“The sea is in my blood,” says Pat. “My father was a master mariner; my grandfather was the Harbour Master of New Plymouth. I’ve always needed to be near the water.” Her parents met in London, her father a New Zealander, her mother English, and after the war the young family sailed to Auckland where she’s stayed near the harbour ever since. “I’ve lived on the Shore all my life,” Pat smiles. “Takapuna, Devonport, the East Coast Bays… walking to the beach was just what you did – we didn’t have a car back then.”
There’s a lifetime of salt air in her stories. In her fifties, Pat took up sailing with friends in a Tracker Association fleet, harbour races, weekends cruising the Gulf, quiet bays where theirs was the only boat. “We’re so lucky here,” she says. “So many islands, so many anchorages. It’s a beautiful way to live.”
Pat married in the early 1960s and raised a son and daughter. Life then was simple and home-grown: road trips in old cars, parties in lounge rooms, shows at the Civic, His Majesty’s, and The Mercury – a place as much a part of Auckland’s story as it was of Pat’s. “My husband wasn’t into shows, but I was,” she laughs. “Opera, Gilbert & Sullivan, concerts at the Town Hall, I loved them all.” That love remains; living at Waterford keeps performances and friends close.
Her working life was shaped by purpose. Pat taught in primary schools for 44 years, including 33 at Birkenhead, where she became assistant principal. “The best part now is meeting parents and hearing what those children, now adults, have done,” she says. “Trades, businesses, academia, it’s all wonderful. Somewhere along the way I helped teach them to read and write.” After retiring, she continued tutoring one-to-one, including migrant families, until recently.
After decades in a two-storey home with a large garden, Pat began to rethink “home.” Rates, maintenance and insurance kept creeping up. “I realised I was really living downstairs,” she says. “Which isn’t so different from an apartment.” She knew her priorities: stay by the sea, stay local, and choose a smaller, friendly community.
Waterford checked every box. “I had a choice of apartments when I came to look,” she recalls. “When my family visited they said it felt like a five-star hotel.” She chose one facing the upper Waitematā, shimmering water by day, sunsets at night. She furnished it from scratch, lighter, modern pieces to fit the space. “It was exciting to start fresh.”
Settling in, Pat embraced village life. On her first Friday she braved the fish-and-chip night, a standing date that fills the lounge with chatter. “I asked a neighbour if I could come with her,” she says. “She introduced me to a whole group. Immediately there were familiar faces next time.” Today she’s secretary of the Residents’ Association and on the roster for the village bar, “a great way to learn names,” serving Wednesday tipples and Friday glasses alongside dinner.
Her week blends life in and out of the village. Mondays it’s Zumba; Wednesdays deep-water jogging at the Millennium Pool with friends; Fridays the on-site balance and strength class. The Waterford pool, gym, hairdresser and podiatrist are there when she wants them, but she loves that the village opens outward. “I can walk to the ferry, cafes and boardwalks. Everything is beautifully kept. It’s the best of both worlds.” She still heads to shows with friends and loves that everything she enjoyed before is reachable.
Pat credits her positive outlook to her family. “Attitude,” she says simply. They remain an anchor, and Pat is grateful for their support. “My children thought moving here was a wonderful idea,” she says. “When they came to visit, they couldn’t believe it. They said it felt like a resort.” Her wider family are close-knit too. Pat is one of three sisters and together they share outings, theatre visits and traditions. Her mother lived independently to 104, a fact that leaves Pat proud and pragmatic. “I didn’t want to place a burden of care on my family,” she says. “Moving here was my decision, my way of staying independent, supported and connected.”
Then she offers the line that sums up why Waterford feels like the right choice at the right time: “As I sit on my balcony with a cup of tea, looking at the shimmering upper Waitematā Harbour, or in the evening with a glass of wine, watching the sunset reflect on the water, I’m reminded of why I chose Waterford. This is home.”
