Sun-bleached grass bristles an off-white three-bedroom bach with shades of Neptune.
A skiff in its garage for a feed of snapper from the expansive bay to flop on its deck.
Twenty metres, tide-dependent, is the sea edge from the holiday home of a family who drives the length of the South Island to unlock another summer holiday, a mainstay for the past 60 years.
Grandparents, sisters, brothers, aunties, uncles, sons, daughters, grandchildren, friends, and the stories from the north-west corner of Te Wai Pounamu bind them together.
Four generations of Gary Bulow’s whānau have sashayed within the scarlet and green walls of their Peninsula Rd bach at Tata Beach, liberating the anxieties of the real world.
It was built in the early 60s by his parents, Fred and Ruena, and uncle Herb’s family for getaways from Nelson.
A trailer stocked with materials was towed by a Vanguard every weekend to the section, which officially became their little piece of Mohua “in about 1965” when Gary was seven.
A bach feature which was against the current in those days was wheelchair access for Gary’s handicapped sister Christine, who still visits the bach today, driven by carers from her care facility in Nelson.
“We had fires on the beach at night, cooked sausages, you let off fireworks if it was Guy Fawkes, lots of memories playing in the mud flats, making rafts and building little jetties out into the lagoon,” he reminisces.
“In the early days, when there was a road, cars were all bumper to bumper all the way along the front of Tata Beach… probably more populated than it is now, but it was always a popular spot for people to go for a day, especially if the weather was good.
“There was a Dr Shearer next door to us from Richmond, he and his family also built at a similar time that we did… and there were a number of other doctors at the bay in those days.
“Probably in the early 70s, when my parents were around, the New Year would be the busiest time.”
Now 69, married to Pauline, with three children and five grandchildren, a slew of relatives, and semi-retired from a building career in Dunedin, where the bulk of his family also lives, the bach firmly remains a no-brainer for a 12-hour road trip even in winter.
“It’s pretty much a million-dollar view,” he enthuses.
“But it changes all the time from a rough day when the sea’s really wild, it’s got real character, but then you get the beautiful days when it’s as flat as a millpond with dolphins going by.
“You get up and open the curtains and enjoy the view, pop out onto the deck and have a coffee, and then perhaps get the boat out and go fishing… the girls will sit around and chat.”
Members of Gary’s family will be there again this month, and he affirms it won’t be ta-ta to Tata Beach for the foreseeable future.
