SCHOOL ZONES:
Silverdale Primary, Stella Maris Primary, Kingsway Primary (all in Silverdale), Wainui School, Kingsway Senior School, Orewa College.
CONTACT:
Debbie Long, Harcourts, 021 168 7161
Coming from suburban London, Val and Brian Davies embraced their new lifestyle when they bought their tranquil 5.4ha property at Wainui 11 years ago. With five paddocks, they decided to become as self-sufficient as possible, with "a small menagerie of animals" as Val describes it.
Brian recounts a story from their early days here of needing to give some medicine to a calf they'd bought in Dargaville. Brian was trying to administer the medicine into the calf's mouth and Val was trying to hold the calf still by standing behind it. In its panic, the calf swung its rear, flinging Val aside, straight into an electric fence.
Then there was a very big, strong ram with bad feet. Brian grabbed the ram's rear legs, but ended up being dragged right down the hill by the feisty animal.
"What we did learn quite quickly was that you don't grab an animal to do something, you encourage it by rattling its treats," Val says.
After emigrating 12 years ago, the couple house-sat and then rented on the North Shore, spending nine months looking for their new home.
"We knew we wanted something rural with land because we'd never had it before. We fell in love with it here as soon as we saw it. It was exactly what we were looking for."
Image 1 of 6: This hilltop lifestyle property boasts five paddocks.
Val says there's something special about a house being positioned on a hilltop.
"You have an outlook all around and can watch the sun move from east to west."
Besides the calf and ram, the Davies bought a couple of cows, sheep, goats, egg-laying Indian runner ducks, chickens and a rooster. The poultry free-ranges around the property, but luckily can't get into the impressive, fenced-off organic kitchen garden the couple has developed over the years.
Besides a copious selection of vegetables, fruit trees include lemon, lime, plum, apple, pear, nashi, fig, grapefruit, guava and olive. The Davies get fresh milk from friends who have an organic dairy farm and they often share their produce around. The self-sufficiency plan is working so well they barely need to drive the five minutes to the supermarkets at Silverdale.
The brick-and-cedar house, built in 1998, is configured perfectly to accommodate visiting friends and family. At the eastern end is the master bedroom, en suite and office, which could be a nursery or single bedroom.
The centre of the home is the living room with a soaring, pitched, sarked ceiling, kept warm in winter with a wood-burner. Next to the dining area is the kitchen, which leads on to a casual living area. Beyond that is a laundry/boot room with access to the garage. There are two bedrooms and a bathroom at the western end. All rooms have beautiful views out to the garden and countryside.
The Davies share a stand of bush with their neighbour, which has been classified by DoC as an area of ecological interest. A path and stream run through the trees, which are home to a bounty of birdlife. Val and Brian name several species they have encountered in the bush and around the house and garden. One day, Brian even encountered a morepork roosting in the garage. "He looked at me and then flew off," Brian says.
Besides occasional birds, the garage is home to the Davies' boat and Brian's kayak, which is set up for fishing. It's the love of fishing that's prompted them to put their home on the market. They're moving north to be closer to the water and the fish.
