Property dreams can come true, as this happy couple in Auckland have discovered.

Their property wishlist looked unattainable – but look what one Auckland couple have achieved

When Joe and Cheryl Pengelly hear their five grandchildren laughing as they chase each other around their Whitford garden leaping from giant rocks to wide lawns, and larking about in the oceanblue infinity pool, they know they’ve cracked it.

They’ve done what they set out to achieve when they landed in Auckland 23 years ago looking for adventure and an outdoorsy lifestyle. They had no jobs, a handful of suitcases and two children, Victoria and Ben, then 13 and 10. “It was difficult for Victoria – she threatened that as soon as she was 16 she was going back to England,” says Joe.

No chance of that now though – both Ben and Victoria live nearby and their children, aged from four to 10, were front of mind when Joe and Cheryl were planning this seaside playground. “The cuzzies love each other,” says Joe, and Cheryl explains: “When you come to a new country you leave all your family behind, so we’re growing our new family here.”

Joe and Cheryl were looking for a place to spend the rest of their lives when they wrote a 10-point property-search wishlist eight years ago. Top priority was a sea view and water access, because friends say Joe has seawater in his veins. “If he gets grumpy, he

needs a dunk in the water, and then he’s all right again,” says Cheryl, of her husband, who grew up in a Cornish fishing village, spent eight years in the merchant navy, and is in his element in the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean on their motor yacht.

It also had to be flat, down a long driveway and private. “Our wishlist, as far as I was concerned, was unattainable,” says Joe. But three hours after they drew it up, Cheryl spotted an online listing in coastal south-east Auckland for what Joe describes as their Shangri-La.

“Just look at that view,” he says. “We felt instantly this could be our forever place.”

Having both grown up on council estates, Cheryl says they pinch themselves when they look at where they live now. “It’s been an incredibly successful journey for us,” Joe says. Cheryl had a career in nursing and healthcare management, and both worked in an electrical supply business Joe set up.

When they moved here the 2ha site was mostly bare paddocks, and landscaping started before a renovation that saw three-quarters of the house demolished to the foundation slab.

Joe, who says he has a reputation for pruning with a chainsaw, did an initial tidy-up, removing trees that were too close to the house. They saved some huge old gums, although Joe says their leaves are always falling in the pool and their “widow-maker” nickname is well-deserved because of their habit of randomly dropping branches. “But we really like

them. They’re our soldiers – they sort of stand guard on this property.”

A tropical garden near the house was stage one, and established the tone for the rest of the property, which is mostly natives and tropical plants in a naturalistic, flowing design with curves and paths that invite you to explore.

Meticulous planning and rock-solid engineering have been the foundation for all they’ve done.

The long driveway, for example, was once a swampy mess of grass, overhung by power lines, but Joe and Cheryl had a vision of a curving canopy leading visitors to that first silvery glimpse of sea.

Power lines were put underground, and drainage installed before 50 decent-sized pōhutukawa trees were brought in and underplanted with oioi grass.

“We wanted to see it in our lifetime, so we didn’t plant little trees that are going to be at their best after we’re dead and gone,” says Cheryl, who is already enjoying the red ribbon of pōhutukawa blooms that appear from mid November.

Transplanting big palms, some of which had to be craned in, has helped give the garden a mature feel, and everything’s grown fast, thanks to a 24-zone computerised irrigation system that runs off their own water supply.

The couple have taken a Noah’s ark approach to their orchard – two of everything: apples, grapefruit, limes, lemons, figs, olives, mandarins, macadamias, almonds and walnuts... although there are more than

THIS PAGE When Joe and Cheryl Pengelly bought their 2ha Whitford property most of it was in paddocks, with just a few mature trees; the stone planter box holds one of the large palms they brought in and other planting includes lomandra, Dietes grandiflora, ligularia and bird of paradise. OPPOSITE The ceramic fish at the bottom of the infinity pool were bought in Maui, Hawaii, and Joe likes to tell unsuspecting visitors they are a special breed of chlorinetolerant fish.

THESE PAGES (from left) Joe and Cheryl decided to keep the big old gums; to the left of the pool fence, planting includes hardy Metrosideros ‘Tahiti’, which has orange-red blooms, and a cycad. Cheryl fell in love with Monty the dog, when she spotted him outside Clevedon sculptor James Wright’s studio, where he’d been placed to catch the eye of passers-by; James was initially reluctant to part with him, but Cheryl and her friend convinced him: “It weighs a ton,” says Joe.

THESE PAGES There’s always something to watch from the Pengellys’ vantage point overlooking T¯uranga Creek – whether it’s a tractor stuck on the sand while trying to launch a boat or people fishing with nets; Paradise stone from Wh¯ang¯arei is used for all the stonework, which was created by Eric Simich of North Harbour Stone Masons; oioi edges the lawn and t¯u love the flax flowers.