Peter Sukonik is Caviar Affair magazine's contributing travel and photo editor. He travels the world capturing inspiring and dramatic photographs of the world's special destinations and writing about his travel experiences. His images and stories inspire Caviar Affair's readers. Peter covers global ultra-luxury hotels, culinary pursuits, tourism, and bespoke experiences for the magazine and other news media.
Peter Sukonik is also a respected master cellist, whose illustrious, international musical career spans more than 40 incredible years. He has performed with orchestras on movie soundtracks, starred on radio programs, and soloed with renowned European and American symphony orchestras, operas, ballets, Broadway productions, chamber groups, and music festivals. In addition, Peter has shared the stage with a wide variety of renowned musicians, from legendary classical musicians and artists such as cellist Mstislav Rostropovich and Ray Charles to leading lights of contemporary music such as Moody Blues, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, and Josh Groban
Outside New Zealand’s first capital, Russell, is the North Island’s chic Eagles Nest. Catering to celebrities and industry captains, these exceptional villas, perched on a peninsula overlooking the Bay of Islands, are a poem to modernity. Glass walls offer a nearly 360-degree view of the bay, while your villa’s heated outdoor 80-foot infinity lap pool and hot tub beckon. Winding wood walkways lead to the private beach below. For an extravagent stay, consider the Rahimoana Villa, a four bedroom paradise with an infrared sauna, gym, display of regional art, home theater, and private chef who prepares meals with local roots and a global reach. Your Porsche Cayenne and driver stand at the ready to whisk you away to whatever land, air, or sea adventure your personal butler has arranged.
The Farm at Cape Kidnappers
An easy helicopter hop away from Kauri Cliffs lies Julian and Josie Robertson’s second New Zealand property on Hawke’s Bay. Built around a sprawling 6,000-acre working sheep and cattle farm, the Farm at Cape Kidnappers is in one of New Zealands top food and wine regions. Each of the 24 spacious suites come with sweeping views, private verandas, and every amenity and convenience imaginable. Meals are served in the light-drenched Loggia. Guests dress formally here for dinner, and you can expect to languish for hours over excellent wine and chef Dale Gartland’s locally influenced seafood and meat dishes. Cape Kidnappers is surrounded by a wide array of farms, and there is no better place to enjoy the bounty than at Hawke’s Bay Farmers Market, where cheerful, colorful locals trade tales, and friendly farmers offer samples and sell fresh fruit, flowers, hand-pressed olive oils, and meats. Throughout the region, adventures are limitless with the opportunity to paraglide, trout fish, and play the seaside Tom Doak-designed golf couse. The unspoiled grounds are a roamer’s paradise, with plenty of majestic cliffs and bush trails to discover. (The farm’s concierge provides maps and snack bags for your walkabout.) And don’t miss greeting the world’s largest colony Australasian gannets.
Avid golfer and investor Julian Robertson Jr. fell in love with New Zealand during a 1978 sabbatical from Wall Street. Never forgetting the powerful impact the country and land had on him and his family, he returned to New Zealand in 1995 to buy a 6,500-acre cattle farm nestled on the edge of a native forest. In 2001, this remote family retreat transformed into one of New Zealand’s most sought-after havens. Its Dave Harman-designed 18-hole golf course is immaculately groomed and challenges even the most accomplished golfer. Getting to Kauri Cliffs is a well-rewarded effort. A 30-minute winding drive begins in the quaint town of KeriKeri, which itself is a short flight from Auckland. The road is sometimes unpaved, but you’ll go past serene sheep farms and sweetly fragrant mandarin orange, lemon, persimmon, and kiwi groves. Each cottage at Kauri Cliffs has a private veranda with overwhelming ocean views and green hills. New Zealander Virginia Fisher and Robertson’s wife, Josie, designed the personal cottages, which feel more like a comfortable home than a hotel with his and hers dressing rooms, deep soaking tubs, and even deeper quilted king beds. If adventure’s worn you out, retreat to your cottage to spend the day reading in front of the fireplace. You can be as active or relaxed as you like here.
Hide and Seek
Exquisite private lodges house adventure seekers down under.
The sheep may outnumber people four-to-one, but New Zealand remains an alchemy of dramatic scenery and rich culture. Rolling green hills lure nature overs, active explorers, foodies, and oeonophiles who have the opportunity to stay at some of he coolest hideaway lodges in the world. This beautiful country delivers postcard views at every turn—from the jagged coastlines, serene lakes, and neverending pastoral farmland in the North sland, to the majestic glaciers, active volcanoes, and sleepy towns in the South Island. New Zealand’s charms are limitless, and its people are kind, generous, and with good humor. You can relax in healing thermal springs, explore mysterious geysers, forage and cook with Maori chefs, hike the 33-mile Milford Track in Fiordland National Park, pass through extraordinary forests, lakes, andiver valleys, visit private ranches, jet by snow-capped mountains on Dart River’s ever-changing braided waters, and re-imagine The Lord of the Rings in a private helicopter. Wherever your passions may lead you, it’s good to ome home to these lodges high on the lists of the world’s most discriminating travelers who come to these havens to immerse themselves n New Zealand’s culinary adventures and active pursuits.
Updated Links on August 3, 2022
