Pekapeka, when dreams come true.... A photo story that began in 2004

Kia ora and welcome !

 


In February 2004 we moved to Kerikeri. We rented a bach at Opito Bay, very basic, old  and mouldy.  But what a view ..even through the floorboards !  The track up the hill is a must where -with a bit of luck -you can see orca and dolphins passing by...

The bach on top on the right, with the green roof was our first home in New Zealand.A great place for summer but  we have never been so cold as that first winter in the 'Winterless North'. We learned a lot about the importance of the sun on your roof ! We know now why thermals aren't just for sissies... I even wore my moonboots as slippers !

 

 

 

 

Opito Bay beach in Summer on a busy day

 View from the deck

View from the track at Opito Bay 

 

Opito bay track 

Inlet Road  on the other side of the water from Opito Bay

 

                 After 8 months we could finally afford to rent a better house,  we moved to Rangitane, just a couple of km up the road. A bigger house and a second car , things were looking good !                        

                                                                  

                                             View from the living in Rangitane

              

The rental in Rangitane

 The rental was much bigger and had 2 bathrooms. A good thing with all the visitors we were going to have from the Netherlands. We signed a leasecontract for a year but didn't  unpack all of our stuff ... a good thing because after only 3 months we found our dreamspot. Having seen heaps of houses and sites we knew we were home when we stood on top of a hill in Kahoe. We made an offer on the spot,  we new for sure that this was IT ! The friendly vendor agreed that we would take purchase in June, but we could hardly wait. Our first own home in New Zealand ! 

 

So on Labourday 2005 we moved to Hobbs Road, with an adition to our family, a lorrekeet that had found us in Rangitane and all our junk. We were very lucky to have a big shed- bigger than the house - so everything was again stored. ..We only put in the house what we absolutely needed because we had big building plans !

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-TO BE CONTINUED