Awhitu: So, where is Awhitu?

The Awhitu Social Club, in the old school house, offers a $7 dinner on Friday night.

Estelle Sarney explores a peninsula within view of Auckland that is still largely undiscovered.

If Aucklanders ever get as far as Waiuku, which is rare, they tend to turn left toward the black sand and wild waves of Karioitahi Beach. But veer right, and within minutes you are heading up a little known finger of land, and back in time about 30 years.

The modern day trend of country towns to be dotted with cafes and colourful craft and antique shops has not reached Awhitu, about 90 minutes' drive from the CBD. At Matakawau there is a school, a hall and a general store. At Awhitu itself there is little more, but its attractions are in less obvious things. Idyllic, pohutukawa-lined bays of golden sand lace the eastern coast, with wide views across the Manukau entrance to Huia, around to the city and back down to Waiuku. Pockets of native bush, thick with the kauri that once made this peninsula famous, remain amid the farmland. A 10-minute drive through rolling hills will take you west to the wilder, black sand coast.

About 4000 people live on the Awhitu Peninsula in a close-knit community. The population has roughly the same demographics as the rest of New Zealand, tending a little older, wealthier and more Pakeha. There are two schools (although one might close due to a falling roll), a multi-denominational church, and a social club in the former one-room school house that offers a $7 dinner on Friday nights. The golf club by the Awhitu Regional Park also opens its doors to the public for dinner during the summer. On the last Sunday of each month the Matakawau Hall hosts the Awhitu Country Market. Awhitu Wines at Grahams Beach opens for weekend cellar sales. The Orua Bay Bird Park has tearooms and a picnic area. There's a motor camp, bed and breakfasts, and Heaven Under the Moon, a restored historic homestead nestled amid 6.9ha of grassy hills, native bush and glow worm grottos, that hosts more luxurious retreats. Awhitu Enterprise runs two-day art, eco or adventure experiences.

Heaven Under the Moon's owner, Cheryle Gail, also sells real estate on the peninsula for Century 21. She says the classic Kiwi baches dotted along the bays can sell for substantially less than similar properties at, say, the Coromandel, simply because Awhitu is still relatively undiscovered. For example, a three bedroom bach right on Matakawau Beach recently sold for $535,000. A two-storey beach house at Hudsons Beach sold for about $735,000, and a two-storey home on the hill behind Matakawau Beach, with 360 degree views, is on the market in the low $500,000s.

There are also large blocks of land being opened up by farmers whose children do not want to carry on the family business. Jane Macartney, a regional planner with the Franklin District Council, says it is possible to subdivide these blocks if the subdivision helps to preserve areas of native bush or wetland. Any other subdivision is still restricted, however, and the subject of a rural plan change currently at the public submission stage. The council's decision is not due until next April, at the earliest.

"Anything in the coastal vicinity will be a lot more sensitive than rural areas close to already established settlements," says Macartney.

So, it is unlikely that Awhitu will boom any time soon, which means its beach houses and lifestyle blocks will remain some of the most reasonable buys within 90 minutes of the city. The peace and slow pace will remain for the many artists and conservationists who have chosen to live here, and Aucklanders who come to unwind.