When you enjoy living in an area with so many facilities close by it is important to maintain access to this. At Pakuranga Park Village, we give you exactly that. You’re within close proximity to many of the regions fine attractions which encourages you to continue being part of the community.
Discover the advantages of quickly and easily being able to pop out to your choice of golf courses, four shopping centres, bowling clubs, croquet, Lloyd Elsmore Park, Half Moon Bay Marina, fine beaches, churches, restaurants, garden centres, Howick Historic Village and other attractions.
Your neighbours are there if you need them, but they’re not in your pocket”
Ray’s passion for model railroads started around 30 years ago when he lived in Howick. He had a dedicated room in his house where he spent hours assembling train tracks and decorating landscapes. Moving to a retirement village was not going to put a stop to his devotion. Ray installed a folding table in the garage of his villa at Pakuranga Park, where he built a new railroad from scratch.
“The railroad doesn’t get a lot of running nowadays. The bit I enjoy the most is the making of things. I like pottering around and building things, also repairing them.” Ray is always ready to help his neighbours at the village if they need assistance fixing small appliances or if their car battery suddenly dies. Him and his wife moved to Pakuranga Park three years ago and they couldn’t be happier with their decision. “This is the only village that has streets that you can find in a New Zealand road map!”, he says excitedly. He enjoys the social side of a retirement village and one of his favourite activities is croquet. “Your neighbours are there if you need them, but they’re not in your pocket.”
Ray and his wife are the best example that retirement doesn’t have to be boring. They have a batch and a campervan, and before Covid they used to travel to Scotland every year to spend a few weeks with their son and his family.
Janet Wooldridge
Resident at Pakuranga Park
The villa is big enough to include our business”
Janet has been working as an embroidery designer for more than 60 years, and although she's officially retired, she still does some freelance work. When Janet and her husband Tony decided to move to a retirement village seven years ago, it was very important for them to be able to bring their work machinery along. “We had visited every village in Auckland. A friend of mine invited us for coffee at Pakuranga Park, and we had a look at this villa. We realised that it was big enough to include a business, so we signed the following day.”
Janet is a very social person who thrives in a retirement village like Pakuranga Park, with plenty of activities and social gatherings to choose from. “My son says that I need to live up to 200 years, otherwise I won’t fit everything in.”
Janet is currently sketching the drawings for a children’s book inspired by one of her grandchildren. Illustration is the latest interest of a gifted career that started more than 60 years ago, when Janet finished her studies at the Foley College of Fine Arts and Design in London. Janet ran the design studio for Lawrie Embroidery for 12 years. After that, she and Tony decided to open their own business, creating both corporate and fashion and bridal designs. Janet is very passionate about her side of the business, specially the wedding designs. She's worked with some of the most famous fashion designers in New Zealand.
Bradley Castle
Operations at Pakuranga Park
You hear so many interesting stories”
Cooking is Bradley Castle’s career and lifetime passion. He comes from a family of chefs, so he began cooking when he was ten. In 2002 he moved to New Zealand from South Africa, where he was working in a massive entertainment complex with two championship golf courses and a crocodile farm. “I was supposed to go to Ireland, but my sister lived in New Zealand and told me not to go to Ireland, because it’s too cold.”
He doesn’t regret his decision because New Zealand allowed him to expand his career with his first job in the aged care sector. He started working for Pakuranga Park five years ago, in an experience that he defines as “eye-opening”: “Our residents are old in the sense that they’re retired but not in the other senses: They have freedom, friends, chat groups, play groups, bowls, they’re well-travelled, educated, you hear so many interesting stories”.
He cooks the regular meals for the serviced apartments, and also caters for special occasions such as the Pink Ribbon Breakfast or the Huntsman dinners, when he can spice up his recipes with extra taste and creativity. The Huntsman tickets always sell hours after the reservations open.
Bradley Castle considers himself lucky to have a very efficient team with two other chefs and several kitchen assistants. He also gets immense satisfaction from talking and getting to know the village’s residents. “We become their friends and their family knows us by name”.
Margaret Maggs
Resident at Pakuranga Park
The houses are so lovely and warm”
Margaret Maggs moved to Pakuranga Park over 18 years ago after visiting quite a few villages around Auckland: “We decided to move here because we loved the houses, made out of brick, so lovely and warm, and because we could have a bit of ground”. Margaret worked in the catering industry all her life and was a member of the New Zealand Cake Decorators with her late husband Des. Retiring didn’t stop her from sharing her talent: Margaret is always cooking and baking cakes for her friends at the village or for charity, including a yearly cake for Daddofil Day with the Cancer Society.
Margaret’s talent with the icing is outstanding and she can sculpt whatever she can imagine: “I love doing it. I can sit for hours painting and doing those flowers that I do with my hands.”
Margaret’s talent and experience is of course appreciated by her own family. Her nephew Daryl Eason is an internationally recognised champion of the endangered kākāpō. He is well know for raising Sirocco, a very friendly kākāpō who has become New Zealand’s "Official Spokesbird for Conservation".
Daryl took his auntie to Codfish Island once to be part of his conservationist team. This Fiorland island holds the majority of the breeding population of this critically endangered bird. Margaret spent two weeks being the lead cook for Daryl’s team in what she remembers as one of the most exciting experiences in her life. They had to celebrate a couple of birthdays during her stay, and of course Margaret was the designated cake baker!
Daphne Ellwood
Resident at Pakuranga Park
I love the spaciousness and airiness”
Music and art run through Daphne’s life. Her first performance was at a Sunday school function, where the minister asked for someone to sing “Jesus wants me as a sunbeam” and up popped five-year-old Daphne. That performance heralded a career across radio, television, stage shows, recitals and competitions. She holds her ATCL, LTCL and FTCL, teaching voice and piano for over 40 years.
She took up painting after she came into Pakuranga Park in 1999. “I mostly do it for the family, but I have sold some.”
“My first impression of the village was that it looked as if I was driving into a park. I love the spaciousness and airiness. You can see your neighbours but you are not on top of them, and we look out for each other.”
“My sons chose Pakuranga Park for me”, she says, “It was the best thing ever. I can babysit, bring music into my grand children’s lives and watch them grow up.”
Joan Gilchrist
Resident at Pakuranga Park
Village living expanded my social circle.”
With her family all in Scotland, Joan Gilchrist knew that she had to make plans for the future. Pakuranga Park was ideal, close to everything familiar, and it offered independent villas.
“Apartment living would have driven me insane – I need the spaciousness the village offers.”
Joan’s had a busy career mostly in journalism, which was also combined with time in sponsorship, event management, PR, managing a shopping centre – which took her all over the country and overseas. This included covering equestrian events at five Olympics and writing two books with TV cook and author Allyson Gofton. “It was only after I retired properly in my mid-70s, that I realised how isolated I was in a back-section, with all the neighbours at work and my friends scattered around the country and overseas.
“Village life has brought a much-expanded social circle, new friends and lots of activities. Plus there’s the security of the community – and I was able to bring my dog.”
Lani Poetzscher
Nurse at Pakuranga Park
Aged care is a real passion for me”
Lani Poetzscher is a new addition to the nursing team and has quickly found her feet - enjoying her new job, with both staff and residents being super friendly and helpful.
An Aucklander of Polynesian heritage, family looms large in her life, and she’s travelled in the USA and Europe visiting relatives. Lani studied at AUT and Auckland University, gaining her Bachelor’s degree and completing post-graduate studies.
Aged care has always been her passion and she has been in the industry for “quite a long time”.
“It is true that aged care is hard, and you have to have a passion for it because it is like a family and it is long term. I try to ensure that my patients maintain their independence as far as possible and have a good life. I have a good sense of humour and I use it to connect with the residents.”
Kate Wynn
Sales Manager at Pakuranga Park
I've never worked in a place like it”
Originally from Canterbury, Kate comes from a tourism and airline background, and a stint with the US Antarctic programme. Since marrying Steve and having three children, she’s juggled work to suit family life, including some time in real estate.
She was attracted to Pakuranga Park by the opportunity to work with older people. “I had an amazing relationship with my grandparents, and I guess that developed a sense of helping people. The village is part of something special. I get a lot of joy from finding residents a place where they are part of a community and can enjoy life”.
“When I’m in the buggy, everyone waves and calls out. I walked through the gentle exercise class the other day with clients, and the residents are all waving and saying, “Come and join us, this is the best village.” It’s so important as they’re coming through the village that they get the true essence of it.”
“As for the team, we are focussed and get the job done, but we have a lot of fun on the way.”
Location
Connected to the community.
Discover the advantages of easily being able to pop out to your choice of three golf courses, four shopping centres, bowling clubs, croquet, Lloyd Elsmore Park, Half Moon Bay Marina, beaches, churches, restaurants, garden centres, Howick Historic Village and other attractions.
The “Maltese Falcon” directed by our own resident Laurie Mills
Don’t miss out the new production of Howick Little Theatre, “The Maltese Falcon”, starting the 9th of July. The show’s director is one of our talented residents at Pakuranga Park Village, Laurie Mills, who has directed more than 20 plays during his life.
Happy Matariki from Real Living!
Our villages have been celebrating the Maori New Year strengthening the bond with the local community.
Pakuranga Park residents were thrilled to have the visit of some very special guests, the students of St Mark’s Catholic school and Pakuranga College.
