SCHOOL ZONES:
Freemans Bay, Ponsonby Intermediate, Auckland Girls, Western Springs.
CONTACT:
Gabrielle Hoffman, City Sales, 021 0216 6611.
Seven years after moving here, the backdrop that is Auckland's CBD is still the most pleasing distraction for Dawn Wharfe. When she and her husband Ross are having morning coffee on the deck above the waters of Viaduct Harbour it is a dramatic outlook, with the Sky Tower punching thesky behind.
By night, when they have visitors for drinks before dining in the city or eating in, it is the city's nightlights that entice them outside.
"We've got the best views in Auckland. In the evening everything lights up and it's just incredible."
On the top floor of the Stratis block in the Lighter Quay development, the apartment and its deck-side living area has been a perfect fit for everyday living and entertaining.
Floor-to-ceiling glass doors open the living area to the tiled deck and its glass balustrades.
The rear perimeter kitchen is defined by dark glossy timber floors and white cabinetry, stainless steel bench and recessed aluminium drawer trims in the same white/grey colour palette elsewhere.
605/83 Halsey St, Auckland.
The two identical-sized bedrooms are on either side of the living area, where large panelled picture windows look out to the views. Each has a spacious bathroom with wall-hung vanity and shower tiled to match the floor. The guest bedroom has been an ideal base for their Australian-based family members calling in to Auckland. Dawn and Ross' bedroom has the slightly larger bathroom that accommodates the laundry. A separate door opening into the living area designates this bathroom as a powder room for visitors.
Facilities within the leasehold development include a gym and indoor pool and this couple use both, in addition to regular jogs past their waterfront neighbourhood that embraces the Wynyard Quarter and the Westhaven Marina.
"It's beautiful and it's in the heart and I love it, but it's not for the future."
This couple are about to start building a three-bedroom home by Fitzroy Beach in New Plymouth on a water's edge property they bought in 1999 with retirement in mind.
They regard this upsizing, rather than downsizing, as the opposite to what most other retirees choose to do. Ross' multi-continent career opportunities, that followed after they met in Oman before his posting to Malaysia, has seen them living in even bigger homes. "We're not upsizing, just going back to normal," says Dawn. "We've always intended New Plymouth would be our base."
