It's officially ours!

It's been a stressful week with settlement looming but with much relief I can now say the property settled today. Thank goodness! It still doesn't seem real, but no doubt it will sink in rather quickly when we have to start paying for it.

We're planning on going out this weekend with a measuring tape, a bunch of pegs/stakes, some dazzle and our property plan and start marking out where things are going to go. It will be awesome to see if our layout actually works.

Aerial View

Here is an aerial view of the block courtesy of Google Earth. The block is basically a big rectangle, with a sticky-outy bit for the driveway. This makes planning a block layout really easy as we can work with straight lines, and it helps enormously that the block is almost dead flat.

We've already drawn up a property plan showing all fences, the shed site, the (eventual) arena site, the proposed house site and gardens. We had a lot of fun playing with various layouts but are fairly happy with what we've come up with so far. As I type, Chris is busy drawing up the plan on A3 paper with his flash new drawing ruler so he can work out more accurately the amount of fencing we will need.

We have decided we're going to fence with Electrobraid as it is designed primarily for horse safety. After witnessing a horrendous wire fence accident a few years ago, I wanted to do everything possible to have the safest fencing we could. A couple of friends have used it and it looks very smart indeed.

Once we've taken possession of the block, we plan to go out with a can of dazzle, a whole bunch of stakes, some electric tape and a tape measure so we can mark out our layout and see if it works.

Visit to the block

We went out today to visit with the owner (soon to be us!) and have a wander around the block. Here are some photos of today's visit. As you can see the fencing is all done, and the water man is there and has started the bore. Telecom and the power company are due to come next week to lay the power/phone cables up the driveway. Its finally starting to sink in that we have bought a lifestyle block!

photo taken standing at top of what will be the driveway

looking back towards the road

the drilling truck ready to put the bore in

lovely pasture full of clover, rye grass and plenty of dock!

The pasture is nice in places, there is plenty of clover and rye, but unfortunately there is also quite a bit of dock and buttercup. The owner hasn't sprayed for weeds for about 15 years so it is well overdue for some pasture maintenance. Hopefully it won't take too long to whip it into shape.

Welcome to Waterford Estate

I thought I'd start this blog to document the adventures of my husband and I as we aim to turn our dream of a lifestyle block in the country into reality.

We first started searching for a lifestyle block in June 2009 after deciding we'd lived in town for long enough. I ride horses and grew up on a lifestyle block, so was thoroughly sick of traveling out to grazing everyday to ride/check horses. Chris loves gardening and the peace and quiet of the country so was just as keen as I to move.

We had a number of criteria that our dream block had to meet. Firstly, it had to be within commuting distance of Hamilton and Cambridge. That ruled out areas north of Hamilton and South of Cambridge. Secondly, it had to be of a soil type suitable for horses. This restricted the areas further, as much of the Waikato is peat. Thirdly, it had to have no pylons on it or near it. There also had to be good road-riding in the area, or at least access to a larger farm to ride on. Finally, we had to be able to afford it!

We started off looking at properties that were already developed but quickly realised that most of the 'nicer' properties were out of our price range, and those that weren't had dilapidated houses, fencing, shedding etc. So we eventually started looking at bare blocks.

We found an agent that was willing to work with us in our search, and as a bonus, she is horsey so understood our needs when I said "horse property" and our lists of requirements. She had heard of a particular block that was in the process of being subdivided so we went out and had a look on a rainy winter's day in July.

To cut a long (and oftentimes frustrating) story short, we are on the cusp of owning that very block. We heard today that title has come through and the solicitors were notified on Friday so all going well, we could be settling in the next week or so.

The block is more than we could ever have dreamed of finding. It is 6.9 acres of sandy loam soil, 6kms from Cambridge town centre in an area called Pukekura. It is all flat land, and has been used for grazing horses and cattle as well as being a market garden at some stage in the past. Best part is, there are no pylons! The property is bordered on 2 sides by The Oaks Stud, and set back off the road. The road riding in the area is awesome, and there are some larger farms in the area that will allow riders access.

Below are some photos of the property taken just before Christmas (20th Dec 2009) after some balage had been cut and baled and the posts were in for the post and rail boundary fences.

Standing at the road, looking up what will be the driveway

Looking back down the driveway towards the road.

Noticethe pylons far in the distance.

Looking east from the top of the driveway. The pines are on

the neighbours property

Standing in South-eastern corner with me looking rather chuffed!

Standing at the North-eastern boundary corner looking

South-west over the property

Photo from halfway down Northern boundary looking East

Standing at the North-western corner of the property looking East

We came up with the name Waterford Estate in honour of my ISH gelding Mac who's registered name was Waterford. As well as being a nice name, we thought it suited the Cambridge area being just a little bit posh!