Is this the best view in Aotearoa-NZ? We think it might be

It’s a big call to say a home has the best view in the country. But looking at images taken from the verandah in front of Trish Andrews’ home in the tiny coastal town of Ōkārito, on the West Coast, it’s hard not to make a call like that.

Perched high above Ōkārito Beach, in a wind-breaking curve of hillside, Kohuamaru has views as far as the eye can see. They stretch out across the Tasman, and north along the rugged coastline, over Ōkārito Lagoon and estuary, almost to the mouth of the Whataroa River. There’s even a glimpse of the Southern Alps to the east.

It’s the kind of view that would call to any self-respecting artist. In fact, it was an artist who built the house and gave it its distinctive name: Kohuamaru, the sheltered place.

"We've lived in all sorts of places around the country," says Trish, who is originally from Hokitika. "We got to retirement age, and[my late husband] Barry basically said, 'I want to go home'."

'Home' for them was this wild part of the West Coast, where they had spent a lot of time as a young couple. They started looking and put an offer on a place. When that didn’t pan out, a friend told them photographer Andris "Andy" Apse had put his place at Ōkārito on the market.

"We used to come here before we were married. We'd come here whitebaiting, and we came here for our honeymoon - I organised the wedding. He organised the honeymoon. We always loved it."

It had been a wee while since their last visit when they came to take a look at Kohuamaru.

"We came up and stood on the deck, and I think I was sold within the first five minutes," she says. "It’s virgin territory. It's just unique. I just said, 'Shall we? Should we just do this?'"

Barry was very keen.

The couple had businesses in Otago, so initially they were dividing their time between Ōkārito and Queenstown. But Trish wasn’t keen on using the tiny hamlet’s claim to fame: its little airstrip.

"That airstrip's not big enough for me," Trish jokes. "My son would fly in there though, because he's a commercial pilot."

The township's other claim to fame is that it was home for 40 years to New Zealand’s first Booker Prize-winning author, the late Keri Hulme.

In such creatively fertile ground, you’d think the Andrews might have a little creativity of their own flowing through their veins.

"Absolutely not," says Trish, without a second’s hesitation. "I'm creative in the kitchen. That's about it."

She does take photos of the stunning sunsets, but doesn’t have the patience to sit out on the deck waiting for the perfect shot, like Apse used to.

"He used to go for days just waiting for that perfect moment to capture. You've got to have a bit of patience. I don't have any of that."

She does find herself captivated by the view, however. It just depends where she sits on their verandah, and what the weather is doing. One way faces the sea and the pine trees, the other way faces the mouth of the estuary.

The big West Coast weather can make for some dramatic views.

"The mouth is always changing. One minute it's turning south, and the next minute it's turning north,[...] and now it's just totally changed again. It's just amazing.

"When there’s thunder and lightning, you turn the lights off, and you can just watch it going over the sea, and she's pretty."

In some ways, the home - a handsome, three-bedroom, two-bath, cedar-clad building with exposed timber beams and warm stone floors - is almost an afterthought. Anywhere else it would be the star.

It was meant to be the Andrews' forever home, where they would spend their golden years enjoying the sunsets and the world-class views, and travelling whenever they pleased.

Sadly, however, that wasn’t to be. Barry died suddenly about a year ago, and Trish has decided to move to be closer to one of her children.

"It's too big for one person," she says.