Popular Post Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Popular Post Share Posted January 30 Ay time for a wee post about this fun project. so about a year ago I was lucky enough to purchase some land pretty cheap as the owner was retiring. She was looking for someone to pass it to who shared her vision about the place and wouldn't just chop it up and sell it to developers. So now i pretty unexpectedly own 23 acres just outside of my hometown of Picton. My plans are to move to live on it (hopefully by 2026) and develop it slowly and carefully, as its pretty easy to make a lot of non reversable changes these days with a 3.5t excavator at my roadside. Ginormous pole shed is a must of course. Right now its mostly Wattle and Kanuka with a spattering of other natives trying to fight with the gorse and younger wattle. Goats, pigs, possums, weka etc. Oh and a log cabin. So the story with the cabin is that it was built from about 1998-2000 by the woman who sold me the land. It was built mostly with hand tools, no electricity, from half rounds and poles she got from a local sawmill and dragged up the hill with her Subaru Leonie. She lived in it for about a decade and gradually improved the water catchment and storage, put some basic solar on the place and built a nice, but now pretty rotten, composting toilet down the hill. Since she moved out ten plus years ago there were a string of tenants that lived there and unfortunately when i took possession the place had become pretty run down. Fortunately my first trip was with a few friends and we spend most nights getting sauced up and deep cleaning every surface of the place. 28 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 30 Trips down since then have seen a full rewire of the 12v system with new deep cycle lead acid batteries, a total overhaul of all the lighting, lighting installed in the toilet and shower areas, new stereo with bluetooth, 12v low power fridge, 12v TV for watching Cars 2 on a rainy night. Just a tidy up and rewire of the existing 12v solar setup. Better controllers (these are as shit as they come) would improve it vastly but i think im going to go to LiFePo4 and fancy hybrid inverter straight away instead of bothering to spend more on these campervan systems. But eventually they will be installed on other satellite buildings so worth keeping em nice(toilets showers etc) Putting the fridge in the bath is actually awesome cause these 12v fridges build up quite a bit on condensation and this makes it easy to drain. Plus theres a good shower on a gas califont a short walk from the cabin so the bath mostly goes unused. These hilarious Sharp mini system speakers are a nice impedance to run out of a car stereo and sounds surprisingly punchy actually. The 12v tv i got for $50 from noel lemmings clearance center cause the dvd player dont work (they sell for $500 at burnsco). Most of my lighting is "pond lighting" i bought online, they come in nice aluminium housings and are really low power consumption. 25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 30 More photos etc had to go for a hoon up the Wairau on the bro Vaughans classic jetboat after all the hard work 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 Also theres this... 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.e.d. Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 This is awesome, and in a wonderful part of the country that I feel proud to call home whenever I go back there.. congrats man. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beaver Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Heck this is cool. OS Nats 202x? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Author Share Posted January 30 21 minutes ago, Beaver said: Heck this is cool. OS Nats 202x? Definitely. Once im down there full time i will have my own annual event too. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 30 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sungai Sungai Posted January 30 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 30 Another thing to mention is that the Cabin is now available for rent. The driveway is somewhat Awd access only in the winter or after a rain but even a toyota carib or honda crv would be more than enough. If this cant work for you there is a short walking track up a hill from a car friendly parking spot on the town boundary. Rental rates arent decided entirely yet but have currently been going with $400 per week or $80 per night and my guests seem happy. Can do a smidge cheaper for oldschoolers of course. At these prices its the cheapest off grid cabin style accommodation in the region . The power is solar, the water is rain, the kitchen is gas and the toilet is composting. Off da grid as they say. Live Laugh Log Cabin 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
igor Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Think I've found you on google Map. Long and windy access road to deter unwanted blow ins but still conveniently close to town for supply runs, even on a quad or side-by-side when winter conditions make the road too sketchy for a car. Reckon I could live with that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willdat? Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 6 hours ago, Sungai Sungai said: Another thing to mention is that the Cabin is now available for rent. The driveway is somewhat Awd access only in the winter or after a rain but even a toyota carib or honda crv would be more than enough. If this cant work for you there is a short walking track up a hill from a car friendly parking spot on the town boundary. Rental rates arent decided entirely yet but have currently been going with $400 per week or $80 per night and my guests seem happy. Can do a smidge cheaper for oldschoolers of course. At these prices its the cheapest off grid cabin style accommodation in the region . The power is solar, the water is rain, the kitchen is gas and the toilet is composting. Off da grid as they say. Live Laugh Log Cabin Shitchea! How many does it sleep? Super keen for a weekend soon as that spot looks lush and pretty close to us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sungai Sungai Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 in the mazdanine there are two single mattresses that can make a queen, downstairs theres bunk bed and the couch and if desperate a foam mattress on the floor. so up to six in theory. And noise control couldnt find you even if they wanted to haha 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhyscar Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Wow this is amazing. What a spot. The driveway looks like it would be perfect to hoon in a AW11 too! Super stoked for you and look forward to seeing you live out your best life. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sungai Sungai Posted February 7 Author Share Posted February 7 On 01/02/2024 at 07:31, Rhyscar said: Wow this is amazing. What a spot. The driveway looks like it would be perfect to hoon in a AW11 too! Super stoked for you and look forward to seeing you live out your best life. Thats a really good point man i hadnt considered my aw11 as a potential driveway hack i might end up doing something with that 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.