Being tucked away from the world, yet near to all the amenities, is one of the things a Dairy Flat family have loved about the home they built on a lifestyle block only 10 minutes from Albany village.
Another is all the exploring available to the two children, right onthe doorstep.
Everyone was excited to find one night all the eyes looking at them in one of the stands of native trees were glow worms, says mum Yolanda.
She, Daniel, 13, and Charlize, 10, are sad and excited to be leaving.
They are heading up north but have spent 11 happy years building huts and looking for fish, as the property also has some little streams and a waterfall, and natural ponds which are great for animals.
Yolanda says she especially likes coming home from the hustle and bustle and sitting back and relaxing. "You come away from the shops and everything else and you come here and it's relaxing, peaceful, quiet.
"You sit here and you look to your left and you look to the right. As my boy says, 'Everything the sun touches is yours'.
"It's great, you walk up to the top of the hill and you look out over all of Dairy Flat as well."
They had looked everywhere for the right place but couldn't find the house they had in mind. When they came here, Yolanda fell for the character of the land -- all 15.44 hectares (38 acres) of it.
There were flat areas, hilly areas and blocks of native bush, plus there was a tennis club, school and a country scene happening nearby.
"It was just central to everything."
Orewa, Silverdale, Albany, Browns Bay and the east coast beaches are all handy, and Wellsford to the north.
"I think that's what appealed to me, that you could go these different ways. You're not restricted to one area. And yet it's so private and tucked away. It felt right. It's got that lovely feel about it.
Image 1 of 6: 'Everything the sun touches is yours' on this rural property.
"We've got quite a lot of wildlife here as well, you know, like we could be sitting inside and you'd see wild deer coming past and, because we were inside, they don't react. You see them out there and it's like wow, it's so cool. We've had them on the concrete pad just outside the door."
They also have pheasants, quail and other birdlife you don't see in the city, she says.
Dairy Flat School has a traditional agricultural day so the children take their animals along. "They've raised chickens and sheep, their own little pet lambs, and goats, and this year they've got a baby calf they have to feed and take for walks."
When they built, Linea weatherboards were chosen for the cladding because Yolanda likes the weatherboard look, and inside there are wood-look floors, all with underfloor heating.
The floors have been fantastic with children growing up in a rural environment because they are so easy to clean, she says.
The house is open plan with a nice flow, which works well for a family, with a children's wing and an adult wing.
The children's wing has a large bedroom plumbed for an en suite, and the adult wing has a separate lounge area.
Around the house, concrete has been cut to look like tiles, which Yolanda says has been great because it is so easy to look after.
Everyone is looking forward to the new adventure up north, but Yolanda says she would like to be a snail so she could put the house on her back and take it with her.
