SCHOOL ZONES:
Papamoa Primary, Te Akau ki Papamoa School, Tahatai Coast School, Papamoa College.
CONTACT:
Evan Norris, Ray White, 0272 614 450, 0800 258782.
From the decks of their beachfront Papamoa bach, Mike and Ann Worth have views spanning as far as the cruise ships moored at Mt Maunganui in one direction and to the Maketu peninsula in the other.
The couple bought the property in 2000, demolishing the existing bach to build new in 2001.
"I remember the auctioneer saying he reckoned this is the best section along here as it is on the point and you can see more than 180 degrees looking in either direction," says Mike.
"The decks are slightly elevated. We would be 12 feet above the high-tide mark, which makes it pretty safe."
The couple had already owned two other baches, one at Whangamata, the other at Tairua, where they took their four children when they were youngsters.
"After we sold Tairua, we looked along the Bay of Plenty and saw this for auction," says Mike.
"We looked as far as Pukehina and Maketu, the Mount and Papamoa. We liked the beach and particularly this section at Papamoa. We even looked at Omokoroa, but facing on to the harbour is a bit tame when there is seafront available.
"We had built another bach in Tairua and from that we learned some things such as using Palliside [weatherboard] for the cladding."
The roofing is Decramastic, all inside walls are sarked, and upstairs the ceilings are as well.
"We have made sure this one is reasonably maintenance free," says Mike. "We had it built to our requirements and largely to our design. We built it as a beach bach for a family."
The bach has the main living spaces on the ground level. Upstairs is "the grandma-grandad retreat upstairs", as Mike likes to call it, with master bedroom, bathroom, a lounge and kitchen facility.
"We have a deck as well. And a television there, so we are well accommodated."
Image 1 of 5: Watch the sun rise and set from this stunning beachfront aspect.
The downstairs area's open-plan living includes the kitchen, three bedrooms and a bathroom. For heating, there are two heat pumps, one downstairs and one halfway up the stairs.
"The bathroom upstairs has underfloor heating, but we haven't used it since we put the heat pumps in," says Mike.
The bach has been built so all living areas face the water.
There's easy access to the beach where the couple have enjoyed long walks over the years.
"One of the reasons we are selling the bach is my legs have packed up and we can't do the beach walks we did enjoy. So I very much sit and look at the sea," says Mike.
"But we used to walk considerably on the beach. You can walk from the Kaituna River mouth, which is east of Papamoa, through to the Mount. It is all sandy beach, I would say that is six or seven kilometres. It is a lovely beach.
"Outside the bach, there is a slight offshore sand bank about 100 metres out and this makes for a shallow area and safe for kiddies, there is no rip at all."
They also have a great vantage point to watch the sun rise and set.
"We enjoy these very much. The night sky over the sea is magnificent, we can see the chain of lights right away along the coast," says Mike.
"We have been very happy here. I am in my 80s and my wife is not far behind and upkeeping two houses is just getting too much for us."
He says of this place, where they still spend every alternate weekend: "Not only is it an easy property to look after but we have wonderful neighbours. The lady across the road mows the grass for us.
"We planted the section, it is fully grassed, and we have a peach tree, a cabbage tree and a yucca among other plants, a couple of bougainvilleas."
He hopes this wonderful property will become the holiday home for another family. "Papamoa is building up there very quickly. There is a big secondary school there now. It is one of the places being promoted to developers by the council, so the population is increasing rapidly. We have two cafes/takeaways, the local shops and there is a pub with a decent restaurant."
