Asking price falls

The average asking price for residential properties in Northland fell 14.5 per cent last month, compared to February last year, to $520,901. The number of properties for sale fell 8.2 per cent to 1417, and new listings fell 2.9 per cent to 495. realestate.co.nz’s Vanessa Taylor said lifestyle properties now offered an alternative option for home buyers, the number of lifestyle properties for sale around the country last month rising 15 per cent on February last year. I studied sports science because I wanted to train professional rugby teams.

But I saw my wife Toni getting up every day to teach. She was so passionate about it. I wanted to have a job that I was equally passionate about. So at 24 I started studying again, and went to med school in Auckland. On weekends I would drive home to Whangarei so my mum could do my washing and I could raid her fridge.

I feel like every day I get to do a job where I help people. It’s not always to help them get better — it can be to help people who have relatives who are sick or dying. It’s a real privilege to be there at this time.

I’d love to help people to be in control of their own health, and I would just be there to assist them.

On my wall at home it says, ‘Happy wife, happy life.’ As long as my kids and my wife are happy, I’m happy.

When I get time off I take my kids on the quad and go camping around the reef. No cell phones or tablets. It’s simple and basic, and the kids love it. They might not understand the value of that now, but they will as they grow up.