Dairy Flat is a rural district 8 km south of Orewa beach in the North Island of New Zealand, 28 km north of central Auckland. Until the early 1990s most of the district was in dairy farms of 40 to 60 hectares (100 to 150 acres), but with the growth of Auckland City and the extension of the Northern Motorway into the area, these are being gradually subdivided into lifestyle blocks of around 2 to 5 hectares (5 to 12 acres), many of which are grazing sheep, horses, beef cattle or deer. Although it still retains a rural character, it is counted as part of the Auckland urban area in official statistics.