ZM's Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley - Fletch, Vaughan & Hayley's Lil Bitta Pod - 22nd September, 2025

Episode Date: September 21, 2025

On Today's Lil Bitta Pod; Vaughan got to live out a life-long dream!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From the Zedium podcast network, it's Fletchfallen and Haley's Little Bit of Pod. Welcome to A Little Bit of Pod. At the weekend, we stumbled across a piece of history. We really did. We didn't even know we were, we're doing, like, we're going to be part of something special. We're part of the, what, one of the final days of an iconic, Auckland or regional pub. Murphy's Law and Drury, which the building has been there for 99 years, currently.

and the pub before that was there for an extended period of time as well. And back in the day, I feel like this would have been ages away from the city, whereas now you're on the motorway. It was like it was near the railway station, apparently, and it was popular, like people would stop and have a point there on the way either tour from Auckland. I feel like on the way tour from Auckland, before the motorway got that far, you went past this pub? Yeah, you did.

Yeah, because I always remember it because it had an iconic look. Yeah, and really massive. Really kind of British-looking pub. We were out in the area for a... Tudor style, that's it, isn't it? Tudor style. Tudor style. We were out there for a baby shower

and yes, you're probably thinking yourself Fletcher to a baby shower, yeah. There wasn't a baby there though and it was not your traditional baby shower. Be honest, I was told this was a barbecue, a party barbecue and then everyone's like, have you got presents?

I'm like, you don't take fucking presents to a barbecue. It was called a baby queue. Oh yeah. And then we weren't barbecuing babies. I was misled it to thinking we were barbecue with some babies. Well, no, and also we wanted to see our friend's new house, amazing new house in the middle of nowhere.

Almost like we were driving to Hamilton. And on the way out, needed to stop to get a battle of Wad, and stumbled across it. We said, we should come back here for dinner. And then everyone at the party was like, no, no, no, they've had a closing party. They're shutting down. And I said, we'll say about that. And on the way back from the baby shower, we called into Murphy's Law, which was indeed in the final throes of its existence.

Yeah, like they'd shut off the restaurant already, and you could just have, you could still get meals in, like, the pub. God, it was like walking into a... Oh, dude, I love rural pubs, I love the characters. Rural pub, everyone swings around and looks at you. We walked in with Maddie MacLaine. Yes, former TV One weather presenter and breakfast presenter. Yeah, and if there's a sort of person that rural New Zealanders love to hate, it's the weather person. Yeah, he's beloved, though, isn't it?

He's a beloved, but he's told he's constantly got it wrong, even though he hasn't done the weather for years. Well, I walked in early because I needed to use the bathroom, because we'd been in the car a while, and I walked in quite a head. and when I came out I heard one of the old men in the corner saying oh that's the gay one Yeah Is that the gay boy?

Yeah Yeah it was That was that sort of response Very friendly But they were all very friendly They were very friendly but just Yeah And you figure

I forget this I'm from rural New Zealand You go home Some people use some language That perhaps isn't In the more liberal circles And that's fine Often it's not said

With ill intent Yeah No it's love it And then we learn That they're basically Tearing it down In a couple of days To become a KFC

And a McDonald's or both or something And then they were just like, do you guys want to have a go behind the bar? And I was like, I've always wanted to pull a pint of Guinness. Yep, you did that. And nailed it. We got some photos. Nailed it.

It was fun. It was a great time at Murphy's Law. And I think, what did they say, Thursday's it? Yeah. And then, yeah. And it's a weirdly, like, I've told a couple of friends about, oh, we went to this thing. And they were like, oh, you, I know that. Like, I've been there.

Or, yeah, yeah, we know it. Well, it's been here. It's been around so long. It's been the word. A hundred years. History. A hundred years. It's a big part of history.

And I started asking them because my dream, I would really like to build a miniature Irish pub. Oh, yeah. A minute's year. But they were keeping everything because they're going to like rebuild somewhere down the road a little bit and refit it with all the old stuff. I'll tell you what I like the most, apart from the characters, were the prices because I got a handle of cider for $12.

It wasn't big city prices because I got a big pint of Guinness and it was like $8. Like you'd be paying $30 for a pint of cider in the city in the big smoke. Yeah, you can't, you can't. You can't beat rural prices. Fries for 10 bucks? Oh, yeah. That'd be 15, 16, 20 bucks easily. Yeah.

And the big smoke. And that guy, when we were leaving, that said he'd only ever been kicked out of a bar twice in his life and both were tonight. Yeah, it was wild. It was wild to have a rural pub with bounces, eh? Did you think that? You could see why. Yeah, you could.

You could see why they were needed. A couple of large strapping Polynesian lads. They had to sort out those sort of semi-rural trunk white men who probably, you know. Yeah. Get a bit more than a bit. It's enough to make we want to move ruraly. Oh, it's just lovely. It was just couldn't be beaten.