All language subtitles for Country.House.Hunters.New.Zealand.S02E06.720p.TVNZ.WEB-DL.AAC2.0.H.264-BTN

- I'm on a hunt to help find everyday
Kiwis their perfect country house.

Things are a little different out
here in the country.

You still have the
hustle and bustle ―

your neighbours can sometimes
be a bit noisy ―

time moves a little slower.

But you don't get this...

in the city.

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Copyright Able 2023

Today, I'm in Amberley
with Graeme and Angela.

- We need room for the pool table.
- Yeah.

- We need room for the table tennis
table and the dart board.

- OK.
- That's top priority.

- Yes.
- Let's not forget the train set
around the garden.

That's got to be―
- Of course.
- That's got to be in, as well.

- A games room is a top priority.

And Graeme's already got some ideas
on how to scare away the neighbours.

And a bit of a bonus,
the spa pool stays.

- Graeme'll get his mankini out
for that one.

- Graeme's mankini?
- The neighbours
won't be able to see it.

- Graeme's mankini.
- Yeah, well...

- So, wish me luck as I try
to find Graeme and Angela
their dream country home.

- My name is Graeme,
and this is my wife, Angela.

Uh, we've been married,
uh, approximately 40 years.

We have, um, three beautiful
children and, um, four beautiful
grandchildren.

- We want something a bit more
physical. We're from a farm block.

Since we've moved to Christchurch,
we've been living in suburbia.

That's been nice for the last 10 or
12 years, but we would like to
go back to some country

and do some stuff where we're
moving around and... doing stuff.

- Some outdoor living ―
chopping firewood, trimming trees,
that sort of thing,

will be good for our physical
movements, as we enter into
retirement age.

You go about your
steampunk, first.

- OK, I like dressing up as
steampunk and have a whole wardrobe―
whole room, full of dress ups.

If I'm not doing that,
I'm probably painting rocks.

I paint rocks with my grandkids and
then we hide them all around town.

- Um, I'm into model railways.
Um, I've... I've always had one.

I believe a railroad should be a
toy, and the kids can play with it.

It doesn't matter if the― is a pink
elephant or if the truck's bigger
than the train.

But now that I'm getting older,
I want a bit more detail.

I'd love to do an outdoors one, with
a ride-on, that the kids can jump on
the back and

we chug around a section
or a garden area.

Our budgets are between about
$1 million to 1.2.

It looks like that's the price range
that's going to be able to get us
the property that fits all―

- All of.
- all criteria in― that we're after.

- The relaxed, rural town of Amberley
is only a 45-minute drive
from Christchurch.

It's primarily a service centre for
local farms and winegrowers,

but it's also home to some of the
area's best cafes and craft shops.

Graeme and Angela have really done
well in choosing Amberley for their
new lifestyle in the country.

Our first house is this breathtaking
cottage style home,

with plenty of space for the family
and for the horses.

Morena. Morning, Graeme. How are ya?
- Good, thanks.

G'day, nice to meet ya.
- Angela.
- Hi.

- So great to meet you guys.
How are you feeling today?

- Looking forward to see
some houses.
- Yeah, great.

Just a quick 45-minute trip from
Christchurch for you this morning.

How was that? Easy?
- Yeah, pretty easy.

- So, tell me a little bit about
what you are wanting to do.

I know that there's a few
considerations for this move,

not just for yourselves, right?
- That's true.

- Moving in with our daughter.
Daughter number two and her partner,
Patty. Amanda and Patty.

And we're looking for something
big enough for the both of us.
- Right.

- Whether it be two separate places
or one big place.

Essentials are ― room for a horse.
We need room for the pool table.

We need room for the table tennis
table and the dart board.

- OK.
- That's top priority.

- Yes.
- Let's not forget the train set
around the garden.

That's got to be― That's got to be
in as well.

- That sounds amazing.
- I think that'll be a good
little hobby for me to do,

as I get close to retirement.

- Now, tell me a little bit about
how you two met. So, you're
originally from Christchurch..?

Amanda..?

Hang on, there's a story here,
isn't there?

- Oh, absolutely.
- All right. Well, tell me,
what's going on?

- When I was a young fella, I was
one― a bit of a boy racer, you know,

had the souped up car and
what have you.

And I was, I was driving down the,
down the road and there's a couple
of girls were hitchhiking

on the side of the road, so I
stopped and picked Angela up,
and uh...

- Still threatens to chuck me out of
the car door, one day.

- And, uh, yeah, got married about
two years later or so.

- That's a pretty successful
hitchhike.

Yeah.

- Amazing. Well, congratulations.

All right, so somewhere with
lots of room, space for the kids,
the grandkids.

All right. I think we can do that.

The first place I brought you to
pretty much ticks all those boxes.

Four hectares of land, so lots of
space. We're about a five minute
drive to Amberley township itself.

The home itself has been beautifully
renovated just over the last couple
of years,

so ― built in the 80s, but this place
looks absolutely stunning.

- I'm actually pretty keen to get
inside and have a look around the
house.

- All right, well, on that note,
let's get in there.

- Thank you.
- After you.

OK. Welcome in to one of two
really large living rooms.

So we've got lounge on this end of
the house, a formal dining lounge
on that end of the house,

kitchen in the middle.
But it's been beautifully renovated.

This place has had a lot of love
put into it.

Obviously, having an area for you and
for Amanda and Patty to feel
like they've got their ownspace,

having these two separate lounges,
how would that work for you, do you
think?

- I think that'll work pretty well.
We could― One area could be watching
the rugby game

while the other area is
watching something else.

- Yeah.
- Um, perhaps, you know, Country
House Hunters, or something similar.

- I like your style.
- Yeah.
- Yeah, absolutely. Great show, that.

Right, let's head through
to that kitchen.

You've got a beautiful view
to Amberley Beach through here.

Have a look.

So, with those renovations completed
so recently,

you've got yourselves
a beautiful, brand new,
country-style modern kitchen

with really high quality fittings.

Got a great stainless steel benchtop
here, the gas hobs and the tiles as
well.

But really it's the view, isn't it?

- It's the view. And to see
the sunrise out here, I'm sure,
is most spectacular,

because that's right
where the sun will be.

- Who's going to be spending most of
the time in the kitchen?

- That'll be Amanda.
- Amanda's job?

- She's our gourmet cook.
- I enjoy cooking, too.

I'm a bit of a gourmet seafood chef.
- Are you now, Graeme?

- Yes. I love my seafood chowder
and, uh, crayfish and, you know, all
the local shellfish youcan gather.

- Sounds amazing. A seafood chef
and another form of chef.

- Yeah.
- You just get to reap the benefits.
How about that?

- That's my plan.
I'll grow the veggies.

- Yeah, great.

I'm going to send you guys up that
beautiful kauri staircase, have a
look at the bedrooms upstairs,

and I'm going to be out
by the garage.

See you soon.
- OK.

- What do you think
of the bedrooms, Ange?

- I like the size of them, but
I'm not too sure about the corners.

The pointed bits took away
from the size.

I see that as a potential hazard,
particularly for Patty
that's taller.

It's nice to have an en suite, but I
feel there was nowhere for me to put
my lotions and potions

and... toothbrush, even, actually.

- I think this might be at
the top end of our budget,

but let's go and find Matt and
see what else he's got to show us.

- Yeah, OK.

- Hey hey.
- Hey.

- Had a good chance to look around?
- We have, yes.
- We have.

- I wanted to talk to you
about the garage.

So you can see there is a room
upstairs, and there's also
a toilet in the garage.

So depending on how you wanted to use
it, this could be either a games room
upstairs

or even an extra bedroom for,
potentially, Amanda and Patty.

And plenty of space for
a model train.

Well, not for a real train.

- Yeah, well, a ride-on
external train would be a hoot.

- Yeah.
- But an internal model train, also,
you know, with all the detail.

- What are we thinking
the value of this home would be?

- Over a mil? Less than
one point― less than 1.3?

So, somewhere between there.
- Yeah, around 1.2.
- Yeah.

You definitely― You know your market.
1.25 is where they're thinking
this one sits, at the moment.

Obviously, open to negotiation.

- I think being at the top end of
the budget is just something we're
going to have to talk to

our daughter and fiance about,
and see if we can, uh...

- See what else we've got
to look at, as well.
- Yes.

- Let's head to house number two,
shall we?

- Good.
- Come on.

After the break, it's off to
house number two,

which I'm thinking could
win them over with its really
impressive garden.

Welcome back. I'm in Amberley,
helping Graeme and Angela find
their dream country home.

The first house was an incredible,
newly-renovated property, with
gorgeous views from the kitchen

and enough space for family, horses,
and even a train set for Graeme.

I've got my hopes up for house two,
though, with a gorgeous garden and
separate shed,

with enough space for a games room.

But, let's see what our couple think.

OK, here's our second option
for the day.

This one sits on just under 6300m2.

What do you think of this property,
as you walk up to it?

- The gardens appear park like, and
I could see Angela getting lost out
there for days onend.

I would have to get that train set,
outdoor train set, go and find her
and pick her up.

- Should we take a look around?
- Yes.

173
So, nice, big, open-plan kitchen,
living, dining area here.

And we do have a separate living room
just off to the left.

That opens out nicely
onto a courtyard

and ― bit of a bonus ―
the spa pool stays.

- Graeme will get his mankini out
for that one.

- Graeme's mankini?
- The neighbours won't
be able to see it.

- Graeme's mankini.
- Yeah, well,

you got to do what you got to do,
you know? Especially on these cold
days, in a nice warm spa pool.

I love the idea of this being
a communal family room,

with the lounge being adjacent,
that could actually open up.

- I do like the doors, too, that
open out. A bit of indoor-outdoor
flow.

- I reckon this place has the
perfect games room already set up.

So let's go and have a look.
- OK.

So, this was a double garage
that they've converted to
an extra living area, at the moment.

But all I'm seeing in here is a
table tennis table and a pool table.

What do you reckon?

- I can imagine the pool table.
Probably put in a little bit more
lighting for over the pooltable

and some curtains, and we've got a
toilet just behind us, so, yes.

- Put a bar in the corner,
do you reckon, Graeme?

Yeah. There's potential.

So much more to see in this house.
So, go and have a good explore,
and find me when you're done.

- OK, thank you.
- We'll catch up soon.

- I like it here.

I could imagine having a little―
just a little table and chairs
out there,

sitting, having a morning coffee
just outside the bedroom window in
the garden, listening tothe birds.

- I do feel the rooms are a tad
on the small side.

You know, the wardrobes
are a good size.

Having the walk-in wardrobe in
the master room, plus an en suite.

This area could be a relaxation
and separate area from the family,
if needed, you know.

- Yep.

- Do you guys host
family Christmases?

You get all your family and friends
around for the big gathering?

- We often do. We alternate between
our place and perhaps our daughter's
place.

But yes, there's often
quite a few of us.

And for all our friends that don't
have family around― come around.
- Great.

- So we often have quite
a few people.

- 'Cause I'm just looking at this―
- Christmas.

- On a summer's day in Canterbury,
a hot Canterbury Christmas.

Imagine all your friends and family
spilling out into that huge backyard.

- I could see the badminton net up―
- Yeah.
- playing badminton.

- Great area to socialise and, uh,
and the spa pool, I could just see
myself in there,

in my mankini―

doing the belly flop off the side.

- It'll be― It'll be good.
- That is an image I'm not going
to get out of my head

for the rest of the day, Graeme.
- That's it.

But I think the entertainment area,
externally, is fantastic here.

And the gardens and lawn sections
are beautiful.

- All right. So, let's talk price.

- 1.123? Something like that?

- Guys, you're pretty close.

1.149.
- It's within our, um,
expected price range.

But the downfall is the fact that
there's no area for a horse
or other animals.

And that's something
we'd have to look in―

perhaps a nearby farmer would be
able to lease, um, a paddock for us

to have a horse in,
and tick that box.

- All right. Well, we've done pretty
well so far. Two great properties.

One more to show you.
So let's head off to that one.

- Fantastic, thanks.
- Excellent.

- Coming up ― I catch up with our
couple for a game of pool, and to
find out which house they've chosen.

Did one of them take your fancy?
Are we going to put an offer in
on any of the houses?

- Well, look, I actually liked
option number one, but I think
Angela liked option number three.

- While in Amberley, I thought I'd
visit Waipara Hills Winery

and talk with Marie to learn more
about this beautiful place.

Nice to be here at Waipara Hills.
This place is a real highlight of
the Hurunui District, isn'tit?

- Correct. We're in Waipara Hills,
in Waipara,

just in the heart of
the Hurunui District.

But this is an iconic building, but
an iconic venue,

and really is just a great showcase
for the Hurunui District.

- Yeah. You guys are a big producer
of wine these days, aren't you?

- Yeah, we are, actually.

I think we've got about 99 vineyards
and 68, I think it is, wineries, you
know.

So, food and beverage is quite
a showcase of our community and
something that

we're pretty proud of, to be fair.
- So, it's a bit of a destination for
people, not just from Christchurch,

but for people from all
around the country come here.
- Absolutely.

You know, the wine region of
the Hurunui actually has received
national and internationalacclaim.

So, you know, we're well―
we're well supported.

And, you know, it's great to have
them here, home, in Hurunui.

- Location-wise, you're only 45
minutes drive to Christchurch,

the largest city in the South Island,
so what an easy place to live.

- We really are blessed, from a
location perspective,

and to be... That 45 minutes,
it's a magic drive, but actually,
once you get there,

you get the wineries,
you get the Hanmer Springs,

a little bit further away, you get
the beach, you get the snow-capped
mountains, you get everything.

- And what do you need?
- Exactly.
- Maybe a glass of wine.

A glass or two of wine would be
amazing right now,

but I've got to get back to our
house hunt with Graeme and Angela.

Here we are ― third and final home
for the day. This one... It's like
a cabin in the woods.

Obviously, we came up through that
driveway, just nestled in the bush,
there.

- That was amazing. I actually
thought we were going on a bush
adventure, as we came down there.

- A lot of work on the upkeep,
which is why the current owners
are thinking of letting it go, so...

- Then I'm sure Angela will knock
that into shape.

- You're handing that over to the
gardening department, Angela.
- Absolutely.

- Welcome in. What's the first thing
you noticed when you walked in here?

- How warm it is.
- Yeah, it's really warm.

We got that― Obviously, the wood
burner is cranking on a day like
today.

That's a wetback as well,
so, good for power bills.

Uh, this kitchen, beautiful.
Really open, large space.

I mean, you were saying that you
didn't want too many people
working in the kitchen,

you could all fit around that one.
- Yes.
- Got that nice island in the middle.

- Yeah.
- Like that.

Needs a bit of an update, but I
could― I could see it would make a
nice centre for the family

and for everybody,
and passing things over.

- Just imagine the bustle―
the bustle on Christmas Day.
- Yes.

- Everyone doing their tasks.
- Yeah, exactly.
- Plenty of room. Yes.

- Right. So that's the kitchen and
the dining. There are two separate
living areas.

- So let's head through
and look at them.
- Sure.

- All right. So, obviously, we just
passed through living room one
into a really large livingspace,

this one. Really high ceilings, that
skillion style roof with exposed
timber beams.

It's just a huge space, really.
You could do anything with it.

But, obviously, knowing
what you're looking for...

look at the size of a pool table
you can fit in there.
- Mm.

- It's nice to think, actually,
of having a pool table
inside the house.

- Yeah.
- Most of what we've thought of
is like, we want a shed,

we want a back room,
we want somewhere.

But to have the main entertainment
area as actually part of the house.
- All right.

So, all five bedrooms are up the
hallway that side of the house.

So go and have a good look around
and I'll see you afterwards.

- Thank you, cheers.

- So, this could be like,
the main lounge/living area.

- It's quite good that there's five
bedrooms and you know, a en suite
on the end one.

The master bedroom has been
added on at some stage,
over and above the original.

But as has the other
entertainment rooms.

- So, obviously, we've been
talking about what Amanda needs
in a property.

She's not here. So you've got
your Amanda hats on right now.

- Sure.
- And you look around.
The horses are a big part of it.

Need some space. There is a shed
on this property that looks,
to me, perfect for horses.

What do you think?
- I think I could see that
fitting the bill.

That's got plenty of room
for horse stuff.

It's got plenty of room for some
of your workshop stuff.
- Yes.

- So, the price.

That's the only other thing
we need to discuss.

You've got an idea of
where it sits, haven't you?

- We were thinking between 700 and
800, is about where it's sitting.

- Inquiries over 749.
That's what we're looking at.

So as you know, that's well
under your budget.

- Um, certainly needs a bit of
maintenance and updating,

but that's within
our skill range, anyway.

- Three options for you to go away
and have a think about.

And if one of them's taking your
fancy, we'll get back together
and you can let me know.

But thanks anyway.
What a great day that was.
- Yeah, we've had a great day too.

Thank you very much.

Let's recap
our three options ―

house one was a country style villa
with plenty of space

and spectacular views.

House two was more suburban,
but with a breathtaking garden.

And house three was a hidden gem,
but needed some work.

After giving Graeme and Angela
some time to think,

we caught up for a game of pool
to see what they made of
the three homes we toured.

Hey, look, we can't just keep
playing pool all night.

We have got business to attend to.

We've got to find out what decision
you guys have made.

So we did look at three
really great houses.

I'm not sure which one you'd go for,
if I had to pick, so let's
talk through them.

The first place we looked at was
that big, beautiful,

kind of old country villa.

- Wonderful views out the
kitchen window.

That was most spectacular.

- Yeah, a huge staircase
in the middle, as well. Yeah.

- That kauri staircase
was just amazing.

- Yeah.

- Uh, I think the farmland
and the area for the horses and―
- Nice gardens.

- other animals was very positive
for that, uh, for that property.

- And of course, the second property
we looked at ― a lot to like
about that one.

Huge garden area, really beautifully
manicured garden, wasn't it?
- Oh, it was a park.

That was a park.
- Those park-like gardens.

I could― I could so see my outdoor
train set uh, chugging around

those gardens.
- 100%.

- That also had a beautiful games
room in the garage

that could be converted into
just exactly what we're after.

- And that barn shed out the back,
that was really nice, too.

That had a lot of potential
for a number of things.

- And, of course,
it came with the spa pool.

- Oh, yes.
- So the mankini was going
to get a work out.

- Exactly.
- Yeah, yeah.

- And then the third home
that we looked at, set right
amongst the bush.

You know? That driveway, you're going
through, completely private,

really tranquil.
Lovely little home, that one.

- I loved that entranceway.

It made it feel like the cottage
was surrounded by the, you know,

native bush and natural settings.

- Lots of little paths through it
that were little adventures.

- So, three interesting houses.
But did one of them take your fancy?

Are we going to put an offer in
on any of the houses?

- Well, look, I actually liked
option number one, but I think
Angela liked option number three.

We're not going to put an offer in,
at this stage.

I think we'll just
continue to look ―
- OK.

- and see if we can't find one
that caters for all our needs.

- But the right place will come
along. I'm sure it will.
- I'm sure it will.

- And you two were a lot of fun to
work with as well, so thanks for
making it a fun experience.

- Thank you.
- And, uh, I think it's your shot.

Unfortunately, Graeme
and Angela weren't able to settle on
something, but still,

I had an amazing time with them in
Amberley and I wish them both well

as they continue their search
for their perfect country home.

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