HEALTH WARNING - Collection of shellfish not recommended

The next day while traveling further north we stopped at another beach. Here we met some locals who were collecting shellfish. Friendly as all kiwis are they came over and started talking to us. They showed us what they were collecting, from where and explained how we should cook them. It was lunch time so we decided we'd collect some and cook them as well.

Fresh from the sea

We cooked them in boiling water with some garlic, onion and chili and served with some bread and lime. They tasted great, it was only later that we noticed a nearby sign advising against collecting the shellfish.

Health Warning

Luckily we didn't experience any health problems although I figure the locals wouldn't be eating them if there were problems. The sign looked to have been there a while so it may have been from an earlier time when there were problems.