A private balcony at Kauri Cliffs, Northland. Photo / Supplied
Why should you stay in a luxury lodge in New Zealand? Maggie Wicks has some of the answers.
It was around the fifth course that I broke. And by broke, I mean completely gave in. To the luxury, to the kindness, to all the attention. To the utter inability of the staff to say no to me. To the generosity of the chef. To the smokiness of the fire and the plushness of the tiger-print rug.
I was at Kauri Cliffs, a luxury lodge in Northland where, in the before times, international guests (for the most part) waded in luxury and six-star service, on the edge of a world-acclaimed golf course and some of the most dramatic and beautiful landscapes in New Zealand.
This experience - of being waited on, of being greeted on arrival as if you're coming home, of having your every want anticipated - has always been available to New Zealanders.
But many who could afford such luxury, just every now and then, or even just once in a lifetime, may wonder, why would I pay for such an experience in my own country? Where is the value in that? Isn't such expense best saved for international travel?
I'll show you where the value is. It's in the way the staff read you, whether you're up for a chat about your day's activities, or you're hankering for some time alone in a quiet spot in the corner of the library.
It's in the menu, that tempts you to the brink of bursting, and just when you think you couldn't take another bite, offers you a dessert so light and refreshing, it'd be rude not to try.
It's in the sheets and the pillows, which hold your spoilt frame through the night, and the heaviness of the curtains, which banish light and sound till morning, meaning you'll have the best sleep you've had in years.
It's there from the moment you step foot in the door on arrival - no check-in procedure or need to introduce yourself, but instead a drink already poured, your bags already on their way to your room.
At Kauri Cliffs, every day will go something like this. In the morning, wake refreshed in a bed that feels like a cloud. Throw those curtains wide when you're ready, because not an inch of light is getting in before that moment. Wander up to breakfast, where you can dine on poached eggs or truffled mushrooms, freshly squeezed juice and barista coffee.
Then sit in the sunshine overlooking the panoramic views, while you choose your day's activities. It could be a walk across farmland, through forest, down to the coasts and the beaches. There are picnics to be had and golf carts to borrow (whether or not you're trying your hand at the internationally renowned golf course, which rumour has it that Tiger Woods declared too difficult).
Next there'll be lunch, if you've worked up enough of an appetite. And in the afternoon, perhaps a massage, or a tour of the estate, visiting the features of this vast 2500ha property, such as Hikurua waterfall, the beautiful and wild "pink beach", or the kauri that has stood for almost 1000 years.
Return to your room afterwards to find it refreshed and tidied, waiting for you.
And when the evening comes, that's when my favourite part begins.
Getting dressed for dinner is simply the loveliest thing, a ritual we rarely get to take part in. When you dress for dinner, there is an air of something special happening - a night at the theatre, or a fabulous party.
But at Kauri Cliffs, every night is an occasion.
First, select and press your best outfit (don't worry, there's a full-size ironing board in your room, and enough space in the wardrobe alone to put it up and iron), dress up in your finest (and please do make an effort without any fear of being overdressed - the worst that can happen is you'll raise the bar), then walk along a pretty pathway that leads through regenerating native forest to a lodge that looks like the finest house in the Hamptons took off from Long Island, New York, and fell from sky into Te Tai Tokerau.
On entering the lodge, you will be greeted with the most beautiful delicate little canapes - a tiny sweet baby turnip here, a sorrel leaf cigarillo of beef tartare there - and aperitifs, anything you choose. Our Peruvian sommelier whipped up a sweet and tart pisco sour for me, on hearing that I once enjoyed them overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Lima. My guest ordered champagne, because one should never say no to bubbles.
After canapes, you will be led to your table, either in the main dining room, or one of several smaller breakout rooms that allow for more privacy. Here you will dine on perhaps Cook Strait octopus, Northland snapper, quail with sweet vegetables, or venison from Fiordland - or more likely, all four, because this is a feast, after all.
The head chef at Kauri Cliffs, Jonathan Rogers, is a recent import from Queenstown, where for years he learnt the nuances of the land, the climate, the produce and the producers.
Now transplanted to the Far North, he's learning from scratch what it means to be a beach person rather than a snow one, and what that means for the raw ingredients he has at his command. He's forging new relationships with new producers, discovering the oysters and the orchards, the market vendors, the stone fruit, and the roadside stalls he passes along the way.
This is, after all, Northland, an area bulging at the seams with gorgeous produce.
It all seems to grow in abundance here. On the drive from Kerikeri's immaculate airport, we had seen plums and peaches and corn, and kiwi vines growing tall and wide. Red kiwi is the next big crop we were told - just wait, they'll be topping your muesli and bulking up your smoothies by next summer. And it's not just in the orchards but in the backyards of the locals - our driver told us of his garden where he grows peaches and nectarines, cabbage, cauliflower and tomatoes.
Rogers talks about visiting Northland as a kid with his family, and eeling in the mangroves, meting out a gory death to those who made it on to his hook.
He brings this level of delicious bloodlust to his produce here, creating a "whole lamb" experience using the rack as well as the sweetbreads, the rump as well as the belly, to create a plate that is delicate and beautiful, nose-to-tail eating at its prettiest. He talks of permaculture and provenance, then serves it up in a dashi of heritage green tomatoes, or alongside compressed melon and fennel flowers - tasty and interesting things you won't find on the supermarket shelves.
Throughout dinner, which is presented in a series of tiny plates which you're sure could never fill you (but they will, trust me), you're taken on a journey of simplicity and complexity. Take the scallops, three ways. One is roasted, one is scorched, one is simply broth, sweet and peppery. There is homegrown baby corn served in its husk, brushed with crayfish butter. There is crayfish naked but for garlic butter and parsley and a moment under the grill.
You will be served wines to accompany each plate - not a pre-planned tasting flight, but options that matched to your personal palate as well as to what the chef has prepared.
Between courses, glasses will be gently refilled, crumbs will be subtly swept away. Empty plates will disappear and new and exciting ones will take their place. Did we mention dessert yet? I couldn't possibly. Oh, go on then.
Sometimes you just need to be taken care of, and that's the magic that is in motion here.
The value of a stay at a luxury lodge like Kauri Cliffs is in the sense that you are being looked after, nurtured and pampered. You are served by staff who are so well trained and dedicated to their craft, they genuinely want to give you the best experience you could have. You pay for that attention to detail; you pay for that level of professionalism.
And I think, just once in a lifetime, you deserve it.
For more New Zealand travel ideas and inspiration, go to newfinder.co.nz and newzealand.com
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