Live. Work. Play. Find your ultimate work-life balance on The Coromandel. Opportunity Coromandel www.opportunitycoromandel.co.nz Fletcher Bay Port Jackson Stony Bay M O E H Fantail Bay A U R PORT CHARLES A N G E AUCKLAND TAURANGA COLVILLE HAMILTON ROTORUA Papa Aroha Kuaotunu Long Bay Whangapoua Matarangi COROMANDEL TOWN 25 Te Kouma WHITIANGA Manaia Flaxmill Bay Cooks Beach HAHEI C O R O Hot Water Beach Waikawau M 25 A COROGLEN N D WHENUAKITE E L 25 R TAPU A N G E TE PURU TAIRUA Kauaeranga Valley PAUANUI DOC HIKUAI Tararu Info Centre Broken Hills F THAMES OPOUTERE Wentworth F Valley WHANGAMATA 25 2 Waikino WAIHI Mackaytown 2 Tirohia KARANGAHAKE GORGE Waitawheta Athenree Kaimai Forest Park TE AROHA To Hamilton To Rotorua 80km To Tauranga 70km f you are seeking more time for the people and Ithings you love and less time spent in traffic, then consider a move to the Coromandel. Less than two hours from Auckland, much has changed to connect the Coromandel with the rest of the world. Through continual upgrades to broadband and telecommunications technology, improved road access and infrastructure, and a median house price that is lower than the national median, The Coromandel is an affordable and desirable place to live, work and play. Our Council is serious about creating vibrant, strong communities and stimulating economic development. We’re also here to help our business sector however we can, so contact us with your new idea, business venture or expansion plans; we’re here to help. At TCDC, contact: Garry Towler Economic Development Activity Manager Email: [email protected] Phone 07 868 0200 www.tcdc.govt.nz 3 Good energy in Kuaotunu With a shared passion for creative design and renewable energy, Tara King and James Winter have been able to build an architecturally- designed, solar powered home in rural Coromandel. “We have a wonderful lifestyle with all the modern necessities of life, standard appliances such as dish washer, washing machines, a home theatre room and surround- sound throughout most of the house, although everything runs Off-Grid through a photovoltaic (solar) system,” says Tara, who also works as a consultant for an interiors company in Whitianga. Tara spent a decade between the US and the UK, working with a Danish fashion company as their wholesale manager before becoming an interior design consultant. James has a background in music and sound technology as well as working in the electric and audio visual industry. After meeting James in London where he operated his electrical business, the couple progressed to purchasing rundown properties in London and transforming them into high-spec property investments. This gave them the financial foundation to move back to the Coromandel, for what they call a more “relaxed and forgiving” lifestyle. “When we left the UK we were determined to build a renewable energy home, on a few acres of land and live the dream on the Coromandel,” says James. “Kuaotunu just ticked all the boxes, as it was absolutely breath-taking, providing 4 a unique lifestyle where we could both work, with the possibilities of building a business.” The couple has lived this more environmentally-friendly lifestyle on their 12-acre property for 6 years and love the freedom of being minutes from the beach, where they spend time with their dogs, and run their businesses from home. When they started building on the Coromandel they were introduced to Good Energy, a local company that designed and installed their 4kW photovoltaic solar system. Two years later the opportunity arose for them to buy the business, which they’ve been running for the past four years. Proving a Coromandel conversion can be modern and clean and green. To find out more go to www.goodenergy.co.nz We’re living the type of life that more people are finding attractive and worthwhile… Tara and James’ sustainable house in Kuaoutunu. www.tcdc.govt.nz 5 Giving it a go Lauren Hailes and Tim Stephens are looking ahead to summer 2015 with 35 staff across three businesses – Café 646 in Whangamata and two street wear stores called Roar, in Whangamata and Whitianga. The businesses were all set up just two years after a fire destroyed the couple’s restaurant The Cove in Hahei, which they bought together. No strangers to giving it a go, Tim quit his 9 to 5 job as a photocopier engineer after returning from a holiday in the mountain town of Chamonix France to become a snowboard instructor in Wanaka, New Zealand. “When I went to Chamonix it was mind blowing – I saw all these people living a dream life in the mountains and I thought ‘how is this life possible?’” It was then that I made the choice to work to live, not live to work.” Tim met a fellow snowboarding instructor in Wanaka who was spending his summers instructing kayaking in Hahei. He followed him there to find work, and met Lauren. “I’d completed a Diploma in Business and Hospitality Management in Dunedin and looked for a restaurant to buy in Dunedin and couldn’t find anything,” she says. In partnership 6 with a school friend who knew of the Coromandel, she bought The Church restaurant in Hahei. She was aged 22: “It probably helped that I was young! I think we didn’t realise how risky it was to buy a business in a place you don’t know anything about. We had a tiny bit of savings and borrowed the rest.” She later sold The Church to start The Cove restaurant. Despite the turmoil of losing this business to fire, they are positive about the future and have plans to open another restaurant in Hahei, buoyed by the support of friends and like-minded people in the community. Photo: Alison Photo: Smith It was then that I made the choice to work to live, not live to work. www.tcdc.govt.nz 7 To suit all tastes Perhaps it was due to the 50 years of legal advice given to clients – or maybe a moment of inspired spontaneity from the hours of diving on the Coromandel. Whatever it was, Alison and Alan Henry had no hesitation leaving a vibrant city life in Grey Lynn, Auckland for a vibrant life among the natural beauty of Cook’s Beach, Mercury Bay. Two hours after the couple stepped into the local real estate office looking to buy, the seller of their current home walked in to list his property. Three days later they’d bought the house, and two weeks after that, their Auckland house was sold. Alan expanded his part-time law practice in Whitianga to 40 hours per week, while Alison finished her role at the Auckland Philharmonia. Was it a good decision to move? “Hell yes!” beams Alan. Their house is situated across the road from the magnificent Shakespeare Reserve, between Cooks Beach and Flaxmill 8 There are many different activities and interests but we choose to make use of the natural environment. Bay and they are self-proclaimed “live-in caretakers of our grandchildren’s bach”. Alan commutes to his Whitianga office via a very short drive to the ferry. “Before moving here we holidayed on our boat and so the experience of being land-based at Cooks Beach was quite new and it was a case of making our way,” says Alison. She did so by volunteering for charities including Kauri 2000 and the Mercury Bay Art Escape, later joining the Mercury Bay Community Board – serving nine years - with three as Chair. Alison’s volunteer work leaves Alan cooking his own dinner occasionally, which is lucky in that he’s particularly good at cooking the fish he catches. City friends often ask if life is too quiet, to which the Henry’s reply: “It’s not. There are many different activities and interests but we choose to make use of the natural environment.” Whitianga has a movie theatre, a thriving arts scene, and the city is less than three hours away. The clear waters of Cooks Beach, on the other hand, are just a few minutes’ walk away, and that’s just how they prefer it. Cooks Beach Inlet. www.tcdc.govt.nz 9 Lonely Bay, just a 10 minute walk from Alison and Alan Henry’s Cooks Beach home. Photo: Alison Photo: Smith 10 Health services on the Coromandel The Coromandel is well-served by healthcare facilities with Thames Hospital operating as a secondary level hospital for the Coromandel Peninsula, Hauraki and Paeroa areas. This modern hospital had a significant upgrading of facilities from 2005 to 2009 including a new clinical centre with 24 hour Emergency Department, radiology and outpatient clinics, and new inpatient ward area for cases requiring more intensive monitoring and treatment. There is also the Thames Birthing Unit, a primary birthing facility for natural, low-risk births under midwifery care. More specialised services are offered through outreach services using Waikato Hospital specialists, or patients are sent to Waikato Hospital, about 1.5 hours away by car. Hauraki / Thames / Coromandel Family Health Team Family Health Teams work in local communities throughout the Coromandel and are made up of professional Dietitians, District nurses, Occupational therapists, Physiotherapists, Public health nurses and Social workers. They provide specialist advice, support, management and care, often visiting people in their home. See www.waikatodhb.health.nz for more. www.tcdc.govt.nz 11 Population of Thames-Coromandel The graph below shows the estimated usual resident population as at 30 June 2013. This is based on Community Board areas. Located on the north-eastern coast of New Zealand’s North Island, about 100 kilometres east of the Auckland CBD, the Thames-Coromandel District is bounded by the Pacific Ocean in the north and east, the Hauraki District in the south, and the Hauraki Gulf in the west.