the idea of providing 00:12:08.210 --> 00:12:11.649 public toilets at the site was explicitly rejected. 00:12:11.809 --> 00:12:14.529 It was. They chose to pursue a total ban on the 00:12:14.529 --> 00:12:17.409 campers instead. And I just thought, wait, legally, 00:12:17.509 --> 00:12:19.769 if it's a public reserve, how can a local neighborhood 00:12:19.769 --> 00:12:22.309 just ban people who are legally parking their 00:12:22.309 --> 00:12:23.909 vehicles? Isn't that government land? It's a 00:12:23.909 --> 00:12:26.639 very gray area. Rejecting public toilets to stop 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:29.340 campers feels like a city. Removing all the park 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:31.559 benches just to stop people from taking a nap. 00:12:31.899 --> 00:12:33.799 You're degrading the space for everyone just 00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.120 to win a turf war. Why reject the most obvious 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.980 infrastructural fix? Because infrastructure is 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:43.320 permission. By rejecting the toilets, the locals 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:46.080 are sending a clear jurisdictional message. They 00:12:46.080 --> 00:12:48.659 are saying, we do not want to accommodate you. 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:51.820 We want to exclude you. Oh, OK. If the city builds 00:12:51.820 --> 00:12:55.399 a toilet, it implicitly legitimizes the camper's 00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:58.320 presence. It states that the car park is a valid 00:12:58.320 --> 00:13:01.470 place for them to stay. By pushing for a ban 00:13:01.470 --> 00:13:04.009 instead, the residents are trying to reclaim 00:13:04.009 --> 00:13:05.809 the definition of the space. They're drawing 00:13:05.809 --> 00:13:08.610 a line in the sand. Literally, saying, this is 00:13:08.610 --> 00:13:11.110 our neighborhood, not a transient campsite. We 00:13:11.110 --> 00:13:13.210 aren't taking sides on whether the campers should 00:13:13.210 --> 00:13:15.669 be there or not. But it is a brilliant example 00:13:15.669 --> 00:13:18.870 of how communities negotiate public space through 00:13:18.870 --> 00:13:21.830 hostile architecture by omission. Hostile architecture 00:13:21.830 --> 00:13:24.309 by omission. Like, if we don't build it, you 00:13:24.309 --> 00:13:26.909 can't come. It's incredible how the absence of 00:13:26.909 --> 00:13:29.129 a building is used as a weapon. It really is. 00:13:29.309 --> 00:13:31.570 And this fight over what is socially acceptable 00:13:31.570 --> 00:13:35.350 in a wild public space leads us perfectly into 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:38.710 the other major and arguably most surprising 00:13:38.710 --> 00:13:41.230 human conflict at Smales Beach. Right, because 00:13:41.230 --> 00:13:44.149 Smales Beach is well known locally as a clothing 00:13:44.149 --> 00:13:47.590 optional beach. It is periodically used by naturists 00:13:47.590 --> 00:13:50.570 for nude bathing. Now, to understand why this 00:13:50.570 --> 00:13:53.710 is a conflict and why it's so legally fascinating, 00:13:54.250 --> 00:13:57.309 you have to understand a very specific loophole 00:13:57.309 --> 00:13:59.789 in New Zealand law. It's quite unique. New Zealand 00:13:59.789 --> 00:14:02.929 actually has no official government designated 00:14:02.929 --> 00:14:06.450 nude beaches. However, under the law, specifically 00:14:06.450 --> 00:14:09.309 stemming from a 1991 high court ruling, Suramalas 00:14:09.309 --> 00:14:12.409 v. Police, public nudity is perfectly legal on 00:14:12.409 --> 00:14:15.139 any beach where it is, quote, known to occur. 00:14:15.379 --> 00:14:17.679 Which is the most beautifully vague legal phrasing 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:19.580 I've ever heard. If it's known to occur, it's 00:14:19.580 --> 00:14:21.960 fine. It creates a unique legal precedent based 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:24.740 entirely on customer use. The court essentially 00:14:24.740 --> 00:14:27.039 ruled that if a specific area has a historical 00:14:27.039 --> 00:14:29.779 habit of naturist use, then a person being naked 00:14:29.779 --> 00:14:32.100 there isn't acting offensively because the expectation 00:14:32.100 --> 00:14:34.899 of nudity already exists. And Smales Beach falls 00:14:34.899 --> 00:14:37.919 firmly under this protection. It does. Just imagine 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:41.080 walking your dog on your local beach and realizing 00:14:41.080 --> 00:14:45.580 the law actually protects the naked sunbather 00:14:45.580 --> 00:14:48.139 you just called the cops on simply because they've 00:14:48.139 --> 00:14:50.200 always done it. Which happens a lot. Because 00:14:50.200 --> 00:14:52.559 that does not stop the friction. Even though 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.139 it is completely legal, and even though there 00:14:55.139 --> 00:14:58.080 is a high court precedent backing them up, other 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:00.519 beachgoers still regularly call the police on 00:15:00.519 --> 00:15:03.659 the visiting naturists. It is a literal battleground 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:06.620 of social norms clashing with legal technicalities. 00:15:07.059 --> 00:15:10.259 You have one group relying on a 1991 high court 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:12.700 ruling to protect their right to experience nature 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:15.139 in the nude. Yeah. And you have another group 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:17.580 relying on contemporary social discomfort to 00:15:17.580 --> 00:15:20.200 try and enforce address code via law enforcement, 00:15:20.659 --> 00:15:22.759 even when the law isn't actually on their side. 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:25.000 The police must get so tired of driving out there 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:27.470 like. Yes, we know they're naked. Yes, we know 00:15:27.470 --> 00:15:29.370 it's Smales Beach. No, we can't arrest them. 00:15:29.409 --> 00:15:32.129 I'm sure they do. But the parallel between the 00:15:32.129 --> 00:15:34.330 naturists and the freedom campers is striking. 00:15:35.210 --> 00:15:38.250 Both are conflicts over the proper use of a shared 00:15:38.250 --> 00:15:40.470 space. They really are. The campers are told 00:15:40.470 --> 00:15:43.169 their behavior is unacceptable, and the community 00:15:43.169 --> 00:15:45.409 tries to ban them by withholding infrastructure. 00:15:45.970 --> 00:15:48.110 The naturists are told their behavior is unacceptable, 00:15:48.370 --> 00:15:50.330 and the community tries to ban them by calling 00:15:50.330 --> 00:15:52.870 the authorities. It's just incredible. When you 00:15:52.870 --> 00:15:55.840 step back and look at it, this simple 800 meter 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.600 strip of white sand and black rock is carrying 00:15:58.600 --> 00:16:01.320 an unbelievable amount of weight. It really packs 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:03.759 it in. You have the ancient history of the mare 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:06.179 walking tracks using the shore as a highway. 00:16:06.639 --> 00:16:08.899 You have the 19th century farming legacy sitting 00:16:08.899 --> 00:16:10.899 right there in the fishing club. Yeah, you've 00:16:10.899 --> 00:16:13.409 got. endangered penguins trying to nest. You've 00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:15.990 got massive aggressive sea lions fighting with 00:16:15.990 --> 00:16:19.350 off -leash dogs. You have incredibly dangerous 00:16:19.350 --> 00:16:22.330 geologically fueled rip currents trying to pull 00:16:22.330 --> 00:16:25.529 surfers out to South America. It's chaotic. You've 00:16:25.529 --> 00:16:28.210 got angry locals refusing to build toilets for 00:16:28.210 --> 00:16:30.830 freedom campers. And you have legally protected 00:16:30.830 --> 00:16:33.230 naked baiters getting the cops called on them, 00:16:33.590 --> 00:16:35.730 all contained in a half -mile stretch of beach. 00:16:35.929 --> 00:16:38.090 It really redefines what a landscape actually 00:16:38.090 --> 00:16:40.850 is. The next time you step onto your local beach 00:16:40.850 --> 00:16:42.970 or take a walk through a nearby nature reserve, 00:16:43.230 --> 00:16:46.169 remember this deep dive. Keep it in mind. Remember 00:16:46.169 --> 00:16:48.450 that you aren't just stepping on inert sand or 00:16:48.450 --> 00:16:51.889 grass. You are stepping into an active, ongoing 00:16:51.889 --> 00:16:55.919 negotiation. Every inch of that space is contested. 00:16:56.460 --> 00:16:59.340 It is a constant tug of war between geographical 00:16:59.340 --> 00:17:02.860 history, ecological survival, and societal norms. 00:17:03.139 --> 00:17:06.059 So what does this all mean? Well, it means that 00:17:06.059 --> 00:17:08.319 landscapes are never just physical. They are 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.000 deeply human. They are completely shaped by the 00:17:11.000 --> 00:17:13.700 people arguing over them. And that actually leaves 00:17:13.700 --> 00:17:16.299 us with a fascinating, philosophical puzzle to 00:17:16.299 --> 00:17:19.119 mull over. Ooh, I love a puzzle. Think back to 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:22.180 that 1991 High Court ruling for the naturists. 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:25.480 The law says that public nudity is legal only 00:17:25.480 --> 00:17:28.099 on beaches where it is already known to occur. 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:30.940 Right. It relies entirely on historical precedent. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:33.359 But logically, if you follow that rule back to 00:17:33.359 --> 00:17:35.559 its absolute beginning, how does any behavior 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:38.410 start being known to occur? Oh, wow. I didn't 00:17:38.410 --> 00:17:40.849 think of that. Right. If it's illegal to be naked 00:17:40.849 --> 00:17:43.130 on a beach where it isn't already a known practice, 00:17:43.650 --> 00:17:45.430 then whoever was the very first person to strip 00:17:45.430 --> 00:17:47.269 down on Smale's Beach was technically breaking 00:17:47.269 --> 00:17:49.769 the law. They had to. They had to deliberately 00:17:49.769 --> 00:17:53.210 break the norm and risk the consequences in order 00:17:53.210 --> 00:17:55.990 to establish the precedent that now legally protects 00:17:55.990 --> 00:17:59.079 everyone else today. Oh, wow. You literally have 00:17:59.079 --> 00:18:01.319 to break the rule to create the rule. It's a 00:18:01.319 --> 00:18:04.119 geographical paradox. The rules of a wild space 00:18:04.119 --> 00:18:06.279 are defined by the people who occupy it, but 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:08.980 you have to actively occupy it, sometimes defiantly, 00:18:09.059 --> 00:18:11.140 in order to define those rules. It's incredible. 00:18:11.259 --> 00:18:13.500 So it leaves you wondering, are the wild spaces 00:18:13.500 --> 00:18:16.980 around us actually wild? Or are they just blank 00:18:16.980 --> 00:18:19.940 mirrors reflecting whichever human boldly decides 00:18:19.940 --> 00:18:22.700 to walk out and draw the very first invisible 00:18:22.700 --> 00:18:25.059 line in the sand? That is going to stay with 00:18:25.059 --> 00:18:27.940 me the next time I go to the coast. You think 00:18:27.940 --> 00:18:29.539 you're just looking for seashells, but you're 00:18:29.539 --> 00:18:32.079 actually walking through a courtroom, a wildlife 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.099 sanctuary, and a historical battleground all 00:18:35.099 --> 00:18:37.740 at once. You really are. Thank you so much for 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:40.079 joining us on this deep dive into the surprisingly 00:18:40.079 --> 00:18:43.140 intense world of Smales Beach. We hope we've 00:18:43.140 --> 00:18:44.880 given you a new way to look at the world right 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:47.539 outside your door. Keep questioning the spaces 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:49.420 around you and stay curious.