We immediately connected with the team, the vision, the town, and the large homeschooling community. It felt like home. We visited three times in 2021 and moved down in 2022, a year before our home was completed. We were able to immerse ourselves in the town and wider Golden Bay region, work locally and also online, and get to know the others involved in the project.
We’ve lived here since May 2023. We all live such a rich life – the kids are constantly playing with their friends, are safe to walk, bike ride, and run around the neighbourhood without any worries about cars (in cohousing, cars are kept to the outside in a separate carpark). They’re learning and connecting with everyone all the time and have developed some amazing friendships, not just with the other children, but also older folk, while gardening or attending working bees. Their contribution is valued and their opinion is considered. My daughter even wrote a proposal for chickens to discuss with the community, along with one of our older residents. She was only six at the time. And we as parents can almost always get our needs met – whether we need a cup of cocoa, someone to mow our lawn, or we need someone to watch the kids for half an hour while we pop to the shops. Our kids are so connected with nature – growing their own veges and fruit and spending most of their days outside.
We all live such a rich life – the kids are constantly playing with their friends, are safe to walk, bike ride, and run around the neighbourhood without any worries about cars (in cohousing, cars are kept to the outside in a separate carpark).
We have grown too – in our interpersonal skills, managing conflict and group decision making, contributing our skills and developing friendships with a wide range of people. There is so much richness from truly knowing your neighbours – sharing moments of connection on the way to do your washing or while pulling weeds in your front garden, sharing a meal, or dancing and singing together in the Common House. It can be challenging of course, but it has been so very worth it and a decision we have zero regrets about.
My husband is a consultant and works remotely and out of town occasionally. My work in Aware Parenting and birth debriefing means I’ve been able to connect closely with others in the Golden Bay community and also online. The town is lively, creative, and there’s so many opportunities nearby – National Parks, amazing beaches, great walks, stunning waterholes and rivers, and natural beauty all around.
If you and your family would benefit from more connection and community, and less isolation, perhaps cohousing is an option worth considering. You are welcome to come down and check it out for yourself, we’d love to see you.
Kirsty Fernandes is the founder of Honouring Mama. She is married and the mother to two wonderful little humans, currently aged 5 and 7, and they all live at Tākaka Cohousing in Mohua, Golden Bay. Kirsty works part time supporting parents to process and debrief their births and apply Aware Parenting approaches in their whānau.
