It was a "miracle" a man did not kill or injure someone as he drove from Cromwell to Queenstown while six times the legal limit, a judge says.
Motorists called police after seeing Cromwell orchardist Aaron Paul Nash, 47, driving the 60km route on Sunday afternoon.
They saw him swerve across the centre line about 15 times — several times on double-yellow lines — and at one point he left the road entirely and crashed into a ditch.
On the Frankton-Ladies Mile Highway, near Howards Dr, he drifted left out of his lane, narrowly missing a cyclist by swerving back into his lane.
When stopped by police near Stalker Rd he was clearly drunk, slurring his speech and repeating himself, the police summary said.
He got out of his car and was "stumbling and staggering" towards the patrol car.
After a breath test gave a result of 1591mcg, he was charged with dangerous driving and drink-driving.
Counsel Louise Denton said the defendant had been stressed by his job, and his 3-month-old baby had affected his sleep.
He had started drinking whisky in the morning, and made the poor decision to drive to the resort town to join his wife and baby.
Judge Russell Walker told the defendant being stressed was no excuse.
"I don’t buy that explanation. It was a miracle you didn’t seriously hurt or kill someone."
He could only conclude Nash was so drunk he was incapable of making a sensible decision about whether to get behind the wheel.
Nash was convicted and must pay total fines of $2250 and $130 in court costs.
After a 28-day stand-down, he can apply for an alcohol interlock licence.
He will be subject to supervision for 12 months’ to enable intervention for his alcohol issues.
