Married couple Ley Chen and Yuwhan Xu were so excited about going to the Bluff Oyster and Food Festival they left their festival tickets in Auckland.
They did not realise they were ticketless until they arrived in Queenstown on Friday.
Mr Chen said he could not believe they had forgotten to bring the tickets.
"That was the most important thing and we left it [the tickets] behind," Mr Chen said.
"My wife bought it ... two months ago."
An unusually sunny and hot Bluff day kept the 4000-strong, oyster-loving crowd happy with the smorgasbord of kaimoana (seafood) and game meat on offer.
The Auckland couple’s dreams of taking part in the annual festival and experiencing the famous Bluff tio (oyster) was salvaged by their daughter who sent a photo of the left-behind tickets.
"We love oysters, so that’s why we came," Ms Xu said.
"It is delicious ... In my opinion, the medium size may be the best one."
"I told them [festival organisers] to have faith," Mr Edminstin said.
"I went out at one o’clock this morning [Saturday], [and] there were five other boats.
"Skippers and the crews all went out ... and we got plenty for today."
For Mr Chen and Ms Xu, who were originally from China, attending the festival was also their first visit to Bluff.
Ms Xu said her friend had strongly recommended the festival which pushed them to make a holiday of the trip.
The Bluff first-timers preferred their oysters raw and vowed to return next year.
Mr Edminstin said the day had been successful.
"It has been very pleasing and rewarding.
"The weather’s played a part, the oysters arrived after bad weather, the music’s good and everybody seemed to be happy."
