Waitakere Gardens, the map

I've shown you quite a number of photos of Waitakere Gardens. They have been though, a hodgepodge of shots, supporting whatever topic I was talking about.  

Today, I'd like to show you a map of the place and each building separately, so you get a better idea of the size and shape of our village.  

This is the sign in the circle drive and front entrance.  

Let's work our way down the sign and show you each building as we go. Check out the map below as you look at the buildings.  

The Atrium, with our apartment indicated with the orange dot. And, as it happens, the 'A' on the map shows the approximate location of our apartment. 

The map shown above labels the left end of the Atrium building as the Community Center. The C.C. is only on the ground floor, with three floors of apartments above it.   

The C.C. consists of reception and business offices, the library, solarium, Opanuku Cafe with outdoor grills/seating, Bar and Twin Streams Lounge, swimming pool, fitness room, coffee/tea/chocolate nook, toilets, events room, mailbox and notice room, craft room and Nurse's Office. 

This is Millbrook, taken from our balcony,

and this is Millbrook from the street side. 

The Palms

Rosecourt from inside the village.

Rosecourt from the street side. 

The Ferns  (African Garden and Fernery on the left)  

The Mews (Nothing to do with cats.)  Mews is the British name for a row or courtyard of stables and carriage houses, with living quarters above them, built behind large city houses, before motor vehicles replaced horses in the early twentieth century.  (Wikipedia)   

The Vines with Sky Bridge from The Mews/Ferns. 

The Vines from the gardens behind it. 

I wanted to give you the map as well, because in past posts, I talked about walking in the halls after dinner or on rainy days. If you look at the map again, you can readily see what a great walk we can have by first circling the open portion of the Atrium, and then proceeding through the Mews, the Ferns and finally to Rosecourt. We can then retrace our steps or use the stairs to get to another floor and work our way back to the Atrium. We could really make our hike long and complicated if we crossed the Sky Bridge, shown in blue on the map, and walked the floors/steps in the Vines.  

The map also shows you the garden areas throughout the village. We have found that we can easily walk for 30 minutes, all outdoors and within the village.  If we want to spend more time walking, we can simply repeat our route, but with variations. 

There are about 310 residents. The village is gated and the carpark attached to The Vines, (see map) shares a common wall with the Henderson City Police Department carpark. It's a very safe place to live.   

I've been impressed with the residents we've met here. It is a vibrant community whose population happens to be over 65 years of age. One new friend made his first skydive when he turned 80. We have a resident who sang opera during her career and who entertained at a women's dinner recently. There are a number of extremely talented artists and a published author.

Kiwis on the whole are a very well-traveled nation. I've listened to after-dinner stories about such diverse places as Scotland, the Cook Islands, and Egypt. Practically every Kiwi I've met has commented to me that they have visited America (sometimes multiple times) or have family living there now. I've especially enjoyed hearing the stories some have told of very positive experiences had while in the United States.   

Well, I've tried in this post, to give you a better understanding of our new home. Maybe you can tell how impressed I am with it. I hope that we can contribute to it as we enjoy our golden years.      -djf