Rimu & Rain
Simple living in the bush
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Hello, We’re Fiona and Mike and this is the story of our journey turning the dream of living in a cabin in the bush into reality.
Category: Off-Grid Living
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There’s a certain kind of grime that accumulates after a day working in the West Coast bush. It’s a mix of peaty earth, sweat, bush debris and insect repellant. A quick splash from a bucket to freshen up for happy hour at the end of the day just doesn’t cut it. In the absence of…
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“The smell of wood smoke… the taste of food that has been cooked over a fire… these things are embedded in our DNA. They take us back to a time when we sat around a fire and told stories, and looked at the stars.”— Mark Hix, Chef Being outdoors, slow cooking over a fire, sitting under…
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When we started taking the idea of transforming the Shut into a comfortable sleeping and living space seriously, I begun to search the internet for off-grid heating options. We didn’t have solar power set up so the obvious solution was to install a wood burner. Afterall, we had plenty of fuel for a fire. There…
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We pretty much take water for granted in our everyday life. It lives at the end of the tap and we turn it on and off at will. On the West Coast water is plentiful with an average rainfall of 3000mm to 6000mm each year. The bush block we bought is covered in rain forest…
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At around $250 per night a Beachfront Motel room in Hokitika was a luxury we couldn’t afford to repeat too often. On top of this was the added cost of petrol driving too and from the land and our hospitality expenses staying in Hokitika with its abundance of good restaurants, pubs and cafes. The realisation…
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The metal prefab building stuck out like a sore thumb. It sat unloved in the little clearing sheltered by Rimu trees and laced with rain. Stepping inside it felt dank, cold and derelict. The harsh metal walls were scuffed and dirty, the drab stained plywood floor felt springy underfoot and I noticed dark organic patterns…
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“I think having land and not ruining it is the most beautiful art that anybody could ever want.” – Andy Warhol When we started looking for a block of land we had a few requirements on our wish list. Firstly, the land needed to be predominantly native bush. Secondly, we wanted access from the land…
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