WAIHEKE ISLAND
54 ARRAN BAY
Breakfast on the upper deck, dinner on the lower deck, and sea views for miles. It sounds like a cruise ship, but it’s actually a laid-back beach house right on the water at Arran Bay on Waiheke Island.
The location, known as “the bottom end” by locals, is one of the island’s best-kept secrets — a stretch of coast about half an hour from the island’s main village at Oneroa with good swimming and fishing, and not too many people.
The house is part of an exclusive coastal community with only 18 residents, and although it’s hardly the modern-day “gated community”, there is a lockable gate at the top of the driveway giving controlled access to home owners and their guests.
Mark Campbell wasn’t really looking for property on Waiheke when he found this place. His preferred location for a holiday home was Great Barrier, but his wife Wendy made it clear he’d be holidaying alone if he bought there, so Waiheke was the next best option.
“I’d spent time here as a kid and I really liked the bottom end, so we looked at sections here and then the agent showed us this.”
Wendy had a couple of reservations but once Mark and his son had caught a few snapper from the rocks outside the house, they knew they’d have to talk her into it. Now, Mark says, she thanks him every day.
On a near flat site at the bottom of the drive, the house is just a few steps from the water and has legal access to a shared jetty and a boat ramp right out front.
Mark’s a keen fisherman so this was irresistible. “If it’s just Wendy and I here I catch dinner off the rocks. If there’s another couple here we catch dinner from the dinghy, and if there’s a crowd we catch dinner from the tinny,” he says. They won this year’s Arran Bay fishing competition.
If the location was perfect, the house was almost as good. The classic weatherboard bungalow had just about everything they wanted, and the only alterations they made were to add lots more decking and outdoor living space, and a modern kitchen with stainless steel appliances. Bi-fold windows open it up to views across the water to Rotoroa and Ponui Islands, and the Coromandel.
“Over the years we did think about putting some serious money into it but we love being able to come here and be totally relaxed,” Mark says. “The house has wooden floors so we come straight in off the beach covered in sand and never have to worry about it. The place is virtually maintenance-free and you can leave it for six months and nothing happens.”
The light, open-plan living area has bi-fold doors to the first level of the deck, and there’s an outdoor oven and a second dining setting on the lower deck. There are two bedrooms in the house itself and room for extra guests in the neatly converted garage sleep-out alongside. As is traditional at the typical Kiwi bach, the boat is parked on the lawn.
Mark and Wendy are now suffering from “we never get there as often as we should” syndrome, and are sadly aware that it’s time to make a change that will accommodate travel plans.
Having said that, travelling by ferry to the island has been an absolute pleasure for Mark. “You get on the ferry at the weekend and buy a beer and just relax. And everyone seems a bit excited about what’s going to happen. After all, it’s not like you’re going to Waiheke to go to the dentist.” Size: Land 1077sq m, house 100sq m. Price: Interest expected above $1.5 million. Auction: March 18. Inspect: By appointment. Schools: Waiheke High School, Te Huruhi Primary School. Contact: Matthew Smith, Ray White, 021 924 435. On the web: rwwaiheke.co.nz/ 1614631