The yellow cab of the digger slowly disappears behind a mound of sand as the cable is buried deep below the surface.

Passed through a hole in the concrete retainer wall, its protective layers are cut back one by one, revealing the fragile fibre optic cable – the size of a pin head. This tiny piece of fibre, connects us to the rest of the world.

While this sounds like the latest plot from a science fiction movie, it’s all in aid of the Tasman Global Access (TGA) cable – a joint investment by Telecommunications companies, Vodafone, Spark and Telstra to connect New Zealand to Australia and beyond, future-proofing the connectivity of Kiwis for decades to come.

This behind the scenes footage displays the engineering feat, which took place on Raglan’s Ngarunui Beach last year.