Night 1: Arrive in Christchurch (view photo set here)

Our flight departed Melbourne at 5:50 pm, we arrived at the airport at 4:30 pm it took 60 mins to make our way though customs (showing passport 5 different times in a 20 meter space) and stocking up with duty free alcohol (three 1 litre bottles allowed to enter NZ). The trip was almost over before it started for Tom, Segar and Stevie D missing their boarding calls and holding up the entire plane whilst negotiating their tricky duty free choices…

Arriving in Christchurch at 11:05 pm local time showing passport an additional 5-6 times and customs discovering that “yes” I am still James Murphy we called the hotel bus to come pick us up. The bus come, packed our bags then drove us across the car park to where the hotel was… It would have been a 5 minute walk…

Christchurch CBD was a 20 min taxi ride away so the boys decided to have a night in and make use of duty free alcohol. A room service call went out for two large bottles of coke, the matredee delivered two 300 ml bottles of coke priced at $NZ 5 each!!! Further investigation revealed a hotel vending machine return better value with cans of coke selling for $NZ 2. A shortage of NZ coinage meant the purchase of only 6 cans.

A shortage of coke meant that judge “Pukey” Coulter generously dolled out a thimble full of coke to stain each glass of Scotch, Bacardi or Bourbon a dark brown colour.

The signs were not good as the high consumption of alcohol lead to some unruly behaviour, cameos made by “little” friends, gay innuendo and the mysterious appearance of a “genie!!!” Whilst all some people (including the neighbours by the complaints) just wanted to sleep!!!

The carnage for the night was 1 liter bottle of Jim Beam and Black Douglas, ¾ of litre bottle of Bacardi, 6 cans of coke and two 300ml bottles of coke. The carnage continued the next morning with Stevie D waking to find “a awful chunky taste in the back of my (his) throat, which is really weird because I (he) doesn’t remember spewing last night…” after a long wait a Steve rolls over to get comfortable... ”Oh… That explains it…”