Solar-powered lifestyle

Solar-powered lifestyle

Sean and Gina Higham are a young English couple who applied to Prometheus in late 2006 to help them realise a long-held dream of establishing a sustainable lifestyle.

They have backgrounds in product marketing and project management having spent many years in the UK working for importing, distribution and retail companies. They are both active and adventurous with Gina being a keen archer, having represented Great Britain on several occasions, and Sean having been a sidecar racer at regional and national level.

Sean and Gina had long harboured a goal "of having enough land to grow our own vegetables, plant fruit trees, keep a few chooks and, of course, build our own home." They found Waiheke to be the perfect place to advance this goal and spent time checking out the options on the island.

When one of the shareholders at Awaawaroa Bay Eco-Village decided to sell their share and entitlements on the 169 hectare property Sean and Gina felt they had finally found what they'd been looking for. The share came with a hectare of private garden space, simple bach-style accommodation and joint ownership of the majority of the property. Their longer-term plan is to build an adobe house on their part of the property.

Prometheus has made a range of loans to shareholders in this eco-village in the past and was more than happy to provide the extra finance that Sean and Gina needed so that they could put down roots and build their dream of a sustainable lifestyle.

In Gina's words living at Awaawaroa is "wonderful - everything that we hoped it would be" and she is particularly pleased that she can build her web-based graphic design business from home powered directly by the solar photovoltaic system that came with the property.

For Sean it's not so simple as his commute into Auckland is a little more demanding, especially in winter. Nevertheless they're both looking forward to building a long-term future on Waiheke.