Puhoi Pub - first known as the German Hotel when it was opened in 1879. Photo / Kellie Blizard
Puhoi Pub - first known as the German Hotel when it was opened in 1879. Photo / Kellie Blizard
Pubs have been part of New Zealand culture since the 1820s, when a convict opened a grog shop in Russell which would later become the Duke of Marlborough Hotel.
Some of the oldest pubs have survived fires, the Temperance movement, and the six o'clock swill. The Horeke Hotel in Hokiangaand the Moutere Inn in the Tasman district have endured in their same buildings for nearly 180 years.
In all, there are now 1600 pubs across the country. Isaac Davison has picked out five memorable ones - some old, some new.
Puhoi Pub
I first came to Puhoi Pub on a kayak, floating down the meandering Puhoi River from Wenderholm Regional Park. There was a group of American exchange students on the trip and they were enchanted with the Puhoi village, as if a gentle float down the river had transported them to 1870s New Zealand.
At the heart of the village is the grand two-storey pub and hotel, just back from the river and with a sprawling grass lawn out front. Opened in 1879 and first known as the German Hotel, it is the last survivor of the three pubs in Puhoi, the first of which was barely more than a shack by the water.
A woodchopping carnival at the the Puhoi Pub's 150th celebration in 2013.
It is a pub where different parts of New Zealand society cross over. Patched gangs line up their motorbikes on weekends, local farmers and construction workers from the nearby expressway drink alongside tourists in boat shoes. Three old men with weather-worn faces are sitting outside the front door every time I visit, and they look as if the pub was built around them. It has staunchly resisted adding craft beers to its menu.
We stop off on the way north for battered hoki bites and a beer, while the kids dash about on the big lawn out front. A new four-lane expressway now hovers above the Puhoi turnoff, slicing through this bucolic part of the country. But I suspect that even when it opens, many will still use the pub as an excuse to take a slower route north.
The Cardrona Hotel in Wanaka - a relic of the 1860s gold rush. Photo / 123rf
This pub is a tourist trap, and there are often more visitors outside taking selfies against the historic facade than inside with a pint.
But this pub makes the list because it is impossible to drive past. A relic of the Otago gold rush in the 1860s, it's possibly the most picturesque drinking hole in the country, with its old building like a little wooden box against the backdrop of the Crown Range.
It also has a great backstory about an old publican, James Patterson, who worked the bar from 1926 until his death in 1961, aged 91. He moderated how many drinks a person was served depending on their direction of travel. Heading over the winding, dangerous Crown Range? One drink. Heading down the safer road to Pembroke (now known as Wanaka)? Two drinks, maybe more.
Kelburn Village Pub, Wellington
Pubs seem to hold a more treasured place in Wellington life because it's so cold for 10 months of the year that you need a place to escape from your draughty, damp villa.
The Kelburn Village Pub is a little haven at the top of a set of brick stairs and hidden behind a beauty clinic and a physiotherapist.
It stands out in my mind because it was where I watched the Cricket World Cup semi-final in 2015. I had been watching at home but was so nervous I couldn't sit still, vacuumed the entire house, washed every surface, and did anything to prevent myself from watching South Africa's score keep rising.
I arrived at the pub for New Zealand's innings and the patrons were quiet and were too nervy to sit on their stools. But when Grant Elliott struck that famous six, a woman I'd never met before turned around and hugged me. That's what you want in a local pub: a warm space to retreat and a little community.
As I walked back up the hill to our flat on the ridge above Kelburn, I could still hear the cheers echoing up the valley.
Galbraith's Alehouse, Auckland
Galbraith's Alehouse in Mt Eden. Photo / Babiche Martens
Along with the Powerstation, Galbraith's is one of two stalwarts of Mt Eden Road.
It is ugly on the outside, with faux-Roman pillars at the entrance and painted in red, gold and green like a Christmas tree. Inside, it's a traditional British pub with a bar that looks like an old church organ.
But it's one of the most inviting, cosy spots in Auckland. The absence of televisions playing sport and the large tables tend to encourage long conversations over a pint. It has also just opened a pretty little garden out the back, nestled in behind the giant tank which supplies Auckland's drinking water.
Boatshed Bar, Marlborough Sounds
The Boatshed Bar in Punga Cove is a stop-off on the Queen Charlotte Track. Photo / Supplied
I've only been there once, but it's stuck in my mind since.
I had spent a few days on honeymoon at a boat-only access bay on the Queen Charlotte Track. After hiking over from Resolution Bay, we emerged from the bush, a sheen on my forehead, to find the jetty at Punga Cove where our water taxi would pick us up.
Perched at the waterside was a tiny bar, with one empty table at the end of the jetty, a couple of dinghies knocking up against the posts.
My wife laughed at my silly grin. "Now this is a pub," I said.
*Do you have a favourite pub in New Zealand? Send your entry and a short explanation to newsdesk@nzherald.co.nz
"Now this is a pub." The Boatshed Bar on the Marlborough Sounds. Photo / Supplied
