This page gives you a little walk through of the house in New Zealand I first moved to.

I recently moved out though, so watch this site for pictures of the new place!

From the Outside

It is a three bedroomed villa with a carport (obviously!) and garden, adjacent to the Harbour Bridge in Northcote - a small, pleasant suburb of Auckland.

This Brit thinks it’s a real bargain for the equivalent of just over £100 a week rent, but take a look and decide for yourself...

Did I mention it was at the bottom of its own private driveway?

Not that it’s a busy area anyway, but it’s nice to be set back from the road.

The car you see on the driveway was a rented one, which has now been returned. Now I use the ferry to cross Auckland harbour into town - which is actually quicker! It only takes ten minutes from the ferry port into town.

The ferry port is only five minutes walk away at Fishermans’ Wharf.

So let’s amble round the back and take a look inside…

The landlady tells me that it is her father who is green fingered. I understand he pops round and has a potter from time to time, which is nice.

Certainly think he's done a good job picking the plants...

Plans are underway for a pool to be built in the back garden, but I don't think I'll be doing much in the garden this time!

Round outside the back door is decked so you can sit outside in the sun.

Kitchen

Ok, so into the kitchen.

First thing to say is that it's HUGE!!

Actually, it's more of a kitchen-cum-dining room, really.

But really big, and with nice polished wooden floors.

Hall

On through to the hall…

Another thing that's really nice is the high ceilings.

Gives such an airy feel to the place...

Skullery

 Behind the door at the end of the hall there’s just a bit of a scullery…

Complete with an extraneous washing machine.

Mind you, the dish-washer that's plumbed in in the kitchen is also excess to requirements.

Off to the left at the end of the hall is the master bedroom.

Master Bedroom

Lots of storage space…

And nice and light and airy…

Which should help in getting up for work of a morning!

Oh, nearly forgot the conservatory, through the patio doors in the master bedroom…

Conservatory

Too hot to sit in for me!

Good for drying washing though.

But I digress…

Rowan's Room

Back bedroom – for my dear son Rowan when he comes to stay, with space for a guest at other times too.

Good size again, with built in walk in wardrobe…

Bonus - a bed in the larks for the young ’un!

And from the crow’s nest!

Moving on...

Study

Quite a dark little room, but I do like the polished wooden floor and green though…

And that’s about it for downstairs.

Ready to ascend?

Bathroom

Oops! Nearly forgot the obligatory toilet and bathroom…

Recently refitted quite nicely thank you very much!

The bath turned out to be a bit of a bonus, as it's a spa bath that massages you with jets of water after a hard day on the beach!

And that really is it this time for the ground floor!

So you’ve had the starter –

Now for the main course!

The upstairs really sold the place for me...

Upstairs

Firstly, a nice bit of ‘rumpus room’.

And the lounge space, hinting at the joys to come.

Views

Check out the views from the window!!!!!!!

Takapuna, with the volcanic island of Rangitoto in the background…

Moving round to Devonport, with the boats docked at the foot of the garden.

Then the famous Auckland harbour...

This is where the America Cup (a worldwide sailing competition) concludes. It will surely be a joy to watch that from the window!

And, wait for it, wait for it – Auckland city...

With the tallest building in the Southern hemisphere - the Sky Tower - dominating the view (it is approximately 1.8 times as big as Canary Wharf - the tallest building in Britain).

Stunning. No?

Picture postcard material in my book!

How about at night…

Mmmmm…. Scrumptious!

There the Sky Tower is pictured blue and red, but its coloured lights change weekly.

At New Year the Sky Tower was alight with fireworks from every side, so it was a pleasure to have a front row seat for that one!

Views either side of the property aren’t bad either.

Neighbours

Must say I do like the look of my neighbour John’s villa.

And there are apartments on the other side…

Garden

Oh and of course there’s the garden too…

Unfortunately you can't see it all in these pictures, but the minimum size for a property in New Zealand is a quarter of an acre.

We're told that there's shared steps at the bottom of the garden down to some boat moorings at the foot of the cliffs, but I've yet to explore…

Nice to know I'll have somewhere to moor a boat if I ever get rich enough to get one!

And isn't it nice to have this sort of view at the foot of your garden…

And that’s about it…