Taxi to solitude

Taking a water taxi to Awhitu is the ideal way to escape the stress of the city. 

The two bachs on the block of land for sale can be seen nestled in the trees above Geoff Williams' water taxi. The trip from Mangere Bridge takes 30-40 minutes, or only five minutes from Cornwallis. 

17c Dodd Road, Wattle Bay, Awhitu peninsula. You could drive 90 minutes from Auckland's CBD to this property at the top of the Awhitu Peninsula, or you could meet Geoff Williams' water taxi at Mangere Bridge and skim across the Manukau in half an hour. 

Better still, take the pretty drive west to Cornwallis and Geoff's 8m speedboat will get you to Wattle Bay in five minutes. 

The former fisherman launched his Manukau water taxi and harbour cruise service in February, giving property owners on the Awhitu Peninsula out of Waiuku another, quicker way of getting to and from town. While the 18 passenger water taxi costs $160 one way from Mangere Bridge, it's only $25 from Cornwallis - cheaper than the cost of the petrol it would take to drive to Awhitu. 

After an exhilarating ride along the Waitakere coastline, Geoff steered the boat across the narrow neck of harbour between Cornwallis and Awhitu and dropped me off on the beach at Wattle Bay (a ramp between boat and sand meant I hardly got my feet wet). From there it was a short walk up a driveway to the 5136sq m section Rick Eggink has carved off his 81ha farm. A part-time developer, and designer and builder of beach houses, Eggink has placed two of his modern bachs on the land. Set up on the hill beside the gentle curve of the bay, they both look north across a breathtaking vista of sea and sky, bordered by the Waitakeres on the left and a faint glimmer of Onehunga in the distance. The outlook then comes in close as you look down the deserted beach and back across Awhitu farmland. 

"We had a big pod of orca whales in here just this morning," says Rick's partner, Kim. "We get all kinds of birdlife - fantails, kingfishers, wading birds." 

"The fishing is great around here too," adds Rick, a Canadian who has lived in New Zealand for 20 years. "You can get scallops and flounder off the beach, and at low tide I've walked out to where it drops into the channel and found crayfish. If you take a boat over the Manukau Heads bar you can catch tuna." 

The buildings Rick has placed on the land comprise a three-bedroom house and a large studio bach. Clad with cedar board and battens and onduline roofing, they are stained black to blend in with the macrocarpas around them. Inside there is a stylish blend of rustic and modern materials - rough-sawn pine and cyprus on the ceilings, thick jarrah posts that originally came from Auckland wharves, West Coast stones around the log burners in each building, and baby-corrugated aluminium wrapped around some of the interior fittings. The studio has a kitchenette, while the full kitchen in the house sits behind a thick, polished concrete bench. 

A feature of both buildings are generous mezzanine spaces, accessed by ladders, which could be used for extra bedspace, play space or storage. 

The buildings are private from each other, can be accessed from the drive separately, or via a walkway between the two. You could use one to live in and rent out the other, or, if this was your holiday home, spread friends and family between the two. There's room for two more studios if you'd like to run a bed and breakfast-type retreat. 

Rick's finishing touch was to install a rustic outdoor spa pool tucked against the hill between the two buildings, which also looks out to that incredible view. 

Rick loves the peace and solitude of this undiscovered outreach of Auckland: "In the peak holiday period you'd be lucky if you saw 10 cars a day. I guess the water taxi starting up is a good thing, I just hope it doesn't bring too many people here." 

In the wide, undeveloped space that is Awhitu, a few more people will only help the local tourism operators and artists. And having visited the peninsula by both car and boat now, I know which way I prefer to travel. On the way back to town, Geoff nipped across the harbour to a rocky outcrop about 1km in from the Manukau Heads. Four fur seals raised their whiskered faces to look at us, then flopped back to sleep. 

For more information on Geoff Williams' water taxi or harbour cruises, ring 0800 294 488 or visit www.manukauharbourcruises.co.nz 

Vital Statistics: 

BEDROOMS: 6 

BATHROOMS: 3 

*NO GARAGE, BUT PLENTY OF PARKING. 

SIZE: Land 5136sq m, house and studio, 160sq m (approx, combined). 

PRICE: $795,000, or $1.2 million if you'd like two more studios built and installed on the property. 

INSPECT: Sun 1-2pm. 

CONTACT: Cheryle Gail, Century 21, ph 0272 448 691, 09 235 1588.

FEATURES: Prime piece of elevated, north facing coastal land with stunning views across the Manukau harbour. Contains one three-bedroom, two-bathroom house and one studio with kitchenette and bathroom. Each has its own tank water and eco-friendly compost toilets. Room for at least two more studios if wanted. 90 minutes by road from Auckland, or catch the Manukau Harbour Cruises water taxi from Mangere Bridge (30-40 mins) or Cornwallis (5 mins