Rosewood Kauri Cliffs might be best known for its championship golf course, but this Hamptons-style lodge sits on some of New Zealand’s most culturally significant land, and guests can now learn its storied history while staying here.
The high-pitched melody of the tui rings through the canopy of the towering totara trees; below silver fern, kawakawa and sword-shaped flax plants carpet the forest floor – there’s no mistaking you’re in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
My guide, Rosewood Kauri Cliffs Guest Relationship Manager, Michael Venner – a descendant of the local Ngāpuhi Māori iwi – hands us a large strip of harakeke flax and begins folding it into a delicate flower.
It’s a demonstration to show how this knife-sharp plant can be transformed into something as pretty as a flower, and as Venner explains, his ancestors used it for many useful purposes from baskets and mats to shelter.
We are on a guided heritage discovery tour in Kauri Cliffs’ on-site totara forest, which is just minutes from my villa, and yet you’d think you were a world away from a luxury lodge. When Venner pauses from explaining the importance of this land to his ancestors, the tui takes over – along with the many other endemic birds that call this important site home.

Deeper in the forest, Venner pulls a heart-shaped leaf from a small Kawakawa tree and motions for us to take a piece off, roll it and taste it.
I chew, letting the peppery taste linger on my palate as he explains this traditional bush food medicine was used for stomach ailments, and is often turned into a tea.
Venner then takes us on a short drive on the 2,430-hectare working sheep and cattle farm to the property’s kauri forest, where under the shadow of an ancient kauri tree, he pulls out a tiny surfboard-shaped instrument and explains it’s a purerehua, a musical instrument Māori often use to call the rains, “an important symbolism around sound and connecting with nature”.


Back on the buggy, we drive across the golf course to the cliff edge, where Venner explains that the shores below are where some of the first Māori arrived by mātaatua (waka), and in the caves on the shoreline between two of the property’s beaches, bones of his ancestors were found.
It’s a humbling experience and one that gives guests a true appreciation of the significance of this land.
As we say our farewell with a traditional Māori hongi, Venner says, “I hope you enjoyed this journey. It’s a great honour and wonderful to share stories about this important site with those who visit here.”
But the honour will be for those who visit and take the time to learn the true sense of this place with the descendants who first walked here.


Wine and dine
Over canapés and drinks in the Hamptons-style lounge of the main lodge, the new Cluster Director of Culinary, Jane-Therese Mulry, comes over for a chat.
Mulry was Executive Chef at qualia on Hamilton Island and Executive Chef at the Waldorf Astoria Seychelles, and is now charged with heading culinary for three of Rosewood’s properties, Kauri Cliffs, Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay and Matakauri in Queenstown.
As we eat decadent morsels she’s created, I tell her how much I enjoyed the Māori tea (a mixture of pururi, kanuka tree and lemon myrtle) which we were given on arrival.
“That’s something I plan on building on,” she says. “I think it’s really important to incorporate more Indigenous ingredients, especially here on this land, which is so significant to Māori.”
The menu changes nightly and that night we get a taste of some of the local produce the property is currently using: Leigh Fisheries, Everygreen Olive Estate and Ludbrook House sheep and beef farm.
I choose the Leigh Fisheries snapper with white asparagus, crumble and brown butter sauce, and we share the 36-hour braised lamb shoulder, which is served by spoon – it’s so tender there’s no need for a knife.
It’s all washed down with a 2021 syrah from Mahinepua Bay – a boutique winery that’s been producing its velvety drop (among other blends) for nearly 20 years.


Out and about
When former Qantas Flight Attendant, Deborah Laing first visited Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, she says she felt so at home that she knew she’d end up working here one day.
Laing is also a Guest Relationship Manager and takes travellers on tours around the sprawling property, as well as doing whatever else she can to make your stay special.
An avid traveller and former keen diver, Deb’s enthusiasm is contagious.
As we drive around the winding hilly roads of the coastal property, she stops every few minutes to point out another stunning scenic spot where the cliffs cleave into the aqua ocean, or to show us the lambs and calves bounding along the countryside, such is the benefit of coming in spring.


We drive up and down the hilly landscape where punga trees and toi toi grass are ever-present.
“It’s heaven on earth here. You can see why I am always smiling,” she says as we reach the top of the cliff and gaze over the bluer-than-blue ocean dotted with the Cavalli Islands.
While some come here for golf, it’s not the majority any longer, she says.
That’s thanks to the myrid of experiences on offer including fishing, kayaking, hiking the many trails, horse riding, and a heli adventure to Cape Reinga – the northwesternmost tip of the North Island.
There are also three beaches on the property, Laing tells us.
“My favourite is definitely Pink Beach. When the pohutukawa trees are out, the contrast of those vibrant crimson flowers against the green of the large flaxes and cabbage trees and the blue of the ocean is just incredible.”
Later, after I take the roughly one-hour walk to Pink Beach to spend more time on this pretty, pink-shelled spot, I head to the spa for a signature massage.
As the therapist’s fingers untangle knots in my back, I am suddenly aware that the soft music that was playing has stopped, and in its place is that sweet song of the tui in the neighbouring totara forest, a soothing forever present sound as if the lodge had created it as its own soundtrack.
Time to bed
The pièce de résistance in our suite would have to be the balcony, where the sun illuminates the verdant landscape, transforming it into something straight from a fairytale.
I’m in a Grand Ocean View Junior Suite, which as the name suggests is ‘grand’, with an oversized walk-in wardrobe, bathroom with freestanding bath where you bathe and look out the window across the pretty countryside, and a gas fireplace that takes centre stage in the open-planned bedroom and living area.
Each villa is tucked discreetly into the landscape for utmost privacy. For the ultimate in luxury, guests can choose the NZ$20,000-a-night four-bedroom villa, which has a 25-foot saltwater swimming pool and can sleep up to 11 people.
Bigger than some houses at 359 square meters, it has a large open-plan kitchen, dining and sitting room, powder room, and garage with your own private golf cart.
Some guests come here and stay for months, Laing tells me. But as for who, well, that’s a secret those on this sacred land won’t share.


The details
Address: 139 Tepene Tablelands Road, Matauri Bay, Northland, New Zealand
Room type: There are 22 junior suites, including two two-bedroom family suites; a two-bedroom villa and four four-bedroom villas.
Check-in: 2pm
Check-out: 11am
Rates: Ranging from $3,000 – $20,000 per night.
For more information, visit Rosewood Kauri Cliffs.