- Peter Kerr bought a triple boat shed property for $45,000 in Motunau, Hurunui, after a friend's tip.
- The property features a 300sqm house with five bedrooms and direct water access.
- The site is ideal for fishing, with strong interest from North Canterbury residents.
It was Peter Kerr’s lucky day when a mate contacted him and asked him if he had a spare $45,000. He didn’t, but he soon found it when he realised it would pay for a triple boat shed with direct water access on what was once the site of the harbour master’s house.
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Kerr told OneRoof he owned a bach on the other side of the harbour and had been moving soil from one side to the other when he happened to mention to a friend that he would be keen on buying the property at 55 Fishermans Lane, in Motunau, Hurunui, if it ever came up for sale.
Then one day, the same friend arrived on his doorstep and presented him with the opportunity he had long dreamed about - although there was a bit of confusion to begin.
“I said, 'I haven't [got $45,000], but I'll soon get it for you. And he said, 'No, no, it's not for me, it's for you. That guy's going to sell you that bach for $45,000.'”
The five-bedroom, three-bedroom property is on the site where the harbourmaster used to live. Photo / Supplied
The current owners built a large new home on top of the original garage. Photo / Supplied
Kerr didn’t hesitate. “I said, ‘Hop in the car, let's go and give him a deposit’. So, we went and grabbed it straight away. It was a luck thing.”
One of the big drawcards was that it was also the only house on that side of the harbour. “It’s on its own. That’s the beauty of it. You just launch your boat off your front lawn. It’s perfect,” Kerr said.
“We drive over the council reserve to get to our property. We have an easement to come through their land.”
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The property Kerr and his wife bought in 2000 was very basic: a shed, an outside shower, and a long drop. The first thing they did was to build a new house on the site. Within the space of six years, the property was home to a 300sqm partially double-glazed house, with five bedrooms - one a master bedroom with an ensuite - and a large lounge with three massive windows overlooking the Motunau River.
Kerr described the view from the property as magical. “At high tide, you get the whole estuary as it fills up with water. It's like looking at a lake.”
When the Kerrs semi-retired, they spent 10 years sharing their time between Motunau, Hurunui and Christchurch. But they were now living in a new home on a lifestyle block in Kaiapoi and had decided to sell the bach because they weren’t using it anymore.
The original 1970s flat with ample boat storage is on the ground level. Photo / Supplied
“We don’t even go there,” he said. “We are over-fishing. We’ve done all that.”
However, Kerr said it was the perfect sport for people still wanting to get a good catch. “It’s the best fishing spot in Canterbury. You’ll never fish it out,” he said, adding that crayfish, blue cod, perch, groper and kingfish were just some of the species you’d find there.
Kerr said the property would even suit two families because the original flat with a vintage Formica bench and table was separate from the newer house upstairs. He also joked that the original long drop could still be found at the rear corner of the property.
Harcourts Grenadier listing agent Oscar McGoldrick said the property had drawn strong interest, describing the position as “very special” and noting that open‑home visitors were blown away by the view.
He said much of the interest had come from North Canterbury residents who already owned holiday homes in the area. "Realistically, the buyer is probably going to be a family or two families because of the upstairs-downstairs options, and I think they have to be [into fishing]. It's such a strong fishing culture in that town."
- 55 Fishermans Lane, in Motunau, Hurunui, is going to auction on April 23
