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It's about as 'Kiwi' as jandals & pavlova - summer days with kids sliding belly first through piles of mud at the Urenui flats in Taranaki.
But a local school conservation project has discovered possible contamination, and further testing uncovered high levels of e-coli in the stormwater that flows into the Urenui River.
Marlene Benson of Ngāti Mutunga says it has been a bit of shock and a disappointment for the kids.