It was just a stopover – 18 months later, they call it home

NZ Herald

11-06-2025

This is part of a series of sponsored stories by ZB's Kerre Woodham in which she examines life in Metlifecare villages through the eyes of residents – how they came to be there, what shaped their choice of village and their life in residence. Today:Kerre meets John and Taya, a fit and adventurous couple whose year-and-a-half tour of the North Island ended with a fresh start – and a balcony view – they never saw coming.
Should the quiz show Mastermind ever come back on to our screens, John and Taya Schoutens' speciality topic would be retirement villages. Their 18-month quest to find the perfect village has taken them all over the North Island but they couldn't be happier to call Metlifecare Somervale home.
John and Taya loved living in Matarangi but circumstances meant the beautiful seaside village wasn't going to be their forever home. As John explains it, 'We had some events in the Coromandel with roading and weather and so on and you start thinking, especially when you are getting older and it's a three-hour drive from the hospital, we need to sort something out. I said to Taya when I'm 75 I'd like to be organised, so we started travelling round in our motorhome looking at different retirement villages and different options.'
John and Taya had a checklist of what they wanted. Their ideal village needed to be somewhere warm and sunny. They wanted care facilities established, not the promise of a hospital one day and there needed to be loads of facilities and things to do for this fit and active couple – a gym, a pool, proximity to golf courses and the like. Over 18 months, they travelled from Hawkes Bay to Kerikeri and all points in between, visiting a range of villages and staying in each town and city for a few days at a time to get the feel of a place. None were quite right until some friends who were camping at the Mount suggested John and Taya travel over and stay alongside them and check out the Bay of Plenty.
John and Taya fell in love with the area. Now they had to find a village that suited them. Again, they did their homework. They considered Metlifecare The Avenues and they liked the village but it was situated in the bustling metropolis of Tauranga, not the Mount. They visited Metlifecare Bayswater and stayed a couple of nights in the guest suite at the village but it was a bit too big for them. And then they came to Somervale. It's fair to say it wasn't love at first sight.
'We drove past it in the motorhome the day before,' John says, 'and I said to Taya, I'm not going in there! It's old! But we'd made an appointment so I said, we'll have to go and have a look. And then we saw this building and it's all new and we think about how's it's going to be in the future. It will be so nice to grow with the village.'
Somervale is undergoing a massive transformation with new living options and facilities being constructed. Far from being a disincentive, John and Taya are enjoying being a part of the village's rejuvenation.
'I think it's really exciting,' John enthuses. 'There are new apartments ready now, new buildings going up, there are new people coming in the door all the time. It's really vibrant.'
Taya said she knew she'd found the right village the moment she walked in.
'I thought, oooh. This is a resort. This is lovely. I think that's really important. If you go somewhere and it will be your future, it really needs to feel right.'
Initially, John and Taya were looking at villa options at the villages they visited but when they visited Somervale they embraced the idea of apartment living. They love the expansive views from the balcony of their apartment, they love having the option of privacy but knowing their neighbours are close by, they love the streamlined ease of apartment living.
While some people hesitate at the idea of apartment living, it can be quieter, more private and more spacious than they expect. Purpose-built for retirees, the apartments at Somervale offer natural light, different outlooks and clever layouts that balance independence with connection. For John and Taya, it's meant less upkeep, more freedom, and a home that feels like a haven.
'We had a big house and a big garden in Matarangi,' says Taya. 'It was a lot of work – a LOT of work!' John chimes in. 'You're looking at an easier life when you get older. Like now, instead of doing the garden, you can go and have a swim in the pool or you can play a game of snooker or go for a bike ride or a walk on the beach.'
John and Taya were concerned about leaving the friends they'd made in Matarangi but they have a cunning plan – luring their friends to Somervale to come and live in the village with them.
'We have a couple who came here – they only looked at this place – and they signed up straight away. They said we don't need to do any looking around and research. John and Taya have done it all!' John laughs.
John and Taya don't look old enough to be eligible for retirement living. The two of them are fit, fun and proactive – wanting to make the most of their time together in their beautiful new home and looking forward to being part of an exciting new development.
'Straight away we had a good feeling about this village' says John. Because we'd done so much research, we knew we'd found the right place. With retirement villages, you can't just say it's for old people. It can also be a lifechanging opportunity. You can have a really good life here. You just don't want to leave it too late.'