Daddy's First Breathalyzer!

Driving back from dinner at Tuti’s last night (Friday) in Kaikoura, we were pulled over at a drunk driving checkpoint.

It’s the weekend of SeaFest, which is a huge wine and seafood festival in Kaikoura.  I’m glad we are heading back to Christchurch today (with a stop or two along the way), because apparently it has become a big drunkfest.

Several people warned us the police would be out in force Friday night and not to have any wine or alcohol at dinner.  So, I had some San Pellegrino, Carol had a Diet Coke, and Maddy had water (they weren’t driving, but wanted to show solidarity).  About two hours prior, I had a small glass of the Felton Road Riesling (tasty!), but that was long gone when we came to the checkpoint.

Apparently there is the NZ equivalent of pre-gaming, called pre-loading, so the police come out in force checking for those who are driving and loaded.  All day we saw the increased police presence.  Saturday must be quite the event.  We decided not to go to SeaFest, figuring we would spend an hour wandering around and then leave.  The warnings we got about the event were enough to convince us we had made the right choice.  Apparently few of the locals go anymore, because the out of town hoons have made it quite unbearable.

Right by the checkpoint was a mobile drunk tank on wheels.  I don’t know if they were processing people there, or just throwing them in it to sleep it off (nor did I want to find out).

The officer thrust a handheld device at my mouth and told me brusquely to count to five.  (Let’s face it, being assigned to the drunk driving checkpoint isn’t why most people join the police).  I kept my wits about me and was able to count to five, despite the pressure of authority.  After a moment, the device flashed a “No” – which meant I was not drunk, and nor was I going to be humiliated.  There was no option to participate or not. . .just a "count to five" with this thing at my face.

Upon our arrival back at the house (129 Scarborough), I cracked open the last of the five wines we bought on our wine tasting day (impressed that they made it to Friday after a Monday tasting?  You should be!) and enjoyed the Mt. Difficulty Pinot.  There’s enough left for some tonight (Saturday night) at our hotel by the airport in Christchurch.