I didn't walk 500 miles to 4/20 Moata Road, but my wife and I must have driven the equivalent distance while searching for our first home. The Proclaimers' 1988 pop classic starts playing in my head whenever I think my first real family home in New Zealand.
My wife and I had been looking for a house for what seemed like an eternity in 2014, visiting countless open homes across Auckland. I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) was my song of choice when I was flitting from suburb to suburb. The opening guitar strums, striding drum beat and chorus yells were just the thing to focus my mind and keep me upbeat and hopeful throughout the whole process (if I'd been listening to Radiohead, I'm certain I'd still be renting).
After near-six months of searching (and humming along to The Proclaimers), we came across the listing for 4/20 Moata Road in Auckland's One Tree Hill. It was a great home tucked away at the end of driveway on a section of four units.
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Editor's pick: The house at 4/20 Moata Road in Auckland's One Tree Hill. Photo / Ted Baghurst
My wife and I were surprised by how effortlessly stylish and family friendly the house was inside and we were instantly won over by the privacy the garden afforded. My son Charlie, two at the time, picked out his bedroom and ran around the garden picking up leaves.
4/20 Moata Road's stylish yet homely interior won OneRoof's editor over when he was looking for a house in 2014. Photo / Ted Baghurst
We didn't think we'd have a hope in heck of landing it - we were convinced One Tree Hill was way out of our price range - but luck was with us, and less than a month later we moved in. The house afforded me the kind of life I'm not sure I could get in my home country of Scotland. I grew up on a council estate and my house looked out onto a car park and was close to a wood that was a haven for glue-sniffers. I had to take the bus to school and a lot of the houses in my neighbourhood were home to angry dogs that could bite a child's head off. With Moata Road, I could walk my son to school and go for a run in the local park without fear of being mugged or slipping in dog mess.
The patterned wallpaper and colour schemes make an impression. Photo / Ted Baghurst
The kitchen and bedrooms are spacious. Photos / Ted Baghurst
I don't think I would have found Moata Road without the Proclaimers. Not literally, of course - it is quite easy to find on a map, even for someone who gets lost as much as I do. But being a first home buyer is a marathon-like endeavour, and you need something to keep the stamina up. And it's ironic that I chose as a driving song a record that I had instantly written off as naff when it first came out, but over the years I came to appreciate its boundless optimism and promise. The song's about being a better man and I think Moata Road helped me become a better husband and better dad than I ever thought I could be. That's why opening lyrics, not the chorus, bring me such joy.
When I wake up, well I know I'm gonna be,
I'm gonna be the man who wakes up next you
When I go out, yeah I know I'm gonna be
I'm gonna be the man who goes along with you
It's doubly ironic too because I kinda look like the Proclaimers' brothers - Craig and Charlie Reid - and they come from a town just 25km of my hometown.
Now Moata Road is Gonna Be someone else's home. My wife and I are selling as our family grows. I wonder what song the new owner will be listening to in the car as they make their way to the open home.
- Owen Vaughan is editor of OneRoof.co.nz
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