Memories | Random

The Kiwi Icon The Batch

Fee Writes

I’m sure that most of the kiwis reading this fondly remember the batch

And for my other readers who are not kiwis, the definition of The Batch is really a knocked up shed on steroids. The batch was a summer holiday home and basically made from recycled whatever the dad and his mates could get their hands on.

Our batch had been an army hut before it was hauled off to a piece of sand at the beautiful beach, Whangamata. The wooden, recycled, french doors opened up to a sea view and us running off over the sand dunes to the sea.

Now, that batch has gone – there are two holidays homes on that one piece of land, the outside dunny (toilet) has been replaced with sewage and there is now a road with houses on either side where we would run to get to the sea.

Last weekend Jess (my fellow SAFE cor-ordinator) and I had a meeting at a cafe in Papamoa – a beachy part of Tauranga that is becoming the “place to be”. After our coffee and cake (lovely vegan cake mmmmmmm), we went for a drive to have a look at the new developments that have sprung up.

Some of the old places are still there and, obviously, being used in a variety of ways as you can see by the close up below.

But what made us the happiest was seeing some of the original batches are still there. I only managed to grab a couple of photos – Nostalgia reigns!

This one is three stories and is very typical of the “let’s go up one more” mentality of the time …. no building consent needed!

There were quite a few of this style at many beaches, although how it gets on when it rains with the flat roof and no eves ???? just lots of buckets I guess.

And just in case you can’t remember what the Kiwi Icon is called …

Although this next one isn’t a “batch”, both Jess and I wondered what on earth the bits of timber were for …..  Please comment if you’ve got any idea.

What we found intriguing about the old batches (and there were lots more), they are all in prime position – a spit of a walk to the beach. And all the flash homes – well, they’re in the “suburbia” area and have to drive.  It’s wonderful to see, although how long it will last is anyone’s guess!