News from Waiwera

Welcome to Waiwera, it is great you have chosen to stay here at the villas or the cottages. Winter is about slowing down, relaxing, reading, indulging, and keeping warm and we hope your Waiwera break here will do just that for you. As I write this on the Tuesday after Queen’s Birthday weekend the sun is pouring into the office. There is a chill now in the air when we walk in the mornings at first light. It is a good little walk, about 3kms, through Waiwera Place, along the waterfront path, down The Strand, over the reserve to the sand hill along the northwestern edge of the river and back through Waiwera Road past the Infinity Pools. Takes us about 25 minutes and just to catch the sunrise is a wonderful start to any day.
I took a moment to look back on the newsletters I have written. I started sometime in 2004, that is a surprise to me, we were in the depths of development here. In May 2005, Grant Dobbyn Builders were back at Coach Trail and with great excitement for our village Waiwera Stage One Hotel development was outlined at the residents and ratepayers AGM. Four years on and still no progress. In May 2006, the first open day was held for the now finished Toll Road.

In May 2007, Cole our four year old neighbour made a trip with his Mum, Dad and little sister in a campervan to New Plymouth, Taupo and Rotorua. He told me his story for the newsletter, it has to be my favourite read. We miss Cole’s visits.
In May 2008, we joined 3000 others in another Toll Road open day.
In each of the previous May news letters fishing was always great. Unfortunately it was not so this year though twice on our walks we watched a local man clear his net of an interesting catch, snapper, a John Dory and a flounder just off the boat ramp in the bay.
Featured Villas for June
Ambiente is a neat little ground floor villa especially good for couples. Estuary views, compact kitchen with smart tiling, a queen bed, and cost are $130 a night. The owner has a special offer for June: stay three nights and get the fourth night free.
Apartment Cloud 9 is quite special with a fireplace and huge chandelier, three bedrooms and fantastic views out to Coromandel. On three levels, it is bright and contemporary with cream carpet and white kitchen appliances. Cloud 9 is available for long stays at a very good rate so please enquire.
First time guests may not know that Coach Trail Villas has seventeen freehold unit titles and twelve owners. Subdivision took place over three years in three stages with the last renovations finished in 2005.
At the same time the first high rise building in Orewa The Nautilus Apartments was built, so it was with surprise we read New Zealand Herald headlines a few days ago that each owner in the 152 unit complex has a bill for $133,000 to rectify the leaky homes problem. Failure of the exterior cladding is the cause. The exterior finish on Coach Trail is concrete plaster over blocks.
Recipe of the month
Back in the late 1970s Carrick and his close friend John owned a yacht in which our two families enjoyed sailing the Hauraki Gulf. Jenny always made a wonderful loaf, called Five Cup Loaf and that’s this months recipe
Five Cup Loaf
1 cup milk
1 cup self rising flour
1 cup sugar (I use only 1/3 cup soft brown sugar)
2 cups of any of the following sultanas, dried apricots, apples, currants, mixed fruit, coconut, fresh cubed apple, nuts
I add 1 teaspoon each ground cinnamon and nutmeg
Mix all ingredients together and pour into a loaf tin. Cook at 180c for 40 minutes.
We recommend
*A rolled hokey pokey ice cream from Harry’s dairy opposite the Coach Trail Villas.
*A Speights Gold and a bowl of fries from Woodys round 5.30pm any day
*A lunch at Heron’s Flight Restaurant in Matakana and purchase their superb grape juice.
Oliver News
Carrick and I are baby sitting eleven month old Honour Rose while Michelle and Stephan are in Egypt and Singapore for two and a half weeks. We are having a wonderful time with her, fascinated by her developing personality and ooing and aring as she takes her first steps, there are not too many bruises though the arnica cream is ready.

This is one of Honour’s funny looks:

Jeanie has started back at the Mahurangi Tech in Warkworth and has her sister in law Cynthia looking after five month old Morley.



Morley is so keen to crawl but can manage to move just one arm.
Justin and Cynthia are having a break in one of the beach cottages while Justin paints the house bus and after that it will moved to a piece of land they’re leasing.
Thanks for staying
Our best wishes to you all
Margaret and Carrick

I almost forgot to say all ten chickens are doing very well thank you.