Pauanui: Lake Resort

Lakes Resort, 

602 Hikuai Settlement Road, Pauanui. Some keen golfers are said to live on the course - and at the Lakes Resort you can do exactly that. 

What more could keen golfers want than a championship golf course on their doorstep? 

Even better, if you buy a section there you get a golf cart and a life membership to the international standard course thrown in. If you don't want to go through the drama of building, you can buy one of the resort's two- or three-bedroom villas and you also get a lifetime golf club membership valued at about $9000. 

You can live at the resort fulltime or, if you plan to use your place just for weekends or holidays, the resort management will rent it out on your behalf for a 30 per cent cut of the rental to the many guests who come to play golf or to attend weddings and conferences. 

"The owners just need to give us a little bit of notice when they want to use their place, but otherwise we'll rent it out on their behalf," says Lynne Oldbury, one of the resort's real estate salespeople. 

The attached villas are available in five different floor plans and include features such as a gas fire, single garage, a spa bath and a security system. Furniture packages are also available. 

The resort is in the early stages of development. A recreation centre is under construction that will boast three tennis courts, a spa, a gym, a swimming pool and a shop so residents don't have to leave the resort for basic grocery items. 

Further down the track there are plans for some terraced housing, more villas and eventually a large hotel. 

"The clubrooms opened last Christmas," says Oldbury, "and they are fabulous; they are very large and quite luxurious. You can go there just for a drink or to have dinner." 

The centrepiece of the resort is the golf course, a championship 6171m par 71 layout that was designed by Canadian firm Sid Puddicombe Associates. The course is set over 100ha, borders protected conservation areas and embraces 20ha of natural wetlands. There are 10.5km of cart paths winding through the course and over the stone bridges that link fairways. There is also a driving range and a pro shop. 

Oldbury says one of the beauties of the golf course is the way it is in harmony with the environment. 

"There are tar sealed paths all through the wetlands, and there are some beautiful walks around here because it's a wildlife sanctuary," says Oldbury. 

"The comments we get from overseas tourists are just amazing. When they drive over the hill and see the resort they are just blown away by it." 

And if for some reason you tire of the resort's amenities, Pauanui Beach is only 5km away.