Preparing the perfect coffee at Toasted Espresso

When I simply want a great coffee, Toasted Espresso is probably my favourite spot. These guys are seriously good baristas and Toasted Espresso consistently produces award winning roasts. Their beans are used by a lot of local cafes and restaurants.

Toasted Espresso started life a bit further down Barry’s Pt Road Takapuna, but they moved into their current premises at number 42 a few years ago and have recently extended the cafe. I guess it’s more evidence of their success as a great local business that’s stuck to its core values. You can get a bite to eat – there’s a variety of sweet and savoury counter foods – but this place is really about drinking damn fine coffee. They sell coffe machines and all sorts of coffee paraphernalia.

The interior design is loungey, with collections of retro chairs and couches and the odd table. There’s usually some good local art work on display, good magazines to read, and the music is always groovy. Oh, and you can buy your beans here, too.

Just had an RSS feed from the Auckland Council that’s worth taking note of.  With the rainy season ahead of us – oh yippee! – there’ll be lots of extra stormwater running onto our beaches and out to sea. We love the beach lifestyle here on the Shore – the longest urban coastline in NZ – and we need to keep it clean and beautiful. Washing your car on the lawn (or at a designated carwash facility) keeps that filth and detergent out of our swimming beaches and streams. Take a look at the council article on how to preserve our coastline and waterways.

Tony Alexander

I still have a struggle reconciling the negative reports in New Zealand media- both the press and on TV, about the real estate market. The are simply out of touch with the reality of a great real estate market here on the North Shore.
It’s quite simple. Buyers are in the market and actively buying homes right now. These are the results from recent auctions I have conducted
13 Katui Street, Castor Bay

over 60 groups attending open homes, 70 at the auction, 6 buyers, 3 bidders….sold $1,300,000, unconditionally.
1 Trafalgar Road, Milford

over 60 attending open homes, 50 came to the auction, with strong bidding by 3 parties up to $780,000.
9 Sandford Street, Campbells Bay

50 groups attending open homes, 50 at the auction, 4 buyers, 3 bidders, strong bidding up to $760,000 and then someone mad a king bid and took it away for $825,000.
Over the last two months the Harcourts Milford office has sold 65 homes with a total value of over $40,000,000.

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Open plan living opens through bifold doors to northfacing deck

Park Rise in Campbells Bay is a very special enclave, blessed with over 40 acres of regenerating native bush and parkland, as well as tennis courts and a golf course. It’s also very handy to Campbells Bay beach and reserve – a  popular local picnic spot and safe swimming beach. The quiet, leafy neighbourhood is well established, with a good mix of families, professional couples and retirees who love this wonderful environment.

67a Park Rise is sited in a quiet,  secluded position, well away from the road, overlooking a pretty dell. With 1448 square metres of land, there’s a luxurious and somewhat rare sense of space, with trees to climb, space for huts and boisterous games, as well as the option to subdivide and develop.

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What do you do when your kids are grown up and off your hands, you’re over mowing lawns and weeding the garden, and you simply don’t need all those bedrooms filled with years’ accumulation of STUFF? There’re a couple of choices: buy a home unit – the end one of three preferred; find a plot of land somewhere in this increasingly in-filled city of ours and go through the long and arduous task of building a home tailored to your needs; follow the herd into one of those swanky new retirement villages, with your choice of recreational pursuits in situ, like lawn bowls and art classes. Yeah Right!

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That little block of shops at Rothesay Bay is a smorgasbord of eateries from Indian to organic. One that we seem to keep going back to is The Internationalist, a bistro and wine bar for grown up people, right on the corner of Beach Road & Lyons Ave. There’s a well stocked bar (they specialise in imported wines and boutique beers), a large indoor dining area, a big deck with views of the Hauraki Gulf, and a lounge area complete with comfy couches, piano, magazines and books for car enthusiasts. The owners hail from Montreal and Sth Africa, used to own Toto, and know how to run a lively operation.

Open 7 days, there’s something special on offer each day. Monday night is boys’ movie night (girls are welcome) – $20 gets you a burger, a beer and a movie at dusk. Tuesday is two-for-one main meal night. Wednesday, you can enjoy live music or art-house movie. Two pizzas for $25 has gotta be a great deal on a Thursday night. Friday lunchtime you can have a 3 course meal and house wine for $24.50. Saturdays, the kids eat free when there’s 2 big people eating. Sunday afternoons are for cruising with some live jazz. There’s also a happy hour (2 hours actually), 4-6pm everyday. Fri, Sat, Sun The I opens at 11am.

Check them out on Facebook to see what movies are coming up and any other newsy bits.

This is a house that demands to be noticed. Sitting in prime position on the corner of Katui Street and Seaview Road, the property has awesome views over Milford Beach, Milford Marina and Lake Pupuke, as well as the lights of downtown Auckland. The Hauraki Gulf, with Rangitoto Island taking centre stage, is framed by a quaint, historic church and a pohutukawa tree, stunning in its crimson Christmas flourish.

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