N.O.W. Nils on Wheels

[As published in May/June BayBuzz magazine.]

For a coastal city, Napier has few spots to sip coffee and take in an unimpeded ocean view. Nils Kuhlsen has rolled NOW Coffee into Westshore and is filling that gap.

Known and loved by many a hospo teammate and punter (you may recognise him from Emporium, Matisse, more recently The Tennyson), German-born Nils is now out on his own, in his re-furbed 1978 Bedford bus, parked up opposite Westshore School overlooking the beach.

School parents, teachers, tradies, morning walkers, and locals on their commute climb the bus steps each morning and slide into the retro vinyl seats to get caffeinated and catch up. On sunny days, people lounge on the grassy slope that leads toward the beach. On rainy days, the bus is a cosy hideout. 

In a project that has taken four years, Nils has given the interior and exterior of the bus the full treatment, keeping the nostalgia, but updating the power source to solar, so there’s no noisy generator, just the sound of the waves as they tumble to shore, the frothing of milk for a perfect Switch flat white, and friendly chatter as the morning soundtrack.

Nils is in his seaside spot Tuesday to Saturday, 7am to midday.