After almost 40 years in Fiordland, Ian Collie recently made the decision to move from Te Anau to Queenstown.
“I have children, all in their 50s, in Dunedin, Canterbury and Cambridge. In Queenstown I’m more easily accessible to all of them. Most of my friends are in Southland and Otago, with plenty gravitating towards Queenstown and Wanaka, so it’ll also be easier to stay in touch with them.”
Ian brought in Sandra Macnamara and Angela Monteith of PGG Wrightson Real Estate, Te Anau, to sell the property he bought in 2018.
Offering spacious living and commanding spectacular lake and mountain views, Angela says the three-bedroom home, set on a 1,190 square metre section, sold quickly.
“We took it to the market in early August. After the first open home we received an offer, and after the second there were more. That included one well over the asking price, which gave Ian a fantastic result,” says Angela.
When Angela and Sandra presented the successful offer to him, Ian took less than 30 seconds to consider it.
“I’ve never taken long to make important decisions. This one was quick and simple,” he says.
Before moving to Te Anau in 1987, Ian and his late wife Claire had farmed a family property in Wilden, West Otago. On arrival in Fiordland, they bought a tourist shop. Having run sheep, they were confident they could sell wool products. However, as tourism in the region developed, the business quickly evolved to retail outdoor adventure apparel and equipment.
Away from the business, Ian and Claire bought and developed a lifestyle property two kilometres south of the town centre, on what was then a new subdivision. Sited on glacial moraine and rocky soil, they nevertheless managed to create a garden, which became their escape.
“Though every hole we dug required a crowbar, we were in our mid 40s, so fit, young and strong, and able to cope.”
A couple of years after they sold the business, Claire died, and a couple of years after that, in 2018, Ian called in Sandra to sell the lifestyle property. She also sold him the Te Anau home he’s now about to leave.
“I enjoy developing things. First the farm, then the shop, and the lifestyle property.”
Since moving in, his development skills have focused on the Te Anau property.
“It was built in 2014, and not fenced, so I fully fenced it. While it has wonderful views over the surrounding farmland and mountains, it was exposed to the wind, so I put a veranda and glass partitions around the patio. I added a glasshouse and built a boat shelter,” says Ian, who’s also kept himself busy on the golf course and in the golf club, where he held various roles, including president.
Now, though, the time has come.
“Although I can be impulsive, when I make a decision, that’s it. Life is full of choices. You have to make those, and then you have to make the most of the decision. I’ve loved living here, and now it’s time to move on,” says Ian.
Ian may be moving on, but Te Anau continues to attract plenty of interest. In the nearly 40 years since he shifted there, the town’s population has more than doubled.
While most enquiries and all offers on his property came from local Te Anau purchasers, Sandra and Angela are also seeing strong interest from buyers across wider Southland and Otago.
