‘Why we chose Paihia’

Greg Taylor and his wife Noeleen tell Colleen Hawkes all about their retirement haven in Paihia.

Retirement comes with many choices, but requires making some tough decisions. Forever Homes shines a light on the different lifestyle options, and the implications of each, including those outside the box.

Former Mt Albert Grammar School principal Greg Taylor and his wife Noeleen, former deputy principal of Marist College, are living the dream retirement in Paihia.

‘‘Where else would you go into a store, only to have the owner apologise because he is busy?’’ says Greg. ‘‘And when you remark that it’s good he is busy, he then says, ‘Yes, but if I wasn’t so busy I would have carried your groceries home for you’.’’

The Taylors already knew the Bay of Islands well before they bought in the region – they had been coming to Club Paihia for a couple of weeks over Christmas every year for around 30 years.

‘‘When Noeleen was nearing the end of her working career [around three years ago], we thought maybe we should get a beach place of our own,’’ Greg says. ‘‘So we came up here to have a look and bought the second property we looked at. Just like that, and we had planned to spend a week looking before we had to head back to Auckland.’’

What sold the pair on their two-bedroom Lockwood house was the view. ‘‘We overlook the whole of the bay, and there is activity out there all the time, be it the ferries, leisure boats, yachts or parasailing.

‘‘But we also like the fact there is very little maintenance with a Lockwood, plus there’s no lawn and not much garden, just a few bromeliads. We are close to the doctor – just two doors away – and it’s a three-minute walk to the shops and cafes. We can go out for dinner and a drink and just walk home.’’

The couple have renovated their home, pushing it out at one end by nearly 2 metres, and adding a second bathroom for guests.

They also put in bifold doors along the entire front of the house, and a new frameless glass balustrade, so the views are uninterrupted.

‘‘We also love the way the sun shines into the house first thing in the morning.’’

The Taylors say they are spoiled for choice when it comes to cafes. They have a favourite that has great coffee and home baking. The owners remember the way they take their coffee, although Greg says the owner is now making him ‘‘special coffees’’ to try – a different one each day.

‘‘It’s a real community,’’ he says. ‘‘People are so friendly. And while many of the residents are retired, there’s always the influx of visitors, so there’s a lot of vitality. It’s a fun place to live. It does go a bit quiet in winter, but we feel like we are permanently on holiday.’’

The other drawcard for the Taylors was the number of different walks in the area.

‘‘We are walkers, and we just love that we have all these [trails] to explore.’’

The couple, who thought they were just buying a beach house for weekends and holidays, now only return to Auckland when absolutely necessary – to go to a function, or visit a specialist.

QV states that the average price of a property in Paihia in January this year was $486,392, which was up 13 per cent on the same time last year.

Read more from our Forever Home project at stuff.co.nz/ foreverhome.

Greg and Noeleen Taylor wake up to this view every morning in Paihia. The former Aucklanders have retired to the Bay of Islands and haven’t looked back.

Above: The Taylors bought a two-bedroom Lockwood home, which they have renovated. They introduced bifolding doors along the front of the main living level, and frameless glass balustrading so the view would be uninterrupted.

Left: They have no lawns to maintain, and a low-maintenance garden, which leaves them plenty of time for favourite activities, such as walking or sitting outside and enjoying the sunshine.