Everyone thought Ron Clark was a bit crazy when he opened a tiny food caravan on State Highway 1 in 1977. Nin’s Bin is now a culinary destination – one of New Zealand’s original food trucks. Shayne Currie drops in.
It is a State Highway 1 institution, world-famous in New Zealand and, actually, the world.
For almost 50 years, a solitary caravan on the rugged Pacific shoreline north of Kaikōura has specialised in fresh summer crayfish and seafood out of the ocean alongside.
Nin’s Bin – famous, perhaps, as much for its name as its menu – has been around since 1977, when Ronald Clark upped sticks from an office management role in Timaru at the age of 49, seeking a new work life.
He bought a boat, started fishing and had the crazy idea of selling his catch to the public in a caravan in what seemed at the time to be the middle of nowhere.
“They kind of thought he was mad,” says Clark’s granddaughter Rochelle Riddell Clark, who’s serving and cooking behind the counter today.
“Who sells food out of a caravan on the side of the road? That kind of thing. Everyone thought he was going crazy, and so nobody really wanted to work for him.”
But one of Clark’s sons, Rochelle’s uncle Greg, stepped up early on to help his father out, ignoring the sceptics. They sold out of seafood within a couple of hours on Greg Clark’s first day.
“After that, it was ‘We’ve got to do this’,” Rochelle says.
She laughs that people were puzzled by a food caravan in the late 70s.
“Back in the day, it was ‘you sleep in caravans. Why would you sell food out of it?’ That kind of thing.
“When Dad told me that story, I was quite blown away,” says the 19-year-old, whose generation is well accustomed to food trucks.
Rochelle’s dad, Rodney Clark – ‘Clarkie’ – took over the business in 1994; these days it’s run by his son, Rochelle’s older brother Johnny Clark. He’ll be out on the water most days in summer, catching crays for the shop.
So there have been three generations of family running the business so far – and about four or five incarnations of the caravan. The original was a tiny camper on a single axle. Today, it’s a semi-permanent fixture, two big caravans combined, with a walk-in area and counter.
Nin’s Bin is named after Nin Matthews, the woman who lived alongside the caravan’s parking area. Her home, a little red shed, is still there today.
“She worked in here for my granddad, and she was a very close family friend,” Rochelle says.
“Everyone would say, ‘Hey we’ll take a bin of crays over to Nin’s’, and granddad was like, ‘Hey, it rhymes!’ It stuck.”
Lonely Planet’s Eatlist guide has cited Nin’s Bin – and listed Kaikōura crayfish generally as a world food experience.
Rochelle has served customers from the likes of Norway and Iceland, countries famous for their own lobsters. They’d travelled specifically to Nin’s Bin on the recommendation of friends.
On the counter today is an ice box full of crays, each with a price on the tail. These ones are from Fiordland; the quota and the fishing season for the local crayfish will open in just over a month.
In summer, the queues are long and four staff are behind the counter and at the cooker; yesterday it was just Rochelle.
She’s been serving for four or five summers, and helping with the business more generally. This has been the first winter where she’s been at it fulltime.
On Saturday, shortly after opening, there was a steady flow of customers, some wanting crayfish, others opting for pāua or mussels. A couple and a young child picked out an $88 cray for lunch.
They’re bracing for another big summer, but it hasn’t always been plain sailing.
The magnitude 7.8 earthquake that struck in November 2016 caused massive damage in the area – the seafloor rose in some places by between one and six metres.
State Highway 1 was closed for just over a year, blocked off by huge rockfalls.
Nin’s Bin closed for that period, but is now back to full strength, even if the water is a few metres further away these days. Rochelle points out the new waterline.
“When it was quite rough, the water used to come up and smash the back of the shop. It was that high, so yeah, it’s a big, big difference now.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor.