hong kong tatler. september 2017 209
elena Bay
isn’t like New
Zealand’s other
luxury lodges,
those stately,
homely places,
weathered by
time and fortune, that cater to affluent
travellers looking to fly-fish, hunt, feast on
local produce or simply drink in the country’s
stunning landscapes. It’s more contemporary,
more reserved, more elusive. So elusive, in
fact, that I drive right past the entrance as
I wind down narrow Russell Road, a tiny
byway that clutches the flanks of steep hills
as it tumbles into the remote and impossibly
beautiful bays of Northland’s east coast.
Doubling back, I discover subtle gates and
manicured lawns that look rather out of place,
and I’m vetted by CCTV before making my
way through thick forest to the shoreline of
one of the region’s isolated slices of paradise,
the lodge’s namesake. “I think they like to
keep things pretty subtle, otherwise we’d have
coachloads of people at the gates and people
trying to get in, and we can’t have that,” says
a young staff member as I question the calibre
of my GPS. “We like things nice and private
around here.”
Private’s right. At a cost of US$35 million,
the luxury lodge caters to just 10 guests at
a time, or one, should they book the whole
estate. It’s the New Zealand retreat of a
Russian steel billionaire who likes to keep aWalking in the shoes of a
billionaire, Nick Walton has
New Zealand’s newest luxury
lodge all to himselfPARADISE
COVE
SECRET HIDEAWAY The Helena Bay lodge
sits on three kilometres of pristine coastline with
private beaches and walking trails