The tin shed that could
The Mussel Inn is marking 25 years as a loved Golden Bay landmark. Nina Hindmarsh reports.
Andrew Dixon looks around The Mussel Inn and shakes his head, wondering what on earth it is about the place that makes it a local, national and even international drawcard.
‘‘This place is a shambles – an organised shambles at that – but when you compare it with normal places where it’s all cut and dry and formulaic, we are nothing like that, although we have our own formula that works really well.’’
As recipes for success go the inn is unorthodox, but that’s precisely what attracts customers and musicians from around the world and why this month,The Mussel Inn, will celebrate turning 25.
In a quarter century when everything has changed, at the core of the Mussel Inn’s longevity is that very little has changed since Andrew and his wife Jane Dixon first opened its rustic doors in 1992.
These days, the couple are still very conscious about not changing anything, if they can help it.
‘‘We’ve had so many people tell us its still the same old pub they remember being two-years-old at, swinging on the tyre swing,’’ he says.
‘‘So when I removed that old tree this year, that was absolutely essential to get that tyre swing back up.’’
Instead he concentrates on building sustainable systems and things that work really well, like the composting toilets he designed himself, or investing in the highquality sound system. An orchard and gardens out the back grow much of the produce and hops needed for the cafe and brewery.
‘‘When I built the big tables when we first opened, the design criteria was that when eight people are dancing on them and I’m behind the bar, I know it will hold them. People just love dancing on tables; there’s something special about it, so I built them to handle it.’’
It’s these small things, combined with the feeling that one is stepping outside the world as they know it, that all adds up to create memories people want to come back to. Every year, musicians from all around the world return, claiming it’s ‘‘like coming home’’.
The Dixons say they built The Mussel Inn for their friends. Mates would often stop by for a feed of fresh mussels after collecting them off the rocks at nearby Onekaka beach, washed down with a pint of Andrew’s home brew.
Back in those days, there were only the old style pubs and tearooms, but nothing nearby. Their log home, located just off the main road between Takaka and Collingwood, was often the go-to place and they dreamed of creating a venue where they could all hang out over a pint of beer and live music.
So they built The Mussel Inn out of recycled materials and locally sourced timber, allowing them to keep their overheads to a minimum.
Designed to evoke an essence of ‘‘Kiwi woolshed and tramping hut meets Aussie farmhouse’’, the old wooden building can be found on an unlikely corner in the middle of nowhere; hard to imagine such a place could endure.
It’s still the same old single room structure clad in corrugated iron, with its open fireplace and