Children and pubs

[MotherBear]

I don?t know why I?m asking this question as I don?t have any now, but someone who does might be interested in the answer. Are young children allowed into pubs and bars in NZ, as they are in some countries in Europe? It came into my head whilst thinking about the post on where to have the Christmas BBQ and Welshgirl mentioned that there are bars near to Mt. Maunganui beach. That would be handy if the weather turned nasty and would be somewhere dry and warm to head for. I wondered if the children would be welcome in bars or whether there would be a problem if it's against the law.

Disowned us already Bear?

Yes, depending on the bar, most are welcoming of children. Some require children be off the premises at a certain time, others dont mind if they stay all night.

[nattydread]

what are the pubs like?

are they similar to english style country pubs or are they more like the drinking mans pubs you get here in scotland?

are there chains like the "brewers fayre" and "Toby" pubs..
or an equivalent to wetherspoons?

whats the ale like? can you get real ales or similar? what are the popular kiwi brands?

(at last a subject close to my heart!!!))

[Welshgirl]

They only sell Babycham and pork scratchings here Craig - For Gods sake, STAY IN SCOTLAND!!!

:icon_wink:

[MotherBear]

Taffy: No I haven't disowned you, just that you aren't considered a child any more or do you still look upon yourself as such? :icon_biggrin: Anyway, how could I possibly disown you when you're supposed to be sponsoring us to come to NZ? I'll wait until after then to disown you. :icon_wink:

Craig: I see you have your priorities in the right order.
Welshgirl: Babycham and pork scratchings will do me fine, thank you. [img:e8018ea2f4]http://www.my-smileys.de/smileys2/party_2.gif[/img:e8018ea2f4]

[MotherBear]

No one's given Craig a decent answer to his questions. He needs to have something to dream about while he waits. Someone out there must know. :030:

[CrystalLil]

I lived in Wellington for a year back in 2001/02 and spent quite some time in pubs there, purely for research purposes of course. Having spent the previous 9 years in Glasgow, I could safely say that they are not really the same. I struggled to find a proper old man's pub the likes of which I used to frequent in Glasgow's Gallowgate - proper spit and sawdust where you can while away the hours over a hauf and a hauf and blether to colourful old drunks. No great loss, some of you might say! Also, I don't remember there being any chain bars there, although I guess that could have changed by now. Mainly, there are a lot of cafe bars that serve coffee and food as well as alcohol. Loads have very decent licencing hours and don't close till around 3 at the weekends. There are the obligatory Irish pubs but, in my opinion, they're best avoided. There are style bars, sports bars, pool bars...you name it! I went to a few country pubs as well, just to widen my experience you understand. The ones I went to made me think a bit of cowboys, Westerns and fronteers but in a faded sort of way. In some of them, you can do a bit of gambling while you drink, if that's your thing.

I thought kiwi beer was great! I'm not much of a real ale drinker so if it is widely available, I'm not likely to have noticed but I don't think it's as popular as it is here (UK). Tui and Speights are kind of no-nonsense types of beer. I liked Mac's which comes in different colours (gold/light/dark/summer specials and the likes).

One thing I really missed was going to the pub to watch the football. I never managed to get into rugby in quite the same way - nothing can beat the bitter vitriol of an old firm fixture and the rugby fans just don't seem to feel the same kind of rivalry! Again, perhaps not such a bad thing...

Hope that gives you something to go on, Craig. All this talk of pubs and beer is doing nothing to increase my productivity in the office!

[MotherBear]

Many thanks, Crystal Lil, for a very informative post. I'm sure quite a few people will be interested to read it.

[MotherBear]

Following on the subject of alcohol consumption,

[b:a7a1be9481]A Nation of Drinkers?:[/b:a7a1be9481]

Compared with other countries, New Zealanders are not heavy drinkers. The average New Zealander drinks:
5% less alcohol than the average Australian.
12% less alcohol than the average Briton.
30% less alcohol than the average German.
40% less alcohol than the average Irish.

[img:a7a1be9481]http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/ernaehrung/food-smiley-005.gif[/img:a7a1be9481][img:a7a1be9481]http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/ernaehrung/food-smiley-015.gif[/img:a7a1be9481][img:a7a1be9481]http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/ernaehrung/food-smiley-004.gif[/img:a7a1be9481][img:a7a1be9481]http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/ernaehrung/food-smiley-012.gif[/img:a7a1be9481]

I can't blame the Irish for the consumption. After all they have got guinness & Jamesons whiskey. You know the difference between an Irish wedding & an Irish Funeral? Theres one less drunk at the funeral.

If anybody posts & says that they have Brewers Fayers in NZ, we are gonna cancel our plans!

In Nelson they have a great pub called the honest lawyer. Genuine reproduction tudoresque - middle - england - pub. Great food, kids welcome, Guinness, boddys, tetley on tap.......home from home (if you want that). Other than that there are small informal pubs, and more cosmopolitan pubs cum clubs in the centre. Theres a whole spectrum of the really. Hot pies available at all times of the day I found. As far as beer goes you have Speights (as in mates) , steinlager, tooys (check spelling). My favoutrite was MacCashins, or "Macs" as its called locally. They brews range from hoppy pilsner type lager to dark malty brews (equivalent to "heavy" for you craig!). They all tend to be fizzier than real ale & a discreet burping technique should be acquired.

The only way to find out craig is to go and sample!