Here you can see the computer den in 'Carla's marae'. Below are several shots of the 'before' captions of the three big rooms in the marae before Gregg and I move everything out so that the original wood floor can be  sanded and sealed. The marae originally was built by students in something like a vocational program and then used as a mobile school classroom, in particular a science/ chem lab. Gregg bought it after it sat vacant for many years and had it moved to his orchard along with the smaller one that is joined to it that houses the kitchen, bath, living and dining areas.

 this is the hall created by the large movable petitions that separate off the three rooms. Gregg being very experienced in stage set  construction made these 'flats' as room dividers and on a couple he attached cabinets for storage, all on wheels. I was glad he had not made them any bigger, as the hefting and transport by foot was a lot for this middle aged stage hand stand in.

 Lots of art work and books to move besides beds, bedding and clothes.

 This large marae is great for all the light it gets and it warms up nicely from the afternoon sun.

 The blue room where I stayed the first few days before I shifted out into the garden with my tent just prior to the cider party crowd arriving.

 Here you see the west end half of the marae has a great set of sliding doors with an overhead rollaway for security when they are gone or want more privacy in the evening. These doors made it much easier to get everything out, especially the large flats once disassembled.

 Gregg's orchard tractor and trailer made the eight or so loads move much quicker to the storage area in his work shed.

 Taking time in the early evening to 'smell the roses', in this case a dahlia, and visit with the natives.

 In between the marae transformation we whipped up a garden shed (yesterday) for Gregg and Carla's friend Cathy who lives quite near the sea in Otaki and for whom Gregg will soon build her new home.

Another shy and elusive native.