Radio Hauraki Brewery Tour - Day 4 Diary

Turn it up! Turn it up!!! Turn it up motherf*cker!!!

That was my last memory of the Radio Hauraki Brewery Tour rolling into Tauranga. Unfortunately, the Great New Zealanders at The Rising Tide venue were victims of some punishing baby boomer. Filled up on Beef Jerky and Mount Brewing Co. beers the audience was loving Jon Toogood blasting tunes into their faces. But something was happening. The volume was dropping. Apparently, some total wounder had called Noise Control three times to come and shut down the music and a venue in a pretty industrial area with a giant field next to it, which in the summertime is host to live bands playing. The poor sound guy was just doing his job as he was told to but the people wanted it loud and Jon wanted to play louder. So he ended his set with the loudest as f*ck song he could, dropped the proverbial mic and tour some final faces off. What a night!

Oh and did I mention the night began with Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals winning the Stanley Cup? Ovi was so happy it almost made me cry, then T.J Oshie talked about how he dad has Alzheimer's and doesn't remember much but "You bet your ass he's going to remember this!" - okay, now I'm crying. Then I laughed as a woman had her boobs pushed up against the glass as the team skated around holding the Cup. The entire team stopped and clapped as they skated by. Only in Vegas...

Now back to the Brewery Tour. The next day we climbed into two cars and drove through the greenery of the rolling hills of the upper central North Island onwards to Hamilton and stop #4. Nowhere in the world (most likely) has more cows than the Waikato Basin. Quickly discussion turns to how cows look like they are "always planning something". As they stare at you with their big eyes with those beautiful eyelashes chewing on grass, they've got deep plans for us. One day they'll put those plans into action. One day...

We arrive in the Crabs capital of the world and head straight to the entertainment epicenter of Hamilton. The casino! Quickly our excitement turns to disappointment as we get cleaned out at the Blackjack table. Let's hope the All Blacks are more successful tonight. 

Our venue for the latest stop of the Brewery Tour was the Good George Dining Hall and probably my favourite venue of the tour so far. These guys do some of the best beer and cider in the country and their brewery has one of the most awesome features ever. Their storage cooler has an unbelievable light and audio show.

The All Blacks smashed the French, Jase poured more pints, Jon Toogood crushed it with another killer DJ set and another stop of the Brewery Tour was done. Bring on week two. Are you ready Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin?

Massive thanks to the great New Zealanders at Jack Links for making the Brewery Tour possible. 

Words by Joseph Durie - Please direct all hate to Joe_Ray_Me on Twitter