HALLWAY TO HEAVEN:A renovated hall is home to a couple who were drawn to the laid-back Waiheke Island lifestyle by sunny childhood memories

摘要

If rose-tinted childhood memories returned Shelley Brockliss to Waiheke Island, it may be chronic renovation addiction that has kept her there. Most of her school holidays were spent on the island, staying in her grandparents' rustic bach and roamingthe beaches with her sisters during the era of slathering on baby oil and all-day exploring without grown-up supervision. As an adult, she and partner Mike Coghlan returned to buy a holiday place and recreate their own version of those carefree summers.Then, five years ago, Shelley decided it was time to renovate the bach and Mike hit on the idea of leaving their Auckland home to spend a year on Waiheke, overseeing tradesmen. "Within that year, we fell in love with the place so much and never returnedto our home in Auckland," she says.