Matakana: End of an era

471 Leigh Road, Matakana.

The sale of the last piece of waterfront land owned by the Meiklejohn family of Omaha marks the end of a long thread of local history.

Cathy Meiklejohn has spent the past 42 years visiting and later living on an idyllic piece of the Omaha coast, yet her association with the land is comparitively recent. Ancestors of her later husband's family bought these 1.6ha as part of a 400ha block in 1858.

Captain James Meiklejohn and his wife Catherine sailed to New Zealand from Canada with six of their seven sons, in a ship they built themselves. They were offered the Omaha block for £500, and liked the fact it was on the water's edge. "If we don't like it we can build a ship and sail away," James Meiklejohn is reported as saying.

They must have liked the area after all, because they went on to build many ships that traded around the upper North Island. This included taking firewood to British troops fighting in land wars in the Bay of Plenty.

The land was handed down between the generations, being gradually carved up and sold off. Cathy's husband Wayne inherited his block about 15 years ago. Wayne died after a short illness just before Christmas, and Cathy has decided to resettle nearer their two children and three grandchildren in Auckland. Once this piece of land is sold there will be just one other block of Meiklejohn-owned land left, that one inland of Omaha.

"Wayne and I lived in Howick, but would come up here camping and stay in the old army huts the family had moved onto the land," recalls Cathy. "We brought the kids up for holidays, then 14 years ago decided to have a lifestyle change and build a house here to live in."

The couple had seen a version of their architecturally-designed brick home as a showhome in Auckland, and asked the construction company to replicate it on their land.

The kitchen, formal and casual living areas, and the master bedroom open out to the glorious view over Lews Bay, part of the Whangateau River that opens into Omaha Bay. A large bedroom upstairs, which could also be a study, also looks down on the water and the trees edging it.

When the tide is in, Cathy sometimes launches her kayak from her front lawn and paddles around the bays that wend southt toward Point Wells, or north toward Leigh.

"Of course I'll miss the sea," she says, "But I'll also miss the trees, and the garden."

Cathy, a wedding celebrant, has married many couples in her beautiful garden. In her 14 years here she has transformed it from a "paddock" to a series of outdoor rooms. There's a lush cottage garden brimming with roses, raised vegetable beds, lawned areas with borders of flowers and shrubs, and a gorgeous children's garden with a miniature wooden seat and a "Wishing Box" letterbox where her grandchildren have posted letters to Santa.

A path winds up the hill beside the house into a mixture of native and exotic trees enclosing a macadamia orchard. Cathy and Wayne found a ready local market for the nuts from its 100 trees.

On the other side of the hill on a separate piece of land is the Whangateau Cemetery. Cathy used to help look after it, tending the graves of, among others, many Meiklejohn descendants.

She is leaving all this with some sadness, but is also looking forward to moving on to a new phase of life. After nearly 150 years, it's time for a new family to add its story to this piece of historic coastline.

Vital Statistics

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 2+

GARAGE: 5+

SIZE: Land 1.6ha, house 186.5sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: Registered valuation (Feb 2006) $2.2million-$2.3million. Auction March 18.

INSPECT: By appointment.

CONTACT: Ameeliama (Pam) Bourne, Remax Impact Orewa, ph 021 941 821, 09 422 0880.

FEATURES: Comfortable, sunny brick home on the water's edge, with beautiful views of bush and sea, surrounded by lovingly tended gardens. Bedroom/study upstairs. Gas fire in lounge. Double garage by house plus another 80.6sq m gargage/boat storage/workshop. 100-tree macadamia orchard.

Vital Statistics:

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 2+

GARAGE: 5+

SIZE: Land 1.6ha, house 186.5sq m (approx).

PRICE INDICATION: Registered valuation (Feb 2006) $2.2million-$2.3million. Auction March 18.

INSPECT: By appointment.

CONTACT: Ameeliama (Pam) Bourne, Remax Impact Orewa, ph 021 941 821, 09 422 0880.

FEATURES: Comfortable, sunny brick home on the water's edge, with beautiful views of bush and sea, surrounded by lovingly tended gardens. Bedroom/study upstairs. Gas fire in lounge. Double garage by house plus another 80.6sq m gargage/boat storage/workshop. 100-tree macadamia orchard.