Well, after much physical and verbal abuse I managed to the tyre on without a tube in there, basically I got it to the last 15cm or so, then got out some industrial tape, taped both ends of the remaining part to the rim so they wouldnt pop off, then with 3 tyre levers I managed to pry it over the rim. once on, it was totally outta shape though, like parts of the bead looked bent, some werent sitting in the groove properly, and just wouldn't.
Anyways, took the tyre off, decided to try with a tube this time, got it back to the same position with 15cm remaining, however trying to put the tyre on with the tube inside the tyre was almost impossible because the tube kept wanting to pop out and everytime I tried it would get between the rim and the tyre.
So eventually I tried with the tube sitting in the rim to begin with, got to the last 15cm, taped up the ends, and almost popped a blood vessel getting the tyre over the rim, but SUCCESS ! The tyre went on, I quickly pumped it up and prayed to god I hadnt punctured...
..... but I had punctured ! two tiiiiiiiny little snake bites on the tube #$! So off came the tyre, repaired the patch, then decided I had 4 spare tubes I had recently bought from the states (I'm in NZ) when I bought the tyres, so got them out and realised the person had given me Schraeder valves when I requested Presta #$%!#
So tried again with the patched tube, got to that same point again, only this time I totally ripped the tube with the tyre lever. It was at this point I got really mad and gave up, so now I'm front-tyreless and walking to work tomorrow (I cant even put the old tyre back on #$%!#)
I think I'm going to have to admit defeat and take it to the LBS to have them do it, then *hopefully* after a few months they'll stretch enough to the point where I can take them off & try it again.