Despite that, there was plenty of trash to be found and collected yesterday as people tried to restore the coast to its natural beauty.
The Trade Aid event had workers and community members picking up rubbish throughout the afternoon, more than 25 people taking part.
Trade Aid Dunedin trust chairwoman Jo Kirkwood said the Tomahawk event was one of many beach clean-ups run by the organisation throughout the country.
There was little work to do on the actual beach, which was "a good problem to have", she said.
However, the dunes were another story, as all kinds of trash had been dumped in the shrubs.
The worst of all were the bags of dog poo, as it could not decompose and just sat in the bag until it was picked up later.
Trade Aid bought coffee in large woven sacks, which were perfect for collecting the rubbish in, she said.
At the end of the day they would take it away and sort it to ensure it all went to the right place, but she was not sure where they would put all the bagged dog poo.
