Day 26: Takaka, South of Takaka, The Mussel Inn

An exciting and momentous day.  

Saturdays are market days in Takaka.  They start getting more and more crazy starting around now, and peaking just after Christmas.  There is nothing that Molly and I love more than some good people watching, and outdoor markets are primo people watching.

And chair lounging.

These are folding chairs are made with true 2x2s, stainless threaded rods, and bolts at the ends.

They're surprisingly comfortable, and I'm interested in trying to construct them at some point.

I didn't get a whole lot of other pictures from the market, but rest assured that it was great.  (Don't worry, I'll get more later.)  Molly did purchase that cool yellow tunic.  I'm always a fan of sleeveless things with hoods, so I wholly endorsed her purchase.

The other big thing that happened at the end of the market is that we met Wendy and Carol.  We had decided that paying $36 a night for the two of us to camp at Kiwiana was not endlessly sustainable, and would eventually cost us a bit of money, so we were looking for other alternatives for places to stay.  We found, on the Helpx.org website, a couple with a one acre garden, a need for willing helpers, and a yurt to live in while you did so.  It sounded great to us, so we met up with Wendy and Carol at the market.  They drove us to their place, just 2km south of Takaka, and got us set up in our new home.

I don't have too many pictures of it right now, but it's great.  Beyond great, really.  It's also just across the street from the area's football, rugby, and cricket fields, with a little sheep lot, too.

We will do a few hours of yard and garden work in the morning every day, and in exchance we get a place to stay, and dinner.  Seems pretty fair to us.

It's a relatively easy walk into town, and takes about 25 minutes.  We're looking to buy a couple junker bikes so we can get in and out a bit easier.

Along the road is this great old cedar-like tree, and a stump carved into a dog that was probably a sister tree at one point.

The hole in the front makes me think of the tree the boy in which the boy lived in "My Side of the Mountain."

It's probably big enough to hollow out the same way.

Okay, so this is the inside of our yurt.  It's pretty nice.  There's running water, a stove, a wood burning stove, and even an integrated stereo system.  All the electronics are powered by solar, and the water is filtered rain water.

After we settled in, we went, along with our cast of characters, to the Mussel Inn, a brew pub in the area.  It's the closest actual brewery, and a local institution.  I had been told that the space is cool and the beer was "okay", but wanted to check it out anyway. 

I can attest that the space is incredible.  Lots of outdoor seating and fire pits, and a large open common room inside.  (More pictures when I go back during the day.)

The music for this particular Saturday night was Mosaic, a local choir specializing in world vocal music, ranging from African to South American, to Maori, and lots of other things, all sung a capella.

It was so packed, we had to stand in the door at the back of the room.

In any case, the beer wasn't that bad, either.  A good time, and then we bummed a ride back into to town, and slept for the first time together in a yurt.