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It wasn't seven maids with seven mops who swept the beach but around 30 volunteers who recently spent the morning combing the foreshore area at Pigeon Bay and gathering a wide variety of rubbish and rusted iron, writes the Akaroa Mail.
Pigeon Bay Boating Club commodore Vincent Luisetti said the boat club organised the cleanup as part of Yachting New Zealand's sustainable sailing initiative.
"We didn't think there was a huge amount to collect but we ended up with one-and-a-half tandem trailer loads," Luisetti said.
He said the club were delighted with the number of people who volunteered for the cleanup, with a good mixture of locals and boat club members.
Some of the more challenging items removed were an electric stove and a wood burner that had been tipped down a bank.
The cleanup was timed to coincide with low tide, and three old tyres were towed out of the mud flats using an anchor fixed to a long rope. An axle and several wheels were also collected.
Wasteline at Barry's Bay kindly accepted the rubbish from the day free of charge.
Luisetti said the Pigeon Bay Boating Club's membership is growing and he was delighted that this year's sailing season would start with a sparkling clean bay to welcome members.
