Sounds Adventures

In 1990 Peter and I bought a section at 2719 Queen Charlotte Drive in the Marlborough Sounds.

Beginnings

Having taken a trip through the Marlborough Sounds on our honeymoon in 1968, we were very aware of the beauty of the environment. Peter’s parents, Esther and Hugh lived in Blenheim and when the section on 2719 Queen Charlotte Drive came up for auction we were interested to buy it. In 1990 we bought it for $85 000 and proceeded to look carefully and measure to see if we could get a drive down the steep face and hopefully build a turning pad and a garage for the VW van.

Starting to build the garage while living in the VW

With a lot of thinking, patience and Peter using his little abney level we found we could get drive-on access to our property. Bronwen and Olwen, as teenagers helped at every step of the way. A drive was constructed using railway lines and big wooden piles for support then filled in with gravel. Pete dug deep holes for 12 poles to form the foundations for the garage to be built on. This process took a very long time and lots of physical and mental effort for Peter.

At first we lived in the van while building was happening and after that we lived in the garage for a decade! At first we had no water or electricity - dinner by candle light, water for drinking and cleaning from the tanks below the garage and a long drop for a toilet below the pad - and then power was connected and a pump was installed to get the water easily from the tank up to the sink and shower. It was amazing to make such great progress. It was a very slow process setting ourselves up but in the end we were able to enjoy living in the garage very comfortably for many years.

Inside the garage with old furniture that Peter had when he was a kid.

In the early 90s we bought the Triumph 2000, Mk1 from my Dad, Malcolm Gibbs and drove it up to the Sounds. While we were living there is was in the garage but while we were back in Wellington, Hugh and Esther looked after it in their garage in Blenheim.

Triumph 2000, Mk1, 1969, inside the garage alongside Hugh’s trailer and John Deere tractor.

A House is Built

Our section is over an acre in size, covered in bush and runs down to the sea along a ridge. We found a suitable site further down the section where a house could be built. We designed it ourselves and had it built by T.J. Barnes Construction in Blenheim. Pete dug the large holes for the tall wooden poles - a very long hard job. A helicopter helped get the heavy poles from a barge in the bay and then into the holes. Then a huge bucket of sloppy concrete was poured into each hole surrounding the pole. There was no movement once they were upright and set!! It took 7 months to build the closed-in shell and in December 1999/2000 we moved in. We decided to finish the interior of the house ourselves.

House built in 1997. Clad in cedar weatherboard and temporary cladding at the back.

For many, many years Peter and I took the Interislander ferries across Cook Strait. We always worked for the 3 hours it took so that we would be free to work on the house and section when we were there. Esther and Hugh visited every weekend and enjoyed taking part with their suggestions for the many things we were doing. We had heaps of fun with them. As they got older and less physically able we bought a small John Deere tractor and trailer to help get them down the steep track to the house.