Think Invercargill and beach volleyball does not immediately spring to mind.
At latitude 46.4deg south, the city is closer to the South Pole than the equator, and its Oreti Beach can be a chilly, windswept place. And no-one in Southland actually plays the sport.
But none of that is stopping intrepid Volleyball Southland regional development officer Donna Milne.
She is bringing the sand indoors to host beach volleyball tournaments in Invercargill's velodrome in November, including a Pro Tour tournament which she calculates will be the southernmost tournament in the world.
Forty-two truck and trailer-loads of sand will be used to create six courts in the middle of the cycle track.
Milne is also working on a 500-seat grandstand, a corporate tables area, a media stand, live streaming and television rights - and palm trees, a bar serving tropical cocktails and grass skirt-clad girls dancing to Pacific Island melodies.
Yes, she knows it is a bold idea - quirky even.
But the concept has already secured her $10,000 in sponsorship, with the likelihood of more to come, enthusiastic support from Volleyball New Zealand, and plenty of interest from New Zealand amateur and professional players.
Milne hopes playing beach volleyball in a heated velodrome will also attract overseas athletes.
''I have this sort of contagious-type passion when I talk about something I think can happen ... I am hoping this is so unique and quirky that athletes and spectators from everywhere will want to be a part of it.''
As well as the skill, strength and dexterity required of the athletes, beach volleyball was also entertaining to watch, she said.
''There's women in bikinis. And men with eight-pack abs, not six packs.''
If anyone could make beach volleyball in Invercargill happen it is probably Milne.
She took over her role two years ago when there were fewer than 400 volleyball players in Southland; now there are more than 1400 participating in school and open leagues.
Beach volleyball was first mentioned when Volleyball Southland won the right to host this year's New Zealand Secondary Schools South Island indoor volleyball tournament, Milne said.
''They [Volleyball New Zealand] said to me, normally when you host this event, you host the secondary schools' beach contest as well, and asked what our capabilities were for doing [that].
''I thought, 'it's a bit cold at Oreti'. I am one of these people who have ideas in the middle of the night, and one night I just came up with the idea of trucking the sand into the velodrome.''
Milne said she decided her dream could become a reality when she discussed it in February with drainage contractor Lindsay Arnott while he was watching his daughter play indoor volleyball.
He offered to borrow sand and help truck it in.
''He said 'don't be buying sand. That's going to cost a fortune and what are you going to do with it when you are finished with it?' He was the real southern bloke. He said he had trucks, diggers and connections and he would sort it and make it happen.''
She said she had also had strong support from Sport Southland events manager Matt Sillar.
''I couldn't have done this without them.''
Volleyball action
November 24-27: New Zealand Secondary Schools South Island Junior Indoor Championships, ILT Stadium Southland. 600-700 competitors expected, plus supporters.
November 28: New Zealand Secondary Schools South Island Junior Beach Championships, SIT Zero Fees Velodrome. 300-350 competitors expected.
November 28 (evening): Pro Tour Qualifier, velodrome. 100+ amateur competitors expected.
November 29: Pro Tour Tournament, velodrome, 100+ amateur and professional competitors expected.
