SCHOOL ZONES:
Helensville, Parakai and Woodhill Primaries, Kaipara College, buses to Westlake and Orewa College.
CONTACT:
Lisa-Maree Wallen, Ray White Ponsonby, 021 666741.
AUCTION:
December 16 (unless sold prior).
Wherever Jo Macfarlane goes on her piece of paradise near Helensville a trail of animals follow.
Jax the dog bursts outdoors with her, Wilson the cat is close behind and as Jo leans on the paddock fence Flynn, her daughter's horse, strolls over for a pat.
Jo's horse, Half Moon Bay, is grazing nearby and often gets to gallop along the beach or through Woodhill Forest, both of which are within easy reach of this lifestyle block, which looks across farmland to the Kaipara Harbour.
The unobstructed view across green fields to the sea, where the pastel colours change according to the weather and the seasons, is picture perfect.
"I like watching the weather. You can watch it coming across the harbour, you can watch it going. It's very cool."
The location is pretty good, too. Shelly Beach is about 15 minutes away, where partner Hywel James launches his boat, but there is closer access to the Kaipara only five minutes away via Parakai (where the hot pools are). Muriwai Beach is also just five minutes away.
"I go horse riding on the beach down there or he'll go surfing," says Jo.
The outdoors was the main reason the family came here and they brought the house with them, relocating an original 1960s property from St Heliers. It had wonderful big windows but not such a great colour scheme. It was brown outside and had lots of brown inside, Jo says, so there was renovation to be done.
"Yeah, it was pretty bad. It was all shagpile carpet and layers and layers of wallpaper."
Image 1 of 14: Horses gallop, hens cluck and the sea beckons. Photos / Fiona Goodall, Getty Images
Today, the house is far removed from that original picture. Outside, the cedar weatherboards are a stylish black and inside the walls are fresh and white against the tawa floors.
The master bedroom suite, where Jo likes to laze on the bed running her equine business, was added in 2011. The house is elongated so nearly every room can take advantage of the view.
In the lounge, three door stackers pull back to frame the view, and a new kitchen with Italian marble benches has replaced the poky, old brown kitchen and laundry.
The laundry is now in the garage in what Jo calls the "mud room".
Jo and Hywel and the family have loved living in the countryside yet so close to the city.
She reckons it only takes about 40 minutes to get to the CBD in the non-rush hour, and Hywel, who is in advertising, commutes every day. That takes a little bit longer depending on traffic, but Jo says he unwinds on the drive and still gets home in time to grab a beer and jump on the ride-on lawn mower.
"He really likes being in the city and driving away and coming to this. I guess you do that commute but the pay off is that you come here."
The landscaped gardens are low maintenance, and there's a vege patch -- there's no frost up here, Jo says -- and a chook house and run.
The house is above a valley of covenanted native bush and can't be built out, she says.
There is so much to love, from the fantastic neighbours to the visits from kaka who live in bush nearby, that she was scratching her head about why they were leaving. But the family have found a property in Napier and are heading to Hawkes Bay.
