Unfortunately, on the way down from Christchurch we had purchased several litres of a drink called 'Mountain Thunder', which purported to be a mulled wine. Having secured accommodation at a backpackers hostel in town we decided to celebrate by heating up the drink in large saucepans and indulging in a friendly round of 21s...

...Several hours later I found that we were in The Blue Pub (the less stuffy rival to The Brown Pub, the only other pub in town) and I was wading through the Friday night crowd wearing a strange chicken-shaped hat. I turned around to see Axit sitting on his own, wearing only his thermal underwear, and Will and Ed arguing over the ownership of a small log with a smiley face drawn it. As I recall, the locals weren't entirely impressed with our behaviour.

6 years later, I strolled into The Blue Pub half expecting to see a 'Barred' poster next to the till with my face on it. Luckily there had been some kind of refurb, so the notices must have been taken down. The pub was nice enough. Still very blue. Sarah had a hot chocolate and I had a Speight's for old time's sake. Then we drove on. I've still never been to The Brown Pub.