New Zealanders build bar in ‘international waters’ exempt from alcohol ban
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A group of clever New Zealanders seem to have a found a loophole in the alcohol ban instituted across New Zealand’s Coromandel region over the holidays. The group built their own island bar in “international waters,” where they claimed the laws of New Zealand do not apply.
The sandy bar, which sat just a few feet above the waves, was outfitted with a picnic table and an ice bucket. It appeared to semi-comfortably seat seven. Thames Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie told Metro that she was actually impressed by the law-benders. “That’s the one thing I absolutely love about the Coromandel,” she told the U.K. publication. “The inventive nature of people. It’s about the creativity, the legal reality is somewhat different.”
The sand bar was actually located at the mouth of the Tairua River estuary, well within New Zealand’s territorial jurisdiction, but John Kelly, the local police inspector, good-naturedly laughed off the violation as “creative thinking.”
Photos of the swim-up pub were posted to a local private Facebook group called Tairua ChitChat by a member. As of Monday, January 1, the creation was still standing. If it ever becomes a legitimate bar, we hope they serve all their drinks on the rocks...
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