At the enormous oil sand strip mine, shovel cranes drop 100-ton loads of sand into 400-ton dump trucks.

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Behind the prison, at the fenced waterfront, is a drink kiosk and a bizarre strip of sand where concerts and parties are staged in summer.

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Across the bay, fancy yachts and speed boats crowd the shores of the Ilha, a once almost deserted strip of sand used mainly by poor fishermen, on which smart restaurants and nightclubs for the new elite are now springing up.

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After checking in, I headed to the sunamushi, a long strip of black sand behind the 25 baths.

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For 96 miles we wended our way through rolling hills covered with kelly-green acacia, finally arriving at Monkey Mia, a strip of white-sand beach where bottle-nosed dolphins come every morning to beg for fish.

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Of the numerous pristine beaches and secluded bays on the islands, Whitehaven stands out for its 7km strip of pure white silica sand.

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Soon they walked, drunk, surrounded by a pack of hungry strays, toward a glaring white strip of beach and the black sea and blue froth crashing on the sand.

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