Dave Gee: Life from Right Field

The cargo ship Lida departed Dunedin yesterday afternoon, on the most unusual voyage of its life... a 70 day 'pub crawl'.

Speights Brewery came up with the ambitious plan to send a fully-operational pub to London by boat, accompanied by "five good Southern men" (selected from over a thousand applicants).

The Ale House is a specially designed replica of the famous Cardrona Hotel, and is complete with a kauri wood bar, beer taps, tables and stools, heating, air conditioning, a stereo system, and a plasma TV.
Their unique voyage will take around ten weeks, arriving in London in early October, during the Rugby World Cup. The Speights pub will be unloaded somewhere along Canary Wharf, and should be ready for business within hours of arriving up the Thames.

Along the way, the boat will stop off in Samoa, Panama, Barbados, and New York. The lads will get to do a bit of sightseeing at each port, as well as spread the good news about the 'pride of the south'.

A video production crew is also onboard... they'll shoot and edit daily updates which will be uploaded to the web via satellite equipment on the ship, so kiwis back home and around the world can check on the progress of the Speights floating pub...


* 3 News: Pub-boat leaves Dunedin for UK
* Speights: The Great Beer Delivery