Original subtitles

- I'm on a hunt to help find everyday Kiwis their perfect country house.

Things are a little different out here in the country.

You still have the hustle and bustle.

Your neighbours can sometimes be a bit noisy.

Time moves a little slower.

But you don't get this...

in the city.

Today we're in the wonderful Wanaka with Stu.

Yeah, a lot warmer in here, Stu.

- Yeah, I could finally take my beanie off,

so very happy to be inside.

We've got three homes to explore, but which one is gonna best suit Stu's wishlist?

I understand Cindy hasn't even been down to see it yet.

Well, um, Cindy hasn't been to see it...

- ...but I'm not sure if she trusts me entirely.

- Hey, no spoilers yet. Let's make a start and get Stu into his perfect home in Wanaka.

Today I'm hanging out with Stu, a bundle of energy, here in the beautiful Wanaka.

Stu has completely fallen head over heels for this area,

so today it's my mission to help track him down a lock-and-leave

that suits both him and his whole family.

They're after a low-maintenance, contemporary design

with a fenced section for their beloved pooch, Roxy,

and most importantly, a wood burner, a must-have here in one of Aotearoa's most popular winter getaway spots.

- The reason for Wanaka is, you know, we're a skiing family, so that's the main reason.

But for me, I'm gonna enjoy my time down here in the summer.

You know, there's golf, there's jet boating, there's fly-fishing,

there's mountain biking. So, yeah, I'm really excited

and looking forward to spending a bit more time down here.

We've done a little bit of research and, obviously, to get something

quite new, you're gonna be somewhere in the 1.2 to 1.5 range, I think.

There's a fair bit of pressure on Wanaka, so, you know, we'll see how 1.2, 1.3, 1.5 goes.

- Wanaka is located just over an hour's drive from Queenstown

and is a lively town with a carefree spirit.

For adventure seekers, you can go skydiving, canyoning, climbing or mountaineering.

And in winter, the area is a vibrant centre for skiers and snowboarders,

with a variety of ski areas just a short drive from the town.

Let's get started with our first property, which is a move-in-ready option.

- How are you, Matt? - Kia ora, Stu. How are you going? - Very well, very well.

Nice to meet you. - Welcome to Wanaka. Although, it's not really welcome to Wanaka.

You've been here a lot over the years, haven't you? - I have, and normally the weather

is a lot better than this...

- ...but this is the famous inversion layer they talk about. - Right.

So you've got an interesting story, Stu ― 20 years working, living in Asia.

When you moved back, the North Island has been home for a while. - Yes, yep.

- So whereabouts did you settle? - Settled on Cambridge.

We didn't wanna go into a big city because, you know,

get up with all the traffic and all those issues, and I didn't need to work,

so we decided on Cambridge because it was central... - Yep.

- ...and we've been coming here, you know, for the last four years

since we've been home, doing a lot of skiing. I do a lot of mountain biking.

So we decided, look, you know, instead of forcing each other into a box,

let's look to something in Wanaka to buy, and we can kind of live between two places. So that's the plan...

- That's the plan, yeah? - ...and we'll see how it goes.

- This is an interesting one as well, because,

obviously, you're talking about Cindy, your wife quite a lot. - Yeah.

- She's not here today. - Yeah.

- And she probably won't be here all that often or maybe not as much as you ― is that the plan?

- So, look, I love Wanaka cos I like my golf, I like my jet boating, I like my fly-fishing,

I like my mountain biking, and as a family, we ski.

So at the moment we're sort of thinking,

'Well, I'll come down in the summer and do all those things'... - Yep.

- ...and then the family and Cindy will join us over the winter period.

- Right. Well, that brings us to our first home, Stu, that I've got for you today.

I'm gonna have to put a jacket on.

We're gonna get inside really soon. I'll just quickly tell you about it ―

three bedrooms, two bathrooms. - Yep.

- It's a really modern home, as you can see.

- It's gonna be really nice and warm in there with the wood burner. - Yep.

- You've already seen the garage. That will fit a small boat. - Yep. No, that'll be fine.

- All right, well, should we get out of this cold, Stu? - Yeah, I need to put a jacketon.

I'm not well dressed for this. - All right, come on in.

- Oh yeah, a lot warmer in here, Stu. - Oh, it's very nice.

- Obviously, that burner is doing a great job of warming the space.

No heat pump on at the moment, just the wood burner.

- Yeah, I could finally take my beanie off,

so very happy to be inside.

So you've got a nice little lounge here with a big window,

lots of natural light flowing into the space, high ceilings as well. - Yep.

- So while it's not the hugest home, it does have a sense of space once you walk inside.

- Yeah, and high ceilings is really important to Cindy.

I mean, every house she'll go into, she'll talk about the ceiling height ―

and I like this. It sort of elevates itself away.

- Now, you probably don't believe me, but there is a view of the mountain ― obviously today, not thebest view.

But just when you're standing in front of the fireplace

warming your hands after you've come off the ski slopes, you'll be able to turn around

and look at that mountain view covered in snow.

- Yeah, look, I'm familiar with Wanaka. I know there's a beautiful mountain view up there...

- Yeah. - ...when the inversion layer's not around,

so, no, I think that'll work really well, Matt. - Brilliant.

OK, well, should we just have a quick look at the kitchen over this way?

All right, Stu. Great modern kitchen, this one ― stainless steel benchtops.

That's wallpaper slate, the splashback over there.

- Yeah, look, honestly, it was one of the first things I saw when I walked in.

It really does just make a huge impact on you. - Yeah.

- What I love is the stainless steel bench, you know ― easy clean, sleek lines, low maintenance;

and the other thing, you know, we do a lot of impromptu entertaining,

and this would just be ideal to sit around with friends having a wine after skiing,

so it would work perfectly for us, I think.

- I can definitely see that working really nicely in a space like this.

You're gonna love the bedroom. Come and take a look.

Oh, Stu, I could have stayed in there for hours.

The underfloor heating in that bathroom ― how good's that?

- It was magic, and I think that was one of my requirements, so I'm very happy with that.

- I can understand why that's a requirement here. That would be beautiful on a cold day.

The bedroom itself, lots of light coming in through this big ranch slider.

- Yeah, no, it's fantastic. I like it, lots of space.

- I like that it's got its own private deck off the main bedroom as well ― nice big deck, thatone.

Should we go through and take advantage of the indoor-outdoor flow? - Yeah. I think fantastic.

I mean, it's a good-sized deck too, really like it. - Definitely.

So, Stu, you got yourself a big enclosed backyard, fully fenced, so that's a win for the dog,right?

- Really good. - Yeah. - That's important.

- And obviously from the deck that flows from the bedroom,

you come around here and see this great entertaining space straight off the kitchen ―

sunshine and summer coming, blasting down all afternoon long,

that's a great place for you and your mates to hang out.

- Look, from a family perspective, you know, when you've got two big teenagers

and their friends thumping around, you know, maybe a second living area would have been great,

but all in all, pretty good.

- What do you think this place would be on the market for? - 1.2...

to 1.25?

- Around that mark, maybe slightly higher. - OK.

- So, 1.3 is the ballpark that we're looking at.

- OK, yeah, so I wasn't too far off. - Yeah, exactly.

- Cost of the house at about 1.3 million was really good. I mean, it ticks all the boxes forus,

and given the cost of real estate in Wanaka, I think it's pretty reasonable.

- So I've done pretty well for the first one?

- Tell you what, Matt, you've actually done pretty well. I'm quite impressed.

- Great, I like that. Let's head off to house number two. - Yeah.

See if I can impress you again.

- Coming up ― we tour our second house, with a backyard that doesn't need much maintenance.

- I've looked around. That looks like the only lawn out there.

It's about the size of a big handkerchief,

- so, yeah, there'd be no problem to keep this one maintained. - Yeah.

- I'm in Wanaka with Stu on the hunt for a lifestyle property.

The first house was move-in ready with a beautiful outdoor space,

but I've got a feeling the second option ticks a lot of his boxes ― but let's see what Stu thinks.

- All righty, Stu. It's not getting any warmer today, is it? - It's freezing.

- But, here we are ― house number two, this one brand new.

So you'd be the first owner of this. - Yep.

- Three bedrooms, two bathrooms... - Yep.

- ...all of those things that you're really looking for, I think this place ticks.

But I really like the look of this place. It's a really modern look.

So you got the cedar cladding and a really cool curved design,

which is kind of repeated through the home in a few different nice... - OK.

- ...interesting ways. - It's great kerb appeal. I mean, I'm interested in the colour.

I haven't seen a colour like that before, but it's really nice.

It looks like there's room for the boat, there's a double garage,

so that would solve that problem. - Yep.

- Yeah, so looking good. - Cool.

Well, again, it's too cold to be standing outside a house. - I agree.

Let's get inside.

- OK. Welcome in, Stu.

One thing I quite liked about that entranceway down the hallway,

that cedar has been continued with the―

I think you call that a freeze on the wall near the ceiling. - Yeah. I'll go with that, Matt.

- I'm gonna go with that as well, yeah, quite a nice design,

again, that curved theme, which continues throughout the house

in a couple of different areas. - Mm-hm.

- On the ceiling and the kitchen, you've got that curve as well.

- Yep. Love the kitchen, very contemporary.

I like the contrast, you know, the light and the dark,

and I do like the way they've carried on that curvature through there. It's very impressive.

The curves in that, while I think they were pretty cool,

I'm not sure if that is our style, to be honest,

but, you know, that doesn't detract from how good it actually looks.

- In terms of entertaining, obviously, you like to have friends around,

you've got the family staying as well, how would this space work for you?

- Look, I think it'd work really well. I'm just a bit worried

it might be just a little compact for the family and when we've got friends over,

but it's not a deal breaker ― at all. - Yep.

And in terms of the lock-and-leave, again, this one would be fairly simple.

You'd walk out, you'd be done, lock it up,

come back in a couple of months, and it'll still be exactly the same. - Absolutely.

I've looked around. That looks like the only lawn out there.

- It's about the size of a big handkerchief... - Yeah.

- ...so there'd be no problem to keep this one maintained.

- Excellent. Well, should we take a look at the rest of the house? - Yeah, good idea.

- Right, so the main bedroom ― good spacious bedroom.

There's that curved theme coming through again. - Yeah.

- You've got the walk-in wardrobe and a really nice bathroom.

The bathrooms here in general have been really nicely done... - Yep.

- ...floor-to-ceiling tiles, again, that contrasting light and dark... - Yep.

- ...great light fittings. - Oh, look, I think that one is fantastic.

I like the way they've carried the tile theme through. They've changed the tile, but it looks great.

Fish scales there, which goes with the fishing theme, which is quite good.

- Yeah. You're a fisherman, yeah? - Oh well, I try it, I dabble.

But look, I think one of the other important things, it's got two sinks ―

I think you call them Jack and Jill's. - Jack and Jill's, yeah ―

or in this case, Stu and Cindy's, I suppose.

- Yeah, well, in that case, because, you know, Cindy will claim

that I make a bit of a mess in the bathroom, so she'll be pretty happy to have two sinks.

- Gets her own sink. - Yeah. She gets her own sink. - Nice.

If you were living here, would this be big enough for you? Would it be the right sort of setup?

How do you feel about the bedroom? - Look, I think there's a lot of space.

I think that's a queen-size bed. There's a lot of room on each side, love the walk-in wardrobe.

I mean, that's something that is really useful. - Mm-hm.

- You know, neighbours are maybe a little bit close, but, you know,

again, like with the kitchen, not a deal breaker. - For sure.

Yeah, you do have that ranch slider out on to the patio there.

One thing to keep in mind, that's Griselinia growing there, if I'm not mistaken,

which is gonna get nice and big and bushy.

It will give you more privacy over the years. - Yep.

- So further down the track, it could be sorted out.

- Yeah, look, and clearly the Griselinias grow like triffids,

so it wouldn't be a great amount of time before it blocks it off,

and the privacy would come, so yeah. - Exactly.

There you go, Stu. There's that curved theme coming back in around the back of the house.

So 507m2 section ― not huge... - Yep.

- ...but when you're thinking of it being a lock-and-leave,

you're only gonna be here a few months of the year, how does that work for you?

- It works well, actually. I don't want a big section.

We don't wanna end up with the sort of burden of having to look after it.

- Yeah. - Lock up and leave, low-maintenance, so, perfect.

- Right. What's your dog's name again? - Roxy.

- Roxy. How would Roxy go here? - Yeah, look, there is a lack of fencing.

Obviously, that would be an issue, but, you know, nothing that we couldn't fix

if we decided on the house. - Not a deal breaker. - Not a deal breaker.

- OK, so, what might be a deal breaker ― the price. What do you reckon?

- Look, given it's a brand-new, high-end finish, it's in a really new sort of upmark...

upmarket suburb, I'm gonna say 1.4.

- You're pretty close. Yeah, just below that.

So it's on the market at the moment for 1.349. So... - OK, so not far out.

- Yeah, you're pretty much bang on.

- I think it's priced pretty fairly. I mean, it is a really high-spec house.

It's finished beautifully. It's in a great area, so I think it was priced pretty well.

- It's a good option, this one. - Look, it's certainly in the...

in the list, because it really is a beautifully finished house... - Yeah.

- ...and I think Cindy would like the high-end finishes and the way

they've kind of got the curve going through. It's quite, quite spectacular.

- Yeah, it's something a bit different, isn't it?

All right. Well, that's two out of three. - Two out of three.

- Let's go finish the job, eh? House number three.

- OK. - Come on out.

Wanaka is a town full of adventure, from skydiving, kayaking, jet boating...

...and a 500m waterfall!

- New Zealand offers an abundance of adventure, but only in Wanaka

can you take on the world's highest cable waterfall climb.

Yasmin, there aren't too many places in the world ― well, in Aotearoa, let alone the world―

that you can come and climb a 500m waterfall, are there?

- Absolutely. We are the only commercially run via ferrata operating at the moment.

So, yeah, if you wanna do this activity, you need to come to us.

- Tell me how high it is again.

- Right to the very top is just under 500 vertical metres

of climbing, so, yeah, it is a lot.

We've got over 2500 rungs...

and over a kilometre's worth of cable that you're travelling along.

500m. How tall is the Sky Tower?

Ah, I don't know. - I think it's tall―

I think that's taller than the Sky Tower. - Is it?

- I think it is. - OK, cool.

Well, yeah, come and do this instead of the Sky Tower. - Exactly.

- So, this style of climbing originated in the Dolomites back in the First World War.

So, Austrian troops, they designed the system ― they put the rungs

into the mountain, and that was the way that they got their troops

up over these big alpine passes. - Yeah.

- So, 'ferrata' comes from 'ferrous', which is iron, and 'via' is the path, or the way,

so 'the iron way' is what that roughly translates into. - Amazing.

And what it means is for people like me, inexperienced climbers,

you get the experience of rock climbing,

but in such a safe and fun way.

- Yeah, absolutely.

We've also got the added benefit of our waterfall is broken up

into three sections, so we've got a beginner, intermediate and advanced level.

I mean, we have children as young as 8,

and the oldest we've taken up is 80. - 80 years old?

- Yep. So, he went right to the very top.

His name was Gary...

- ...and he had chosen to do something adventurous for every birthday,

I think, since 65, so since he retired. - Amazing.

- So, yeah, that was incredible to get him up there.

- Now, when you get to the top, there is an option for how you get down,

which is pretty spectacular, isn't there?

- Yeah, so, if you choose to do our level-three climb, you do get spoilt,

and you do receive a helicopter ride back down to the bottom.

- I mean, in terms of adventure activities, this place is so fantastic,

but just relaxing and enjoying, you know, the stunning scenery as well. - Yeah.

Yeah, there really is everything for anyone.

We've got, you know, world-class mountain biking, hiking, kayaking.

We've got, obviously, the lake.

There's nothing that you can't do in Wanaka.

- And a 500m-high waterfall you can climb to the top of

- and get a helicopter ride down. - And a 500m waterfall.

- I'm getting out of breath just looking at it,

so I think it's best I keep my feet on the ground and meet up with Stu to show him through our final house.

OK, Stu, third and final home of the day.

I know you've already noticed it's a small section,

the smallest of the three today, 300m2... - Yeah.

- ...but it is a great home that packs a lot of punch.

Great location. So, Clutha River just over the hill right there... - Yep.

- ...the outlet boat ramp just up the road.

- Very close. - It'll take you no time at all to launch your boat in the river.

- Straight away you notice the size of the section, but hey,

let's go and have a look inside and see what it looks like. - Let's do that.

Welcome in. So, another open-plan kitchen, dining and living area. - Yep.

- Brand new, really, no one has lived in here.

Obviously, it's unfurnished... - Yes.

- ...so you're gonna have to use your imagination. - Yes.

- Marble splashback in the kitchen. - Yep. - Designer kitchen, again, brand new.

- Funnily enough, this kind of minimalist approach is what Cindy likes.

- Right. - I mean, she likes to declutter and keep things out,

so in terms of overall style, it would work quite well.

- All right. Shall we take a look through the rest of the house?

- Yeah, good idea. - Come on out.

- OK, this would be the main bedroom.

Plenty of room for a king-size bed.

You'd get a California king in here if you really wanted to. - Yeah, I think you would, yeah.

- Your en suite as well. So, simple bedrooms, nothing too fancy. - I think it'll be fine.

It's got good storage, good wardrobe... - Yep.

- ...got the en suite, can't ask for much more.

- Well, again, Stu, looking at a lock-and-leave,

this really is the ultimate in low-maintenance living, really.

You'd be living up in Cambridge for a lot of the year. - Yep.

- Definitely a condensed home, condensed living,

but sometimes, you know, it's not about the size, it's how you use it.

So would your family be able to use a home like this, do you think?

- We could, but it would be more utilitarian as opposed to moving in and enjoying it.

- So what's your idea of what it might be worth?

- Well, again, good area, so I'm gonna say high 8s, low 9s. - Yeah, a little bit higher.

So, looking at around the $1 million mark. - OK.

So initially, I thought the price was quite high.

But, you know, on reflection, when you think about the location close to the river,

close to the boat ramps, quality of the build, you know, $1 million makes more sense.

- Three homes that we've looked at today, hopefully one of them's taken your fancy.

- Few phone calls to Cindy, and we'll try and come up with a decision.

- Great, mate. We'll get back together again soon.

- Awesome. - Cheers.

Well, it's hard to know which option Stu's gonna choose,

but let's give him some time to consult with Cindy,

and hopefully together they can make the right choice.

After giving Stu some time to think, I picked up a couple of hot coffees

and made up again to see which house he ended up going with.

Hey, Stu. - Gidday, Matt. How are ya?

- Good, mate. Flat white, was it? - Yeah, perfect. Good to see ya.

- Yeah, you too. - Yeah.

- Man, we're gonna need these coffees. - I'll tell you what, it's cold.

- It's really cold. - It's quite cold out here.

- Hey, you set me a bit of a challenge last time I saw you ― to find you a lock-and-leave

that was gonna be great for you to live in by yourself for a lot of the months of the year...

- Yeah. - ...but also something the family could enjoy as well.

So remember the first one we looked at, one really good thing about it

was, thinking about Roxy, your dog... - Yep. Yep. - ...fully fenced,

all good to go in terms of, you know... - Yep.

- ...having the dog in the backyard. - Yep, no, that was great,

move-in ready, perfect. - Yeah.

- I like the indoor-outdoor flow and a super modern kitchen, so...

- And that entertaining kitchen as well. - Yeah.

It was perfect for the way we sort of live our lives. Yep. - Yeah.

Then the second property we looked at, really modern, brand new.

You'd be the first person to live in it. - Yep.

- And I just remember the, sort of, curved features going throughout the house.

- Yeah, that place was spectacular. It had great kerb appeal.

I like the way they'd sort of put all the design features through. - Mm.

Fabulous kitchen... - Yeah.

- ...modern, sleek, contemporary.

- Great bathrooms too. - Oh, that master bathroom is fan―

And it had a walk-in wardrobe, which Cindy would love. - Yeah.

Third one was quite small, but again, it packed a punch, had a lot going for it.

- Look, it was small. It was modern, it was clean, it was sleek.

You know, as Cindy always says,

neutral colours means she can put her touch on it. - Yeah, yeah.

- It may be smaller scale, and when the family comes down,

we might be bursting at the seams, but, you know, otherwise, a great property.

- But one of them has taken your fancy, so much so that you're gonna go for one, aren't you?

And I understand Cindy hasn't even been down to see it yet.

Well, um...

- ...Cindy hasn't been to see it, but I'm not sure if she trusts me entirely,

so she did do a walk-through with the real estate agent... - OK.

- ...and he was pretty positive about all of them,

but we've settled on house number one. - Number one.

- Because, important for us, it's move-in ready, lock up the dog,

close to ski field, close to the lake,

and another bonus, Matt, it's about 650m from the sixth hole on the Wanaka golf course.

So, thanks very much, Matt.

- Hey, cheers, Stu. Lovely to meet you, mate.

- Yeah, and we'll maybe get you down next year.

- Yeah, I'll come stay. Cheers, mate. - Cheers.

- Well, I'm happy that Cindy got her say in this country house-hunt.

I wish them and the boys all the very best in wonderful Wanaka.

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