Against all Odds - Keys Found on Paihia Beach

Two Tourists Stranded in Paradise!

I was just heading down onto the beach for a random hunt when I was approached by Derek, « Will that find keys? ».

« Yep, where did you lose them? ».
« Last night walking between that pole and those toilets… They’re the keys for the campervan and we’re stuck here without them ».
The time of night they were lost put it at low tide, which left me with roughly 1.2 hectares of beach where they were hiding – And that’s assuming a walker hadn’t picked them up since. I was brutally honest with him about the very slim chances of finding them with a coil the size of a dinner plate, but had to give it my best.

I checked the waterline first as the tide was already coming in, then once I had cleared a buffer there against the encroaching tide, I headed up to the probable line of their route to the beach.

A short time later, I got a big hit in the dry powdery sand. Scuffed the surface of the sand off with my foot and there they were. I quietly pocketed them and headed back to the van, head hung in mock defeat.
I couldn’t help but wind Derek up a little about how it was such a huge area, and the chances of finding them today were virtually nil…before pulling the keys out of my pocket.
Derek and Gemma could now continue their holiday through NZ