When you've picked up your family and moved all the way around the world, then a move a few hundred metres up the road is not such a big undertaking.
Peter and Barbara Cahi emigrated from South Africa with their children, then pre- and early teens, 22 years ago, settlingabove Karaka Beach, Glendowie, in a spreading brick house.
"It was on the beach, we could walk around Karaka Bay to St Heliers at low tide, it was great for the kids," says Peter.
"But it was an old house and Barbara always wanted to live in a new house. We saw this building project going up 11 years ago and moved up the hill from number 489."
The couple watched the build so knew the house, one of three subdivided from a spreading section, would be well constructed by Auckland developers Mansons.
Where their old house had beach access, the new house has breathtaking views across the islands of the Waitemata.
Browns Island (Motukorea) seems close enough to touch, Musick Point curves off to the right, Motuihe and Waiheke Islands are just beyond, and on clear days even the tips of the Coromandel Range and Barrier are visible.
There's always boat traffic to watch, and steps from the bottom of the garden lead down to Peacock Rd and the track to the beach.
Peter loves to run in the area - there are parks and reserves all around this part of Glendowie, and the couple love going down to Saint Heliers for coffee or shopping.
Along with the view, the couple also took possession of a new building: solid masonry construction with a fair bit of underpinning to hold up the house and pool, and with intelligent systems to run the house heating, security and electronics.
Barbara and Peter were able to make some changes to the interiors, specifying an angled bar between kitchen and living space in a striking dark granite.
They had a similarly styled sideboard built to divide the dining and sitting areas, as well as a library fireplace and television wall all in the same finely crafted oak.
Barbara is thrilled with her double fridge and smart, stainless steel appliances, but is particularly fond of the dumb waiter that carries groceries from the garage below to right next to the pantry; no more hauling grocery bags up stairs.
The open-plan living area is floored in a wide-plank French oak, joining the dining room, casual sitting and kitchen.
Tucked in the front corner is a more formal sitting room, with a second fireplace.
Peter laughs that while visitors do spread around all the sitting areas, and out to the terrace, they always finish up standing around the kitchen counter with the cook.
Outdoor spaces include a mix of sheltered dining - one faces the view and northern sun, a smaller one is tucked into a sheltered courtyard.
The house is tucked into its site to shelter from the prevailing southwesterly winds, so the heated swimming pool is attractive for months of swimming and the subtropical plants - including Barbara's collection of brilliantly coloured hibiscus - thrive in the microclimate.
Outside the large laundry there's a vege garden where Barbara has grown beans and tomatoes every summer.
The house was designed to expand when the couple's four children, with spouses and grandchildren, visit from overseas. Each of the four bedrooms - there's one on the ground floor, the others upstairs - has its own en suite and plenty of closets.
Two upstairs share a terrace, all get views, but the master bedroom is in a class of its own: as well as the generous main room and balcony, there's a large study sitting room with unsurpassed views.
Downstairs, the five-car garage is so vast that Peter's full-size billiards/snooker table does not look out of place.
"It is not difficult to live here when it is just the two of us," says Peter. "The other rooms close off, so it doesn't feel too enormous. But with all our kids living overseas, we're leaving New Zealand to be closer to them.
"We'll miss seeing the orcas and dolphins below us, and wanted to stay. But our kids fell in love and married overseas, so family is calling."
