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The coastline is where New Zealanders spend most of their treasured time - it is one of our most precious assets, something we know we are lucky to have.
But is thousands of kilometres of that precious commodity under threat from mining companies?
One company, Iron Ore New Zealand has been granted a prospecting licence for three pockets off the West Coast - two at New Plymouth and one at Auckland - covering more than 1200 square kilometres of seabed.
While another company, from overseas, has applied for a similar licence to explore the rest of the coast all the way from Kaipara Harbour to Taranaki.
The second application has been turned down but that's not allaying people's fears and some environmentalists say the implications are huge.
When coastal resident Stephen Frew found out about the companies plans to explore the West Coast's mineral rich black sands he formed a protest group - Kiwis Against Seabed Mining (KASM).
"If we sit and think about the best times of our lives, the precious times...we're not talking about 40 hours at work... we're talking about the holidays with our family and fun times at the weekend.. the coast is why we live here," Frew told Close Up.
KASM believes now there is an intention to mine the coast, it is inevitable that it will happen. And the group believes it will cause irreparable damage to the beaches.
Erosion is already a major concern in Raglan and other areas along the coast. Frew fears seabed mining will disrupt natural replacement of sand and make the erosion worse.
"If you dig a hole in the sea and you expose areas of the seabed that haven't been exposed to the currents before... and you create a deficit of sand then that deficit will move...the sea will attempt to fill the hole by its own means...and there's no way they can put it back," says Frew.
Oceanographer Mike Hilton agrees that there is a possibility that mining could cause a massive impact where mining occurs and where the sand is redeposited on the seabed.
"If mining removes some of the sand that would otherwise be part of that beach system then there is a potential for the coast to erode, or for natural erosion to be made worse," says Hilton.
But Iron Ore New Zealand says it is complying with an international standard, which doesn't permit mining within the beach system.
Iron Ore spokesperson John Rutherford says they are mining in the deep sea area where the material is heavy and doesn't shift around.
"Up near the beach it's mixed up with silica sand and it comes and goes because it's more easy to move by the wave action and that's something you must avoid," says Rutherford.
But Frew says KASM has had correspondence with environmental groups in Indonesia who were told similar things.
"They're now spending millions of dollars building seawalls to stop their villages disappearing into the sea," says Frew.
The second company looking to mine the coast - Black Sand Exploration - were planning to mine up to the surf line, well within the beach system. They were turned down, but are in the process of putting together a new project team and plan to apply for a new exploration licence in 18 months.
It is that sort of persistence that is urging protesters on.
KASM wants the government to stop and listen as they believe the only way to protect such a massive part of New Zealand's identity is a change in the law, forbidding mining of the seabed forever.
Adam Fairley from Crown Minerals told Close Up there is currently no seabed mining in New Zealand.
He says New Zealand has been prospecting and exploring the seabed since the 1960s and there is no eveidence that there is any economically viable mineral, other than oil and gas, out there.
"The purpose of prospecting is to get the information to the Crown. That's all the Crown seeks with prospecting is to understand what might be the economic resource out there and then make a decision," says Fairley.
But Green's co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons told Close Up says she believes New Zealand needs to change the law.
"So you look at the beginning... is this a place where you'd ever allow mining? Is this the sort of mining you'd ever allow? And if not don't have a prospecting licence... you're just leading people up the garden path," says Fitzsimons.
