We moved over to the converted railroad car place. Before settling on this gem, we thought we might try what they call a Backpackers. That’s what they call a hostel here. We thought it might be kind of fun (and cheap) to rub elbows with the great unwashed public. These places are usually dormitory style, catering to the purple-haired, pin-in-the-nose, patchouli-soaked European youth. They generally have communal facilities like kitchen, bathroom/showers, common lounging areas, etc. They will also have single or double rooms for additional charge. We took a tour of one. It was generally clean enough, and they had an available double room.
The problem for me is that communal areas are, well, communal. The other problem was that I would have to walk through the outdoor smoking area to get to and from our room, or the bathroom. I can hold my breath long enough to get through the smoking zone, but the thought of getting up in the middle of the night (54 years old, remember), putting on my clothes, trekking to the can and then expect to get back to sleep was not appealing. I’m guessing that they wouldn’t appreciate me watering their lawn. So for four more dollars, we upgraded to the railroad car that has a bathroom (they call them “ensuites”). They have a communal kitchen but since there aren’t many people here, it’s not too bad.
Private veranda:
Bedroom suite: 
Master bath:
Self explanatory:
Best kitchen I've had since we got here:
The formal dining room:
One of the actual positive things about sharing a dining room, is you sometimes get to eat with other interesting guests:
They even have an on-premise gym:
...and telephone (note the crank):
The weather has absolutely sucked since we got into town. There was an unbelievable thunderstorm last night. I feel sorry for those dumb asses who drove all the way up here from Auckland (this is their 3-day Labour weekend) to huddle in their tents at the lake in the torrential downpours.
Did you know that Dargaville is the Kumara (like a purple sweet potato) capital of New Zealand
They also take their possum huntin’ quite seriously. Folks come from miles around just to put down a few beer and possum.
We took a drive up to the Kai Iwi lakes. They are beautiful, but the wx was so bad that there was no way I could fish it. Maybe tomorrow.
Total trip cost to date: $11,478.84 USD
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