The Farm at Cape Kidnappers

Courtesy of NZ Today Magazine.

The Lodge at The Farm on Cape Kidnappers is certainly “exclusive” by  anyone’s standards. It’s also very nice.

There was a storm of controversy when wealthy American Julian H Robertson III bought the farm that operated on the distinctive Cape Kidnappers, with plans to retain it as a working farm, but also to develop, firstly  a golf course and then a resort. And it’s only right that  the purchase should have been subjected to some scrutiny because Cape Kidnappers is a geographic icon. Robertson, a financier, has invested heavily in New Zealand Ñ before Cape Kidnappers he’d also developed the major resort at Kauri Cliffs at Matauri Bay in Northland and also owns a 12,000 acre run in the South Island which he will also develop. While the golf course at Cape Kidnappers was the first development here, there needed to be a road into the place and this is a work of art in itself. It is 8 kilometres long from Clifton and crosses a stream, several times as it wends its way up a valley into heavily forested hills and then emerges onto the tops where there are the steep hills and narrow ridges that characterise Cape Kidnappers.

There are extraordinary views out over Hawke Bay.  The golf course was designed by internationally-renowned Tom Doak and the finished article has been ranked as the 27th in the world by the American Golf magazine.  But, I’m no golfer and wouldn’t know a driver from a number 9 iron if you asked me, so I’m here to look at The Farm & the new “super” resort that opened just six or seven months ago. There is security here and I’d phoned ahead to make an appointment with Claire Malcolm who came to The Farm from Huka Lodge. At the gate I press the button and I tell the young lady who says “Hello” who I am and what I am doing here. The gates wings silently open and I start on the magnificent drive in. The Lodge is truly magnificent and, Claire, who meets us as the end of the drive, gives us a guided tour of the facilities, but not the guest rooms or units as the place has a guest who has “exclusive use”. You feel that “discretion” is a word that is part of the code here.

There was controversy over the purchase of Cape Kidnappers by Robertson and it’s fair to say that there is a level of resentment among some locals over the exclusive nature and the cost of either playing a round of golf here or staying a night. But before Robertson arrived, there was no golf course here and no resort. Tariff? For what is offered, it seems reasonable. The card rate for the low season (that’s now) starts at $550 per person per night and that includes a full gourmet dinner and a full breakfast. But there is also a joint winter promotion with Kauri Cliffs where you can take your choice of either resort, have unlimited golf with a cocktail hour, gourmet dinner and full breakfast from $625 per person. The Farm at Cape Kidnappers is an impressive resort and while a New Zealand geographic icon is now in foreign ownership, and perhaps there is an air of exclusivity about the place that’s a bit alien to most New Zealanders.

What’s been created here out of a sheep and cattle station, would never have happened otherwise.                        


Story by Allan Dick
Courtesy of NZ TODAY. To subscribe phone 0800 611 911 or e-mail.

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