Month: November 2021

Went out to Piha a couple of weeks ago

Walking around the block, they are building on the eastern side now.

While getting something done to my car, look at this that Bill is working on for someone. He had 2 of them in a month ago.

It was a big place 2,500 sq feet, mostly in one room. Though there was a bedroom sized room, a big kitchen, a bathroom with 2 toilets, which we installed a bath in.

When I went in there it was a bit scary, signing up to an 18 month commercial lease. The Real Estate guy that I dealt with was pretty cool though.

When I moved in I was working at the water slide at the Parnell Baths, when I moved out I was a computer operator 400m away at NZI in Shortland St.

The building was owned by a couple of guys from up north I think, they weren’t all that keen on us having a dog there. Gavin had a dog, and Lisa had one that was there a little of the time too.

We got interviewed for a current affairs TV program at some stage, there were so few people living in the CBD that we were a novelty. At night there were just street kids around the city, and not much in the way of supermarkets.

It did take a while to get used to the noisy diesel buses working their way up Anzac Ave early in the morning. The place was generally not too hot and not too cold though.

It was a great time.

Some time in 1984 I saw the film Diva, and I thought it was quite impressive the living in commercial buildings.

I also had the urge to get out of town for a change and hitch hiked to Tairua, while there I found an advertisement in the Herald, advertising a floor of a commercial building in Anzac Ave as a dwelling.

When I got back to Auckland I followed it up, then found a couple of people to go into it with me, I ended up in it with different people, but that’s the way these sorts of things evolve.

It was on the third floor, well at the front it was, at the back it was ground level behind Brooklyn Flats.

the back door

Washing out behind Brooklyn

Peter

At first it was fairly rudimentary, but we developed it during the time we were there, and acquired more stuff.

early days in the kitchen with Lisa

I think I recall initially living in the tent below.

And then going on to more personalised areas of the space.

Over time we ended up with a lot of pretty cool things there

And there was quite a few interesting people up to interesting stuff.

Gavin is an artist an musician and that expanded my horizons quite a lot. And involved some great performances at home

And further out in the world

Downstairs from us was Progressive Music Studio, below NRA recording there

We were not the only people living in the CBD back then, but there weren’t many people. One of them was another Brian

Below more pics from the time

Gavin, Otis David and Chris in 2008

Feet go at the bottom!