They were called "naive" for believing they could rally public support to buy a beach and outbid the real estate tycoons, but in the face of a long-shot, their crowd-funded campaign to save the property for the New Zealand people has paid off.

During a Christmas dinner, Duane Major and his brother-in-law, Adam Gardner, came up with the idea of raising money from individuals in order to buy a gorgeous stretch of beach in order to make it public.

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In the end, so many people were inspired to donate that their bid was the highest of the roughly 100 buyers and business interests in the running to purchase the 18-acre plot near Abel Tasman National Park.

The brothers announced they've turned the land over to officials with the New Zealand's Department of Conservation, which have said they would love to own the land.

The asking price was $2 million, but close to 40,000 people donated more than $2.3 million - with New Zealand's government contributing $350,000 to the cause.

"At 10:57 last night we delivered a pristine piece of beach and bush into the hands of all New Zealanders to look after and to cherish and to treasure and enjoy forever," Major said on the Paul Henry radio show Wednesday morning.

(WATCH the video below from RNZ)

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