WHEN Eglinton resident Robert Churchill stepped into his local bottleshop to purchase a carton of beer, he didn’t know it would net him a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a remote island for four days worth $10,000.
Mr Churchill was one of 12 lucky winners of a handpainted XXXX Gold bottle, which is a ticket to the XXXX Island on the southern Great Barrier Reef for him and three of his friends. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he pulled the unique bottle out of the fridge.
“Most of the time you think you’ll never win a competition like this, so I’m really glad I picked up that case of beer,” he said.
It took Mr Churchill a few days to realise he had a winning bottle in his possession because it was in the middle of a six pack.
“I went in and bought a case of XXXX Gold from Dan Murphy’s and I had a six pack in the fridge,” he said.
“I put my hand in to pull a bottle out and it felt different. I had a look and it’s a bottle telling me that I’ve won a trip. The bottle has a unique code on it that I had to give to XXXX to prove that I had a real one and, once I gave them that, they told me I had won.”
The challenge now for Mr Churchill is choosing which three friends he will take.
He believes he has narrowed it down but has to make sure everyone can get out of their commitments before confirming a date.
“You can basically do whatever you want on the island. You have the option of swimming or snorkelling, playing footy. Or you can sit around and eat and drink. You have four days on the island and they supply all the food and drink,” he said.
Of the six hand-painted bottles and six hand-painted cans placed into cartons across the country, seven have been found.