Today's Takaka is a microcosm of a multicultural success story where, after a period of suspicion and sideways glances, "Hippies" and "Straights" move freely amongst each other, both benefiting from the different perspective on life each brings to the table. Or so say the local "hippie" and self-confessed "straight" sitting at my table, after a bottle of the local finest has eased the conversation into a colourful and unique wind-through of this area's rich history.
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To paraphrase — and apologies for the recollection but the wine really was rather good — basically, a whole lot of country folk were jolted from their idyllic sleepwalk when the New Zealand Government, concerned about people leaving regions for cities, opened up cheap plots of rural land in the 1970s. This coincided with a period of global conscious thought, driven by a fear of nuclear war and a trend of being self-sufficient, which resulted in a bunch of hippies arriving in Takaka en masse. What a small-town shock it must have been to have 400 polar opposite new residents turn up in a single year, followed by even more the following. The gently seasoned hippie I met very much enjoyed telling me of the initial hostility they faced. It resulted in pushback from these newcomers that saw them get organised and eventually take over the local council.
This story goes a long way toward explaining how unique the area has come to be. At the very least, it explains the raw milk gate sales that are still legally available.
As a community, this chance of geography complete with difficult access pinch points has been allowed to develop just a little bit differently to the rest of New Zealand, and I like it a lot. As the woke of today would offer, "It's a vibe."