The Gunnedah Shire Band won the Australasian Open Championship in Tweed Heads at Labour Weekend, aided by Dunedin principal cornet John Lewis.
St Kilda Brass conductor and euphonium player Steve Miles then helped Brisbane Excelsior win the Australasian entertainment contest.
"A couple of Kiwis went over to help the Aussies out," Mr Lewis said yesterday.
Mr Lewis, an Otago Daily Times reporter, nearly missed the competition after dislocating his shoulder while demonstrating part of his routine to work colleagues days before it started.
An ambulance had be called to the newspaper to attend to his injury.
The Gunnedah Shire Band's win was all the more impressive as it only started 10 years ago as a D-grade band and had progressed through the grades.
"They're now the top band in Australasia, which is a great result in such a short time.
"They've really gone ahead in leaps and bounds," he said.
The Australasian Open is an invitation-only competition, which pits the best brass bands in the Asia Pacific region.
Twelve bands were invited to this year's event, from New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
The only New Zealand entry, the Woolston Brass Band, from Christchurch, was third in the entertainment contest.
Mr Miles will be leaving St Kilda Brass at the end of the year to take up a teaching position in Bermuda.
His final performance with St Kilda Brass will be "Swing with the Rat Pack" at 7.30pm on Friday and Saturday in the Glenroy Auditorium.
