Rough diamond - Waiau Pa

Sea views and a special water bore await on a block of undeveloped waterfront land.

213 Seagrove Road, Waiau Pa.

When his farm chores are done and it's time for a breather, Keith Clark Needham heads to the rocks by the shoreline to sit and think.

It's only when he's gazing across the quiet waters of the southern Manukau Harbour to west Auckland in the distance that he appreciates what he's got in life.

``When I get time to think, I sit down here and have a rest and think that things are pretty good,'' he grins, tipping his weathered hat back on his head.

``You can see fellas out trying for flounder, fellas coming out for the scallops - when you're here all the time you don't appreciate it as you would if you'd come out from town.''

``Coming out from town'' is an easy 40-minute drive from Auckland city, off the motorway at Papakura, past Kingseat's rolling pastures and into a smooth right turn at the white colonial Waiau Pa church that is the corner landmark into the home stretch of Seagrove Road.

Keith is related to one of the two Clark families who settled this wider area and after who nearby Clarks Beach was named.

Waterfront land such as this rarely comes onto the market, and this property is a long, narrow lifestyle block that runs from the road down to the water's edge (with riparian rights) between mature pine shelter belts.

Several pre-war farm buildings are still standing, and there's a half-round corrugated barn for use as an implements shed.

Keith lives next door and he reckons that it's time to spruce up the house without giving up the lifestyle that's in his blood.

He has plenty of stories to tell of life out here at the township that used to be known simply as `Waiau'.

About 100 years ago the local cattle farmers got tired of their money going astray in the post and ending up in the town of the same name in Canterbury.

Their solution was to tack the `Pa' onto their `Waiau', but they could not have foreseen the confusion that reigns today.

Visitors expect to see the remains of Maori pa but, according to local history, the only fortified pa had been vacated long before the Europeans arrived in the mid-1800s.

Keith has his own yarns to tell, too. There's the pump-operated bore on this property that yields soda water fit for the finest Scotch.

The boys who arrived to drill the bore thought they were going down about 90m but Keith had other ideas. His uncle had a bore at 135m, so Keith's workers were instructed to go deeper. At 200m, they struck aqua gold.

``We left it for a day and it was running 25,000 gallons an hour,'' he declares. ``It's soda flavour and it's very very good.''

It's just one of the gems about life on this land with its magnificent views. Seaside living out here isn't about flash urban beaches.

It's about shell banks, migratory birds and locals and their dogs ambling along a beach with a rugged charm that suits Keith Clark Needham just fine.

VITAL STATISTICS

BEDROOMS: 0

BATHROOMS: 0

GARAGES: 0

SIZE: Land 4.39ha.

PRICE INDICATION: Between $1.1 million and $1.2 million.

INSPECT: Saturday 2-3pm, Sun noon-1pm. Or by appointment.

ON THE WEB: www.barfoot.co.nz # 337751

CONTACT: Cherry Cooper, Barfoots Papakura, ph 09 298 8029 bus, 021 955 141 mob, 09 232 0000 a/h.

FEATURES: Long narrow strip of land with riparian rights. Zoned for one dwelling only, but interested parties are advised to confirm zoning and any building restrictions with the Franklin District Council. Pump-operated bore, farm buildings including implement shed.