NZ bachelor pad beach homes get luxury makeover

Auckland

A VACATION home on the beach has long been the embodiment of the New Zealand dream.

Called a bach, an abbreviation of bachelor pad, the traditional version was a modest structure, often haphazardly pieced together of cheap materials like corrugated iron and reused timber. (In the southern portion of the South Island, which has a strong Scottish heritage, they are referred to as cribs.)