A Home Away From Home
Following completion of their house, my neighbours have generously offered me their converted garage to stay in when I’m at the property. Fantastic! Now I can walk to work.
Dave and Elaine own the property on the other side of Taieri Beach Road. I finally met them when I was there in August 2023 to plant the first nurse trees. They were just on the cusp of finishing building their house, having lived in a converted garage for the past year or so. 2023 was their second winter in the garage, and to make the place more comfortable they had insulated the walls, roof and floor of the garage. Now it’s a cosy and enjoyable space.
With their garage unoccupied, Dave and Elaine offered it to me to stay in when I was in Taieri Beach. This exceedingly generous offer saves the 40 km drive from Dunedin each day. It’s directly across the road from my eastern gate, which means that I can simply walk over to the forest and get started on the work.
The garage is a wonderful space. It has solar panels to charge a 1 kWh battery, an electric fridge, gas cooktop and a wood fire. Cooking utensils and food storage are housed in a pantry cupboard. The inside is well appointed and homely, with sleeping for 4 (there’s another mattress up in the loft area).
I spent a couple of nights in the garage at the end of August before I returned to Melbourne. Looking out to sea and waiting for the sunrise was a sublime experience. It’s going to be so convenient (and damned enjoyable) staying here while my own house gets built. And it really solves a problem of where to stay during construction. I’m so grateful to my generous neighbours.
The accommodation video is KT018, which can be viewed here or on the Kauri Trees YouTube channel.