When the wedding bells tolled around Pakuranga Park
Bob and Cornelia met back in 2017 at a Caravan club event, but their love story didn’t begin until 2020 at the same time that the Covid pandemic was unfolding around the world. “Back then Cornelia was living with her son and her daughter-in-law who was working at the airport, so the situation of coming into contact with Covid was a bit worrying for them” – explains Bob – “At that point as we were already dating, I suggested she could move into my villa to be safe. Our relationship naturally progressed from there.”
Cornelia adapted very quickly to the village and she’s very happy living at Pakuranga Park. So much so, that when the couple decided to get married, they picked the village’s community centre for the reception. Cornelia is very pleased with how their big day went: “It had been raining all week, but our wedding day was a sunny one. We had 90 guests because we both have big families, and we had people coming from out of Auckland, including South Africa and Perth. Everything worked out so well. We had a fantastic time, and the food prepared by Chris and Kylie was superb.”
Bob is one of Pakuranga Park’s most involved residents since he moved to the village with his late wife in 2011. Initially for them, a retirement village was the last thing on their mind: “I had seen some retirement villages before and they all looked the same to me, all crammed together with no space around the villas. My late wife used to come to Pakuranga Park to visit and help some friends many years earlier, so we decided to come and have a look around. I immediately realised this village was different, it was so spacious, it reminded me of a little English village… and before we knew it, we were in the village!”
Bob has been a member of both the Residents Committee and the Social Committee, but now is only on the Social Committee. Amongst other things in the Village, both Bob and Cornelia organise the village movies and they love being part of the social events. If you ask them what’s their favourite bit of living in Pakuranga Park, they both agree: “They keep you so busy!” – says Cornelia – “My family are always amazed at how busy I am now that I’m retired. But there’s always something going on here, and we really enjoy that!”
After the wedding, Bob and Cornelia went on a seven week honeymoon in their Motorhome around the South Island. Bob had seen the South Island many times before, but he wanted to show the marvels of the region to Cornelia, who is originally from South Africa. They both love the caravanning lifestyle, and they were very lucky with the warm and sunny weather during their trip. “We don’t usually travel along the main roads, we pick the side roads because they are quieter and with the beautiful scenery it means we can travel slower and explore at leisure.” Since they’re both retired and live in a lock-up-and leave property at Pakuranga Park, there was absolutely no need to rush back…
