KEY POINTS:
The Southern Man is about to broaden his horizons. Or at least his pub is.
Lion Nathan said a $300,000 Speight's Ale House will be freighted to London on a 70m-long chartered container ship in July.
The journey will take an estimated 70 days, with the ship going via Samoa, Panama, the Bahamas and New York on its way to London, the Otago Daily Times reported today.
Lion Nathan representative Jessica Venning-Bryan said the concept was conceived after the company received a letter from an expatriate New Zealander working in London.
"Not only have I traded in the fresh air, open spaces and the sunshine of home for a dirty old office job, but I've also had to forgo the sheer joy of a cold Speight's after a hard day's work," Tim Ellingham, 27, formerly of Dannevirke, wrote.
Speight's approached Mr Ellingham's best mate, James Livingston, of Wellington, asking him whether he would like to provide his friend with a few beers -- in a Speight's pub.
Mr Livingston, a Recreation New Zealand project manager, said he did not hesitate when he was asked to jump on board, and his mates in London were excited.
"They think it's great that I'm coming over. But they think it's even better I'm bringing a pub with me."
The pub, unveiled in Dunedin yesterday, was built by Dunedin company Three Bald Men, which builds all Speight's Ale Houses.
Speight's is looking for three crew members to join Mr Livingston on the journey, and the bar will be open from 6pm to 8pm every day of the voyage.
The pub, which leaves Dunedin on July 24, will be temporarily moored on a barge in the upper Thames, before a permanent home is found.
- NZPA
