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After spontaneously purchasing a dreamy section on Awhitu Peninsula, this family planned and built a modular bach designed for many summers to come.

- Tina Stephen

Stretching northwards into the Manukau Harbour is the hilly, green Awhitu Peninsula, a rugged, rural place that, as the crow flies, lies only a short distance from central Auckland but feels a lot further away. Like many coastal areas of New Zealand, the drive into this sleepy district reveals streets devoid of footpaths and dotted with quirky letterboxes and pastel-coloured, mid-century baches.

“Our bach on Awhitu is still in the Auckland region and less than an hour for us to get to from home,” says Emma Macdonald. “This works really well as we can maximise the time we spend at the bach while juggling our work and the kids’ activities at the weekends.”

Emma and husband Andrew’s holiday home is as Kiwi as it gets and harks back to a simpler, less rushed time when kids could roam free, build huts and hack secret paths through the bush to the beach. A desire for their kids, Flynn and Sienna, to spend those precious early years flying kites instead of staring at devices was a large part of why the couple took a leap of faith after a chance visit to the area.

At first site “We weren’t planning on buying a section for a bach,” says Emma. “But after going out for a drive, we stumbled upon ‘our’ section. We got out of the car, looked at each other and knew we had to have this land!” With unobstructed views to the north and west, it’s easy to see why they fell in love with it.

Despite making a quick decision to purchase the site, the Macdonalds didn’t want to rush into building before they had got to know the unique characteristics of the section.