Mairangi Bay: Northern exposure

24 Whitby Crescent, Mairangi Bay.

An assignment in New Zealand convinced an English photographer to move here eight years ago.

English photographer Neil Farrin first visited New Zealand for his work in 1985, and decided that one day he would come back to live.

It took him 12 years, and although he travelled to many other countries in that time he never forgot a land and a people who had captured his heart.

"I spent six months on the road around New Zealand with a bunch of people shooting stills to be turned into TV ads for Kodak. It was like a travelling circus," he laughs.

He was duly impressed by our scenery, but says it was the sweetness and honesty of the people that charmed him.

"And the cars. I'm a bit of a car enthusiast and back in 1985 there were still all these 60s models on the road in pristine condition. I thought it was wonderful."

He was based in Hong Kong for 20 years, but when he wanted his teenage daughter to learn about "the real world" outside that city he sent her to boarding school here.

Then one day, the time was right for him and his wife, Emily Wong, to move here, too. In 1997 a large photo agency bought his smaller one, and by the following year Neil had booked a flight to Auckland.

"Then an hour before we checked in I met an estate agent, and she asked if I'd like to see a couple of houses when I got here. I walked into this one, looked at the view, and said, 'This is the one'." The fact that the decor was stuck in the 70s didn't faze him. He could see past its bright orange roof, white walls, black weatherboards and old aluminium joinery. He knew that could all be changed. What he loved was the outlook, and its location.

"It's not clifftop, but it's slightly elevated so it's private. And it has direct access to the beach."

When his daughter Rachael saw the pool she gave the home her stamp of approval.

Nestled at the southern end of Mairangi Bay, the house faces north with decks and terraces to capture the sun. Most rooms look out to the view. One that doesn't is the library, a cosy half-circle of a room by the lounge which Neil says most of his guests seem to end up in at parties.

Wooden floorboards, a wooden benchtop in the kitchen, carpet and a gas fire in the living room, are among the features that make this house comfortable and welcoming. The master suite is the only space upstairs, and has its own terrace overlooking the waves that lull you to sleep at night. On the bottom of the three levels is a self-contained apartment with two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and a living area opening onto the pool deck. There is even a sauna tucked away down here.

"It's a terrible cliche, but waking up here really is like being on holiday every day," says Neil. "Then just up the road is Mairangi Bay village, which has really come on in the time we've been here. It has its cafes and a good range of shops, and you can still be in the city in 20 minutes."

Neil spent his first couple of years in New Zealand putting together a photography book called New Zealand - The Millennium with about 70 press photographers from all over the country. He met Sir Edmund Hillary to ask him to write the introduction, and persuaded author Keri Hulme to write the foreword. He then went on to open a photographers' gallery in the city called Shadow Catchers, and later travelled the islands gathering images for his agency, South Pacific Images.

In search of renewed inspiration, he went back to the South Island, and found what he was looking for.

"It's not just the landscape, it's the old world character of the place, the history and atmosphere and people. You're constantly surprised down there."

He and Emily have lived at Wanaka for the past 18 months, and have now decided to cut their Auckland ties and sell this house.

"I feel quite emotional about it because this was the first house I bought in New Zealand after a lot of dreaming. But we now know we're going to stay in the South Island - my passion for photography has been rekindled down there."