Birkenhead: Short Ferry Ride

A dinghy at the doorstep 

A property that's ideal for boaties is also just a short ferry ride from downtown Auckland. 

This 1904 photo shows McKenzie's store on the hill above the old wooden wharf, where the house at No. 1 Hinemoa Street now stands. Next to it is the blacksmith's shop. 

1 Hinemoa Street, Birkenhead. To get a sense of the history of Hinemoa Street, you only have to dig in the garden at No. 1. 

You will probably unearth a horseshoe or two, remnants from a time when there used to be a blacksmith's shop on the site next door. Horse-drawn carts would bring North Shore people to catch the ferry from the wooden Birkenhead wharf. 

The blacksmith would reshoe the horses while the ferry passengers shopped at McKenzie's, the general store and tearooms. 

There is now a 1970s house where McKenzie's used to be, and its owner, Cam Rimmer, loves telling this story and showing old black and white photos of this very place, taken in the early 1900s. The land at the bottom of Cam's hill was already being reclaimed for what would become the Hinemoa Park - a gently sloping reserve with a band rotunda, barbecues and playground. But the real treasure is the rows of dinghy lockers here, rented by the North Shore City Council to boaties like Cam. Even if you don't have a mooring in the bay, you can still launch your dinghy or kayak at the dinghy ramp and paddle around to Little Shoal Bay, or past the Chelsea Sugar Refinery. 

"We had no idea of buying a house when we saw this place," says Cam, recalling the evening nine years ago when he and his wife Evon came down to the park for a picnic dinner. 

"I'd had a tiring day, and at the time I was tired of mowing our half acre of lawn, and trimming 180 feet of monkey apple hedge at our home in Greenhithe. 

"This house was having an open home just on dusk. Evon saw the view with the lights coming on, and I saw the dinghy lockers and moorings. We just loved it from the word go." 

Cam, who spent seven years at sea with the Merchant Navy, later gained permission to put down his own mooring. 

"Even when I was lying in bed recovering from heart surgery a few years ago I could hear the sails on the yachts out on the harbour. It was like being out there." 

He's also enjoyed watching and listening to young people being taught how to sail off the club by the ferry terminal, and the school children being taken out in kayaks for Waterwise teaching. If he ever needs to travel to the city, he walks the 150m to the wharf, hops on a ferry and he's there in 12 minutes. 

The house has been built so that all the living areas and bedrooms look out through magnificent pohutukawa to the view. Upstairs is the living, dining and kitchen area, plus a sunroom/tv room and an outdoor terrace. The master suite is also up here, with its own breakfast balcony. 

Downstairs are four bedrooms, two of which have been used as an office and a lounge in the past few years. They all open to a generous deck, one end of which leads to a garden that Cam and Evon carved out of the bushy hillside. 

Cam says the pohutukawa are glorious at Christmas, and also help shield the wind. 

"We get beautiful sunsets, too. The city turns gold some nights." 

Evon was able to enjoy her view for about five years before she died in a car accident. 

"I did a lot of grieving here," says Cam. "But all the lights and activity I could see in the view made me feel like I was never alone." 

Cam now feels it is time for him to move on to the next phase in his life, in a different location. He is also finding this house too big for one person. 

"It really is lovely - I wonder if I'm mad selling it," he says, as another ferry comes churning up to the wharf. "But I've found a smaller place that will suit me, and it's also near the water." 

Vital Statistics: 

BEDROOMS: 5 

BATHROOMS: 2 

GARAGE: 2 

SIZE: Land 936sq m, house 300sq m. 

PRICE INDICATION: Interest expected above 2005 CV of $1.05 million. Auction tomorrow at noon on site. 

INSPECT: Sat 11-11.45am, Sun 11am until auction at noon. 

CONTACT: John Hill, Harcourts, ph 021 688 608, 418 2604 a/h. 

FEATURES: 1970s house with water and city views next to Hinemoa Park (with dinghy lockers for hire) and Birkenhead ferry wharf and sailing club. Three living areas, upper and lower decks, landscaped garden.