Category: Coffee

Decidedly average coffee

Warning:  this is a post about a road trip.  Look away now if it’s not your thing.

If you’ve been reading my posts you’ll know that I have a predilection for old things – especially second-hand furniture.  I also have a predilection for buying things online.  One of the risks that comes with that is the item you covet / purchase can be in a town far, far away.  I’ve limited myself to the North Island for my searches but there can still be dragons.

My new two-seater recliner couch was one such item, being a resident of one of Auckland’s eastern beach suburbs.  Dimensions in hand I loaded them into an online freight calculator to discover that it would cost me as much to freight it to Ohakune as it did to purchase it.  Don’t people know I’m on a budget?

The seller reassured me that it could be dismantled so I figured that I should be able to fit it in the back of my trusty red Mazda6 liftback.  I’d also bought a 2.5 x 3.4m Flokati rug residing in one of Auckland’s western suburbs so I now had two reasons to make the trip to Auckland.  Said rug is the feature image for this post.  It will keep my toes toasty on chilly mornings.

An early finish at work on Friday meant that I could take in my niece’s final school prize-giving followed by a family dinner.  I contemplated a coffee injection prior to getting on the road at 8pm, but figured that I had enough energy and focus for the 3+ hour trip to Turangi, including the Desert Road.  There wasn’t much traffic on the road for the most part, and a little bit of drizzle kept me on my toes.  I made it to Turangi shortly after 11pm and headed straight to bed.

Coffee count for the day = 1.  People’s Coffee, Don Wilfredo blend, plunger. Above average.

I was up early, breakfasted, sheets changed, dishes done, and on the road by 8am.  I’m not a ‘needs coffee first thing in the morning’ kind of person so thought I’d wait until I got to Tirau for my first coffee for the day.  My sister and brother-in-law do a lot of motorbike riding so she’d introduced me to her favourite cafe there a few years ago.  I think it’s changed hands since the last time I was there as my flat white was very watery, and my friand came with the dairy products I asked to be excluded.  Not the service we usually get there!

Back on the road to Auckland with an ETA of midday.  Then I caught up with the traffic heading to the car races at Pukekohe.  Traffic slowed down to a crawl meant that I wasn’t going to make my first pick-up on time.  Sigh.  Fortunately the sellers had left the rug in an accessible location so I loaded it into my car and headed to Titirangi for lunch.  After an average lunch and acceptable coffee I was ready to head east to collect the sofa.

Unfortunately my pick-up was delayed so I headed to Hillsborough Cemetery to try and find the grave of someone connected to my maternal family history.  Geneology websites are very good at giving you plot numbers etc for specific graves – cemetery operators not so much!  After stomping around the cemetery for a while I gave up and headed for my next destination.

Of course I was early and the seller not at home yet so I parked up for a nap.  The seller’s son arrived at the appointed time and we tried to figure out how to dismantle the sofa.  We figured it out but didn’t have the tools to make it happen.  The seller arrived, pulled out his trusty tools and we were able to get the back rests off.  The next challenge was to get it out of the building via a long narrow corridor, down a U-shaped ramp, and into the back of my car.

Whilst I’d worked out that it should fit into my car, I hadn’t taken into account that the reclining mechanism would make the couch heavy.  As in very heavy.  As in almost too heavy for three people to carry / lift.  We finally managed to get it into the car, and the seller took a photo to prove to his sister that it could be done!  I had no idea how I was going to get it out of my car and into the church on my own.  I figured the universe would provide the answer!

Then it was off down the motorway to Hamilton where I’d arranged to stay with my cousin and his wife.  It was great catching up with them, seeing how tall their four boys had grown, and recharging for the final day of my road trip.  I’d arranged to meet the Session Clerk of the Taihape-Waimarino Presbyterian Parish in Taihape at midday, so it was going to be another early start for me the following day.

Coffee count for the day = 2.  (1) Unknown roaster and blend, flat white.  Almost undrinkable.  (2) Allpress Espresso, unknown blend, flat white.  Acceptable.

It’s been a while since I’d driven to Ohakune via State Highway 3.  Being on a mission to get the car unloaded meant that I didn’t stop for a coffee en-route.  It was surprisingly easy to get the couch out of the car and into the church.  I was able to reverse up to the front doors so that there was about 70cm between my car and the entry.

The steps up to the front door meant that the floor and boot were almost level.  A bit of huffing and puffing saw me wriggle the couch out of the car, into the church, and position it in front of the nave windows.  Low cloud meant that I couldn’t check out the views, but I did have enough time to check on the wood oils I’d applied last time to see which one I preferred.  I also tested the paint chips in the vestry’s natural light to see which ones worked best.

I decided that I had enough time to grab a coffee from one of the carts in Ohakune before I was due in Taihape.  I hadn’t tried the brand before even though it was a Wellington roaster.  Oh well, cross that one off my list!  It kept me going long enough to spend a couple of hours going through the old records for my church which I’ll use to add to the history section of this website over time.

After a late lunch at the reliable Brown Sugar cafe, it was back on the road for the last leg to Wellington.  I promised myself a decent coffee at Bulls but it was not to be!  Coffee yes, decent no.  What was usually a very reliable coffee stop wasn’t on this occasion.

The rest of the trip was uneventful until I got to Paraparaumu.  A crash at Paekakariki had caused significant delays so I made a detour to my mother’s to say hello.  I managed to cap my weekend off by leaving my mobile at her place.  Needless to say I was too tired to drive back to retrieve it that day!

Coffee count for the day = 2.  (1) Lucky Espresso, unknown blend, flat white.  Below average.  (2) Revive Espresso, unknown blend, flat white.  Disappointingly very average.

Next time:  Why I write

Taking possession, possessing, being possessed….

The above view is taken from the berm outside of the church.  The maunga dominates the landscape.

One of the advantages of buying at auction is that the settlement process is truncated so the date for possession comes around pretty quickly!  I’d arranged to meet my architect onsite at 11am so it was an early start to the day with a drive from my rented townhouse in Wellington.  I’d refueled the car the night before so all I needed was a coffee refuel at Sublime Coffee in Bulls to be at the church with plenty of time to spare.

I’ve never worked with an architect before, so the extensiveness of the site visit and survey was a bit of an eye-opener.  Andy from Alpine Security Services saw me at the building and stopped by to discuss panel and sensor placement.  Patrick who looks after the grounds of the beautifully restored St Joseph’s Catholic Church on Arawa Street called in to say hello en-route to his church.  I quickly figured out that they’re a friendly bunch here – with a permanent population of about 1,100 it seems like everyone knows each other.

With the site visit and building survey done, I waved goodbye to Elinor and headed to Utopia Cafe for a late lunch and to await confirmation of settlement. It was now later than the estimated time given by my lawyers.  The last working day of the month being a Friday probably didn’t help!  I finally got the call just before 3pm, and went into the real estate agents to collect the keys.  But there were no keys to be found!  Fortunately I still had the code for the front door from the site visit, so let myself in for a ceremonial ringing of the church bell.

I’d planned to spend the afternoon moving the left-over furniture out of the vestry and removing the shelves, cupboard and internal doors added in the 80s or 90s.  I’d achieved the first task and was celebrating with a late afternoon tea when my sister called to say that the vet nurse couldn’t get access to my townhouse.  After 30 minutes trying to track down my spare house keys I gave up, packed up, and headed back to Wellington for the night.

Owning an old building is liking owning an aging cat.  There are some things that are inherently flawed based on the genetics of the building or breed.  In the case of my Burmese they are prone to lots of (expensive) health issues with a shorter life-expectancy than other breeds.  One of them needs twice-daily medication so I have the expense of a vet nurse to keep an eye on them when I’m away in the weekends.  Working in Wellington during the week and being in Ohakune in the weekends is going to be an expensive necessity.

Possessing a 100-year-old church also comes with  some expensive necessities.  From the borer-invested native timbers to the pinex and plywood-clad nave – most of the recent ‘improvements’ will need to be carefully unpicked to reveal the beauty of the original structure and construction methods.  Not having any water or sewerage connected is going to prove another expensive necessity.

My return to Ohakune the following morning saw me stripping out the shelves, cupboard and internal doors.  I’d borrowed a girly-drill from my sister but it was no match for the efforts of the builders and parish workers who’d put the units together.  I managed to get the screws out that secured the bookshelves to the wall, measured it up, and posted it in the Ohakune Buy & Sell group for removal.  Fingers crossed I’d be able to find someone willing to take it.

Feeling a bit tired after my drive I amused myself by removing all the blinds, hooks and other bits and bobs in the vestry.  I also removed the trim around the ‘false’ doorway in the vestry to discover it was blocked rather than false.  I also discovered ‘customwood’ and thus my obsession started.

What’s with ‘customwood’?  It’s neither custom nor wood but some mass-produced abomination of a by-product that appears to have infested the vestry.  Ok, I get that it’s cheap and looks like wood once painted.  But it’s full of chemicals and a bugger to remove when you’re trying to restore the original character of a building.  Removing it from the scene of a slater cemetery was a particularly disgusting experience.

A lovely couple from Tangiwai had contacted me about the bookshelves and I’d arranged to meet them at the church on Sunday morning.  They came with a large trailer, a friend, and a large drill so I offered the cupboards and internal doors to them as well.  Fortunately they were keen and after about 30 minutes all three items were loaded onto the trailer.  What was left was the following inscription on the plasterboard behind the cupboard:

Lined Oct 1994: N Black, P Chapman, C Bradley, & N and I Horne.  Terry Cowland Parish Assistant, Terry Sua Minister for Combined Waimarino Taihape Parish.

I celebrated the revelation of the inscription with a coffee and a sit-down.  A visitor from out of town knocked on the door and asked about services at the church.  From my neighbour Janelle I was aware that there had been weekly services held there until the church was sold in May.  Unfortunately my knowledge of current church services were limited to my neighbouring Catholic church which didn’t seem to appeal to my visitor.

Coffee and chat done, it was back to the customwood removal and seeing what lay beneath.  Removing the plasterboard above the blocked doorway revealed what I has suspected – native rimu tongue and groove wall boards lined the walls below the false ceiling.  I knew from the property inspection report that the walls and ceiling above the false ceiling were of the same materials.  Phase 1 Vestry boards and gib above blocked door

The shelves and cupboard had hidden wide native timber floorboards.  With the false ceiling to be removed during the week, I would have a good sense of the space next weekend.

Next time:  Check yo’self before yo’ wreck yo’self