Waiheke Island ferry bar closed after Australian Rugby League teams buy up booze and snacks

Two Australian league teams forced the closure of the bar on a Waiheke Island ferry after devouring most of the food sold on board.

The Australian men's and women's league teams visited Waiheke Island yesterday and on their return to Auckland they forced the closure of the Fullers ferry bar.

A fellow ferry passenger told the Herald the teams ordered so much food from the ferry's bar that the captain was forced to cease liquor sales because food must be served with alcohol.

"They pretty much bought two-thirds of the fridge so everyone else in line couldn't get anything.

"The captain had to shut the bar and there was no more food left... there was a few disgruntled people coming back from a lovely day on this island."

The passenger said the ferry was forced to close its bar under alcohol licence conditions, angering other ferry passengers who had to go dry for the trip.

He added that the Australian sportsmen and women were very well behaved.

A spokesman from the Australian Kangaroos confirmed both the men's and women's teams had been on Waiheke Island for the day.

Both teams visited a local winery and even took a tour around the island before departing for Auckland about 5.30pm, he said.

The women's team, known as the Jillaroos, head away today following their 26-24 win over the Kiwi Ferns on Saturday before the men played afterwards.

"The girls leave today and there was a little bit of an acknowledgement to the success they had," the spokesman said.

He said there wasn't "heavy alcohol consumption" during the day and cited the ferry's small fridge and busy day as a reason for the forced closure.

"I went on the ferry in the morning and it's one fridge... On the way home in the afternoon and they've been doing service all day there's not a great deal left."

Fullers360 chief executive officer Mike Horne confirmed a large amount of food was purchased on the 6pm sailing, which the Australian teams were on.

"The café ran out of fresh food about halfway to Auckland," he said.

"A condition of our liquor license is that fresh food must be available to sell alcohol, so the skipper made the correct decision to close the bar at this time, at about 6:15pm.

"This is not a common occurrence. We typically have a substantial amount of food on board, which is stocked up regularly in Auckland City as needed – it was unusual to have this much consumed on one sailing."

In 1989, Australian cricket player David Boon was alleged to have consumed 52 cans of beer while flying from Sydney to London.

Boon never confirmed the feat but his teammate, Geoff Lawson, and room mate, Dean Jones, both said the batsman pulled it off.