Longer stays

Make Waiake your North Island base

Many of our guests stay for weeks or months — remote workers, visiting grandparents, and families whose children attend the local schools. A whole apartment with kitchen and laundry beats a hotel room when New Zealand is more than a stopover.

Coffee on the dining table, the reserve through the window

Self-catering, properly

A full kitchen with real appliances, a washing machine, and around 100 m² to live in — the everyday things that make a long stay feel like home, not a compromise.

A desk set up on the balcony, looking over Aickin Reserve

Room to work

Gigabit fibre WiFi that holds a video call, and quiet space to spread out. Answer email in the morning, walk the beach at lunch.

Takapuna Beach under the pōhutukawa — one of the day trips down the coast

Day trips in every direction

Central Auckland in about 40 minutes, the wild west-coast beaches, wine country, and the Northland coast — all reachable, all with a familiar bed to come home to.

Three families

Who stays for a school term

Three recent families, three different reasons. Each stayed in one of the two apartments; each is why the page below is written the way it is.

A family from Korea, five weeks over the start of Term 1, 2026

Arrived in late January as the school year began and stayed until the end of February — a parent and children in the apartment, the beach and the reserve as the playground after school.

“We had a great time at your apartment. The grass in front of your house was good to play soccer. Also, we had fun swimming in the clear blue, green ocean. This house was very beautiful to stay. Thank you very much! We hope we could come back to this comfortable house.”
— the children, in our guest book, 28 February 2026

A family from China, July and August 2025

Stayed with us through July and August 2025 — the northern summer holiday, which falls in New Zealand's winter term. Torbay School's short-term programme, from four weeks, is built for exactly that window.

A family from Hong Kong, August 2026

Their child is at Long Bay College for the year. The parents came over for the holidays, stayed with us for ten nights, and had the family together under one roof a few minutes from the college.

The schools

Younger children walk to Torbay School; older ones go to Long Bay College

Torbay School — Years 0 to 6, a short, safe walk

Torbay School takes international students from Year 0 to Year 6, mainstreamed in ordinary classes with a buddy and classroom support, for a full year, by the term, or on a short-term programme of four weeks or more. Under New Zealand's Code of Practice a child under ten must live with a parent or legal guardian — which is exactly what the apartment is for. Medical insurance is required; fees and terms are on the school's own page. The school's senior classes learn to sail at the Waterwise centre on our beach.

Torbay School — international students →

The walk to school

About 600 metres and nine minutes: down the driveway to Ellangowan Road, right, then left into Hebron Road, down the James Way steps to Deep Creek Road, and over the marked pedestrian crossing at the school gate. Deep Creek Road is busy — the crossing is the one place to cross it — but the rest of the walk is quiet residential streets and a footpath.

Long Bay College — Years 9 to 13, and the parents' visits

Long Bay College is the local secondary school, about ten minutes' drive or a bus ride away, with a large international department and results among the country's best. International students live with an approved homestay family, or with their own parents or a designated caregiver. Many stay for a full year, and their families come to visit in the holidays — that is when they stay with us: the same apartment each visit, room for the student to move in for the fortnight, and the college a few minutes up the road.

Long Bay College — international students →

Torbay School Glamorgan School Northcross Intermediate Long Bay College

The four local schools, each linked to its international-student page. Please check school zones and places with the school before you book.

On the water

Three boat clubs in front of the house

The reserve between our garden and the beach is home to three clubs, and between them a child can learn to be safe and confident on the sea within a term of arriving.

Waterwise — the schools' water-safety programme

Torbay School, Long Bay School and Browns Bay School run their Waterwise programme from our beach: Year 6 children learn to sail Optimists and to kayak safely, in Terms 1 and 4, weather permitting, once they have passed the school's senior swimming test. Run by volunteers under New Zealand Schools Waterwise.

Waterwise Torbay →

Torbay Sailing Club

Learn-to-sail courses for children from nine and for adults, Sunday racing from September to May, and the Sir Peter Blake youth regatta every December — all launched off the sand in front of the apartments.

Learn to sail →

Awatuna Sea Scouts

The sea scout hall stands on Beach Road at the reserve. Keas, Cubs, Scouts and Venturers meet there on weekday evenings; the group has been on this beach since 1980.

Awatuna Sea Scouts →

While you are here

What the grown-ups do

School runs at nine and three leave a whole day in between. From the door: the beach, the coastal walk to Long Bay, the birds on the reserve, Torbay's cafés around the corner, and the city forty minutes away by bus. At the weekend, the Gulf islands, the west-coast surf beaches and Northland are all day trips with a familiar bed to come home to. Our Explore pages have our favourites; we are always happy to help with bookings.

Walks from our door Birds & sea life Time on the water Time in nature Time in the city

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Ready when you are

Availability and booking are right here on our site — and booking direct always gets you our best rate.

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