Venasio-Lorenzo Crawley, an executive general manager at insurer IAG, tells Ashley Campbell about the community spirit of his home suburb.
Herne Bay has a reputation for being expensive - in 2008 it became the first suburb in New Zealand to record an average house price of $2 million. But it's actually very approachable and friendly - with the added advantage of a continuous display of the latest models of all
the coolest (and sometimes the most expensive) cars to look at on its streets.
It has a great community spirit and we all know each other through kids' schools, businesses or sports, and regularly see each other out walking or at local cafes. We also refer business leads and give each other our custom. Sometimes it feels like I'm living in one of those fantastic Greek communities by the water's edge.
I moved here 18 years ago but I grew up very close by, during the years when much of the surrounding area was Polynesian.
I went to school at St Joseph's in Grey Lynn and most of my senior years were spent at St Paul's in Ponsonby.
As a child, I got lost at Western Springs and was found by a police search - I went to look at the ducks.
I used do the milk run throughout the Grey Lynn/Westmere/Ponsonby areas, and I spent a lot of time with my cousins in Herne Bay because my uncle owned the Ardmore Dairy for almost 10 years.
There are three things I really like about Herne Bay: its sense of community, its closeness to the water and its bloody great food.
The community includes a melting pot of people with nine-to-five jobs as well as lots of the rich and famous. Around the streets you walk past TV presenters, New Zealand actors and Hollywood movie stars, captains of industry, members of Team New Zealand, former Silver Ferns and Black Caps, All Blacks, international fashion designers, MDs or CEOs of this and that - but your private space is respected.
And the harbourside parks and beaches are very important to Hugo, my 8-year-old schnauzer, who has also become a well-established Herne Bay resident.
Hugo is well known at both Pt Erin Park and Meola Reef as "the policeman". If there are two or more dogs grizzling at each other, the policeman steps in and barks down the other dogs' eardrums until they stop!
There are almost too many good food places to mention: 5 Loaves & 2 Fishes is my unofficial boardroom, where a lot of business is done; the Herne Bay Local is a great place to relax over wine, beer and tapas; Andiamo Restaurant and Bar has consistently good food; and Empress Chinese Garden Restaurant has the best peking duck in town.
There's a debate about where to get the best sausage rolls and fish'n'chips. The sausage roll winner is between Dellows Kitchen and the Herne Bay Bakery, and fish'n'chips is between The Fish Monger and the Herne Bay Fish Mart. You should come and try for yourself.
Venasio-Lorenzo's picks
* 5 Loaves & 2 Fish 206 Jervois Rd, (09) 361 5820. For outstanding coffee
* The Herne Bay Local 170 Jervois Rd, ph (09) 376 5367. Relax in the lounge and enjoy the tapas and great range of drinks
* Andiamo Restaurant & Bar 194 Jervois Rd, ph (09) 378 7811. For consistently good food
* Novel 202 Jervois Rd, ph (09) 376 5869 This local bookstore is the best place to buy that last-minute gift
* Pt Erin Park A great place for dogs and kids to run free
