"He used to go down there on the weekends to work on the house and he would take a mate or two down with him to help out," she says.
Once the home was complete the family would spend the entire summer school holidays at Tairua. "There was a real Kiwi holiday bach feel to the place and it was quite lazy," says Marion. "We had a wonderful childhood down there - it's just been like our other home."
Being on the waterfront, it was easy to go swimming or foraging for pipi at low tide, and both Marion's brothers took up windsurfing. And, of course, there was the fishing. "Dad would be out there fishing every day and we would be eating fish for breakfast, lunch and dinner. One of the things I used to enjoy was going netting up the river with Dad."
Geoffrey and Dorothy retired to Tairua in 1973, and, later on, when Marion visited them with her children, they would stay in the downstairs flat, which has a bedroom, dining room, kitchenette and bathroom, Also on the ground floor is extensive garaging with four bays for water sports equipment.
Upstairs there are three more bedrooms and a bathroom, and an L-shaped lounge and dining area with kitchen off it. The home is in original condition with Axminster carpet, embossed wallpaper and timber panelling. Just about all the upstairs rooms have harbour views, and the lounge/dining area has ranchsliders opening to a covered deck that is closed in at each end for shelter. The north-facing deck looks out over the reserve between the property and the water, and across the harbour to Paku and Pauanui.
"Dad used to spend hours out there sunning himself and first thing in the morning he would have a cup of tea out there and watch all the comings and goings on the harbour because he knew all the people going out on their boats," says Marion.
Running through the reserve is a harbourside walkway that takes you to the main shopping centre. With their father having passed away in 2001 and their mother in 2009, Marion and her brothers are selling up. She says both house and property have potential to be redeveloped. Her father purposely sited the house to one side of the large, flat section so it could be subdivided and another house with water views built beside it. Marion says the section could potentially be divided into three.
"The house itself is dated but if you were the sort of person who wanted to have it as a bach, it would be just fine," she says. "Or you could redevelop it in a couple of ways by either knocking the top off and starting from the block base or you could extend the upstairs out over the garage."
