Kauri Cliffs sits just above the Bay of Islands, a half-hour drive from the town of Kerikeri and a short flight from Auckland. Its entrance, which sits at the end of an unpaved road, is so understated you wonder if they are trying to keep the place a secret. Once inside, the landscape is dramatic, overwhelming. Emerald hills are clustered with ink-dark ancient trees. A 50,000-year-old kauri stump exhumed from a methane swamp stands as a ghostly vestige of the forests that once blanketed the North Island. Streams and waterfalls ribbon down the ravines to a panorama of the South Pacific and two miles of private beach. The lodge itself - a stylish mix of Greek Revival South Carolina plantation house and East Hampton summer cottage - is very much the creation of Josie Robertson. A wide, white-columned verandah with rocking chairs wraps around the pale-grey clapboard facade, which has floor-to-ceiling French doors and bay windows. An experience to behold!