Village Centre Leaps Luxuriously into the 21st Century
There’s a buzz in the air as the OCE Village Centre opens again on Monday, June 15 after an upgrade to deliver the social and recreational environment our residents deserve. From the fireplace in the foyer through a series of adjoining lounges, sunroom, formal lounge with schist fireplace, conference room and new billiards rooms which evoke a cosy club atmosphere, the Village Centre feels just like a relaxed up-market hotel, one where you know all the guests. Even the smallest rooms have had big treatments, check out the tartan tiles in the Ladies! Residents will also be delighted to get back into the swim of the thermally heated pool and spa; almost as good as a tropical holiday.
Watch this space for your invitation to our grand opening.
Home Sweet Home, Open for Viewing
We have open homes the second and fourth Sunday of every month from 12-3 pm and would love to see you even if you are at the early stages of planning your next move.
Number 127, which is now available for viewing is an excellent example of the standard to which we refurbish our homes. “Better than new” could describe this sunny, elevated home with double glazing and a refreshing interior, from the contemporary kitchen to beautifully tiled bathrooms, luscious double drapes, warm carpet and a seamless décor in shades of cream and grey. This stand-alone three-bedroom home with double garage proves you can live privately with all the advantages of the OCE community.
June open homes: 14th and 28th
Autumn – Season of Mists and Mellow Fruitfulness
No day in nature is ever the same here and our gardens are looking gorgeous as they relish the much-needed rain and the autumn palette turns wintery, the trees that were in full colour now losing their leaves. Our vegetable gardens have earned the accolade as some of the best in the country, and are so prolific that the resident gardeners often have produce to share within the OCE community.
INTRODUCING
Alastair and Mary Lock
Alastair and Mary Lock have lived in Omokoroa Country Estate since January. They originally came to the Bay of Plenty from Canterbury in 1982 attracted by better rainfall for farming.
“Since the 1980s we’ve had a large number of home shifts and work experiences,” they say. These include farming in Canterbury and BOP, real estate, involvement in farm finance and milk quality with a large dairy company and owner operator of an orchard in Cambridge. This property had a large garden which the Locks opened to the public for charity events. The Locks love gardening so much they have also done contract gardening.
Mary has had extensive experience in aged care including hospice and Alzheimers Society.
On retirement they intended to stay in the Bay of Plenty, enjoying its climate, recreation opportunities, proximity to the International airport and many tourist attractions. “When it came to choosing a retirement village, we inspected a number in the area. Omokoroa Country Estate has everything we wanted; shopping and services within walking distance. Access to good cycling was important to us and we enjoy biking on the recently developed coastal tracks which will soon link Tauranga and beyond.”
Alastair and Mary found the OCE management team very helpful in facilitating their purchase and they appreciate all the complex has to offer and the friendly residents. “Our family of three, who all live overseas, have visited since we moved in and rated our new home, the location and facilities very highly.”
The Locks commended the assistance from OCE during the COVID-19 lockdown. “The management have given very good support.”
INTRODUCING
Bob and Diane Jones
Bob and Diane Jones never intended to live in a retirement village. “My worst nightmare, you could say!” laughs Diane. Now they live in OCE and love it.
Diane tells their story:
We have lived here since November 2019, after hearing from my sister about no 86 being vacated and how sunny and roomy the house was.
We weren’t even considering a retirement village at that stage, having just spent nine months doing up a home we had bought in a nice gated community in Botany Downs in Manukau. It was going to be our final move, going nowhere! And then we heard about no 86.
After some urging from my sister, we decided to have a look and liked what we saw, knowing it was to be completely renovated, and, as we had already been here to visit my sister and brother-in-law, we knew what the actual village was like. We loved the beautiful setting, large trees and lovely gardens, very different from the “storage unit” type of villages that are often being built now, multi-level buildings that house hundreds of people, all stacked on top of one another.
We are both born and bred Cantabrians, having lived all our lives in Christchurch. I worked in a supermarket office, in charge of pricing and office duties, and Bob was working with British Pavements (now Fulton Hogan) as an engineer. He was then headhunted by Michael Davies to do the design and project management of the QE11 athletic track for the Commonwealth games there in 1974.
From then on, he specialised in designing and overseeing the installation of hundreds of tracks from N.Z. to Asia and beyond. We moved to Auckland in 2000 to be a bit closer to our youngest daughter and two grand-children. We have two daughters and our oldest is still in Christchurch, so we go down there to visit her and our son-in-law during the year. We even did the Christchurch marathon a few years ago, managing to do the 10km walk in a respectable time!
Bob has just retired from full-time work, only doing an occasional job for good friends/business people in Australia, so a few trips over there still, mainly to Brisbane or Melbourne, where I sometimes accompany him. He can now indulge in his favourite hobby of photography, focussing on landscapes and outdoors, birds, flowers, anything that takes his eye.
I am an avid knitter having been taught by my mother when I was 13, and also enjoy cooking, baking, and gardening.
