Oratia: Cross-country adventure

280 Forest Hill Road, Oratia. 

A motorcycling couple found their dream lifestyle block on which to build a home for their two young children. 

Youngsters Logan and Jenna Humphrey love zooming around their driveway on their toy motorbikes while they wait for dad Dene to come home. 

Dene's likely to arrive on a motorbike too, and "work" is often testing a new cross-country motorbike around the trails in Woodhill Forest nearby. 

Dene and Kelly Humphrey are both keen endurance riders who seven years ago decided to quit the suburbs for the country. But they were fussy about where they ended up. 

"We had a list of about 10 things we wanted in a property, and it took us a year to find the right place," grins Kelly. 

This 4ha block in Oratia had flat paddocks to build on and run some animals, lots of sun, a glorious swathe of native bush with tracks that led to a stream and waterfall, and was still only 30 minutes from the CBD. 

"When we brought our designer John Bentham to have a look he said we couldn't have chosen a better spot," says Kelly. "We could have morning sun in the kitchen, dining room and kids' bedrooms, afternoon sun in our bedroom, and all day sun in the living area and on the decks." 

Kelly and Dene wanted every room in the house to open to the outdoors. Once a terrace was added to encircle the house, and a verandah roof put on to shield sun and rain, the house became a Queenslander in style. The living areas, warmed by a log fire, are at one end; the bedrooms, bathrooms and an office are at the other. 

"The house has worked so well for us that we want to build it all over again at our next property," says Kelly. 

The family is moving to Thames for a "new adventure". They have motorcycling friends there, and there are more trails on which Dene can test bikes for his articles in Kiwi Rider magazine, and train for cross country endurance races (Kelly can also go for runs on the bike Dene gave her as a wedding anniversary present this year). The couple plan to buy another block of land and build anew. 

"We've been spoiled by this place - it's going to be hard to leave," says Kelly. "The kids are growing up spending all their time outside." 

They'll take their two border collies, Jazz and Flash, with them, but will leave behind their six South African Boer goats, Horace, Boris, Dolly, Molly, George and Sox. The goats keep down the grass and gorse, and come at a run to be hand fed scraps from the kitchen. 

"They're real characters," says Kelly. "On a sunny day they sit up on a platform and sun themselves like dogs." 

Tui and wood pigeons are regular visitors to the towering native trees around the property, which include kauri, rimu and kahikatea. The wood pigeons fill up on kahikatea berries, then heave themselves down to the bush in the valley below. Kelly and Dene's land contains about 2ha of native bush, which runs into the bush of surrounding lifestyle blocks and an extensive reserve. They have loved exploring it all. 

"There are kauri down there that two of us standing hand to hand can't get our arms around,"says Kelly. 

It's now waiting to be discovered all over again by another family. 

Vital Statistics: 

BEDROOMS: 4 
 
BATHROOMS: 2 

GARAGE: 3 

SIZE: Land 4.05ha, house 180sq m (incl decks 300sq m), garage/workshop 120sq m. 

PRICE: $1.09 million. 

INSPECT: By appointment. 

CONTACT: Jan Fleet, Harveys, ph 021 377 030, 817 8011. 

FEATURES: Six-year-old Queenslander-style house that opens to a verandah on three sides. Wood burner in lounge. Four paddocks containing six South African Boer goats. Native bush with tracks to stream and waterfall. Large workshop next to garage.