Pukekawa: Moving with the music

Pursuing a music career has forced Aja Rock to cut her country roots, writes Estelle Sarney.

1480d Churchill Road, Pukekawa.

Celebrity Aja Rock and her husband Murdoch arrived in New Zealand when their baby Brooklyn was just six weeks old, in search of a cleaner, more peaceful lifestyle.

They found it, eventually, in Pukekawa, on a 2.8ha block that includes a stream, native bush and views far across the Waikato.

The couple had been living in the desert outside Las Vegas, and then moved to Venice Beach in Los Angeles.

"But you couldn't even walk along the sand in bare feet because of all the [drug users'] needles and other revolting things," says Aja in her broad American accent. "When Murdoch suggested coming down here it sounded like a nice place to chill out for a while with our new baby."

Aja was born in Canada, spent a good number of her younger years in Hawaii, and moved around other places in the United States with her music producer father, Bob Rock. Murdoch (who likes to be known as simply that) grew up in Invercargill. He had a car insurance and finance business in Las Vegas, and is now managing the launch of Aja's singing career. This new direction is why the family is letting go, for now, of their country lifestyle.

"A record deal will probably happen within the next six months," says Murdoch. "So we want to be in a position where we can just pick up and go."

One of the things they'll miss the most about this property is its privacy. Down a long right of way, and completely hidden from any other houses, it looks down into a valley and across the plains to the Waikato River.

"We can watch the water come over the land when the river's high," says Aja, stepping into a pair of gumboots by the back door. "When some friends came over from the States to visit I took them down to a waterfall in the bush, and we went swimming in the stream and the ponds."

The couple also put in a dirt bike track to roar around with friends "and the neighbourhood kids".

They had three Fresian calves to keep down the grass, a horse called Dolce, a coop full of chickens (which gave them eggs) and a big vegetable garden, which they've had to let go.

"The chance to live in the country like this comes along so rarely, we wanted to make the most of it," says Aja.

The house has worked well for them, too. Built by a master builder for himself, it's been well thought out and beautifully finished. Made of Hinuera stone and cedar, it has sandstone tiles in the lounge that hold the heat from the fire in winter and are cool in summer. A wall-sized mirror has the effect of doubling the size of this room, and will stay with the house along with the plasma TV above the fire.

At one end of the lounge is the master bedroom, the other end flows through to the kitchen and family room, lined with windows to capture the view.

There is another fire here which Murdoch says is powerful enough to heat the whole house. A hallway off this area leads to three more bedrooms, a bathroom, and the internal entry from the oversized double garage.

The master bedroom and living areas all open on to a wide, north-facing deck. The family used to have a spa pool on the edge of it, where they could soak under the stars.

On the other side of the house is a barn with loose boxes for horses, and room to store machinery, a boat or other big toys.

Murdoch says he and Aja looked at about 30 lifestyle blocks before finding this one, and weren't bothered that it was a bit further out of Auckland than some they saw.

"It's only an hour off peak, and after living in the States that's nothing. Where we lived outside of Vegas was an hour's drive as well, and nowhere near as nice as this."

The affordability of such gorgeous land also impressed the pair.

"If you tried to buy this much land, with trees and streams and views, an hour out of Los Angeles, it would cost millions of dollars," says Murdoch.

He and Aja aren't sure where they'll end up next. They'll get a place in town until they see where Aja's music looks like taking her, and then decide whether to move around as a family, or for Murdoch and Brooklyn, now 2, to remain based here and support Aja as she travels to promote her album.

You get the feeling they might be back to stay one day. Aja is still just 23, and the couple wants to have more children eventually.

"This property would be great if we were retiring," says Aja, "It's just that at the moment we're doing the opposite."