Who goes to a golf resort and doesn’t play? Rosewood’s New Zealand resorts offer so much more | Canada Voices

Under a towering ancient Kauri tree near the tip of New Zealand’s North Island, a Maori man walks right up to me. We clasp hands and lean in so our foreheads and noses touch. We look into each other’s eyes. It feels like we’re about to kiss but this is an official Maori welcome. “This is me and all who came before me greeting you and all who came before you,” says tour guide Michael Venner of the Ngāpuhi Māori iwi (tribe). Venner holds me long enough so I can get over the shock at being so close and embrace the meaning of the gesture. When he sees it in my eyes, he lets go.

“If we knew each other better, we’d touch stomachs, too,” he says, smiling as he steps back.

Venner runs the cultural tours at Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, a resort renowned for its par 72, clifftop golf course overlooking the Pacific – it’s one of three luxury lodges the brand now runs in New Zealand. His tours are part of Rosewood’s effort to reach beyond bucket-list-ticking golfers at all three of its New Zealand hotels, which include Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay and Matakauri in Queenstown on the South Island. (The brand took over management of the Robertson Lodge properties in 2023.)

“We’re trying to dig into the local culture,” says Stephane Massarini, Rosewood’s managing director in New Zealand. “It was just golfers before but that’s changing.”

The approach goes beyond offering a fancy spa and cooking classes, and it works because the off-course adventures connect guests with New Zealanders who are happy and sometimes bemused by your interest in their every day.

At Kauri Cliffs, the chance to dive deeper into Maori history makes sense. First contact between Maori and Europeans was made just offshore. Captain James Cook arrived in 1769 on an island guests can see from the resort’s enormous veranda and this Northland region is home to most of the country’s Maori population.

During my visit, the golf course is simply a green space our group crosses to explore the 6,000-acre property. Venner’s tour begins in the lodge library, where we hold carved pounamu, a green stone that carries much cultural weight for the Maori, and he patiently answers our questions about Maori history and the impact of European arrival. On a walk through a native forest full of birds surrounding the hotel’s spa, he points out a precontact carving I’d missed before. Under its watchful eye, Venner talks about the medicinal properties of kawakawa tree and manuka honey while he rips leaves from a nearby branch for us to munch.

Later we buckle up in an off-road vehicle skirting golfers and manicured tees to ramble down potholed paths and weave around cattle. Venner points out ancient paths that are still used by local Maori to cross the property as we bump on down to Pink Beach. Here, the wind roars and waves pound the shore. The sea foams around my feet while I look among millions of shells for those eroded into delicate rings that I can slip onto my fingers. This is my favourite of the property’s three beaches and when I finally look up, the long-fingered boughs of Norfolk pines wave incessantly in the blustery weather. It’s one of those unforgettable corners of the world full of majesty and magic – and rarely noticed by those who just come for the golf.

Rosewood’s other hot golf property is farther south on the North Island. Cape Kidnappers in Hawke’s Bay is ranked by Golf Digest magazine as the country’s best public golf (No. 1 is private). Rosewood’s golf tourists are happy to hand over $975 New Zealand dollars ($770) for a round on the Tom Doak-designed course. I don’t play but found it fascinating that this famous course is barely visible to hotel guests. The lodge and suites perch on a ridge overlooking Hawkes Bay sunsets – it’s another 30-minute walk or 10-minute golf cart ride past a farm, cattle paddocks and an animal sanctuary to reach it.

Long before Rosewood took over the management of Cape Kidnappers, American hedge fund billionaire Julian Robertson and his family invested in the land by rescuing a failing cattle and sheep station. The family built the luxury hotel and legendary golf course to help ensure revenues support the farm and wildlife sanctuaries. (The Robertsons used this model at Kauri Cliffs, too.)

Sheep shearing and sheep dog demonstrations, off-road tours of the property, plus outings to spot kiwi birds and the once-thought-extinct takahe bird also help fund the farm and conservation efforts.

They also give visitors a taste of rural New Zealand life. Our property tour is led by sheep farmer Matt Nilsson, who has a playful, take-no-prisoners bluntness. Riding shotgun in his Can-Am means hopping out and opening the paddock gates – and don’t forget it.

He’s lived in this area for 14 years – he knows every inch of the property – from the coastal Maori village sites to the best views of the 800-foot limestone cliffs and enormous gannet colony. So, while the paths we follow are often barely visible, I trust him as we veer up steep slopes and careen down river gullies and through dense forest. There are hiking trails from the hotel down to the beachfront but this is so much more fun. And throughout we learn a lot of colourful local slang. He’s got this group of city-bred North Americans in the palm of his hand.

On another day – still not going near golf greens – we explore Cape Sanctuary, the largest privately owned and funded wildlife protector in New Zealand. Guide and volunteer Phillip Hensen is more reserved than most New Zealanders but he caters to our wildlife whims – I had seen a photo of what must be the biggest, ugliest bug ever and when I ask about it, Hensen steps into the bush to find the harmless giant, a weta, so I can (reluctantly) hold it in my hand.

Other animals during our autumn visit in May play hard to get. But we do enjoy the cape’s incredible coastal views, glimpse grey-faced petrels resting in nesting boxes and (eventually) see the results of the sanctuary’s successful takahe breeding program. The native flightless birds were thought extinct until a small colony was found on the South Island in 1948. Cape Sanctuary’s breeding program protects 21 birds. When we spot the silvery green and blue feathered beach ball of a bird, Hensen gives us plenty of time to get closer, take pictures and ask questions. When there are only around 500 in the world, it feels special to see four of them.

An older, non-breeding takahe pair were moved near the golf course, Hensen mentions. That seems fitting, I wisecrack. And the dedicated, no-nonsense volunteer finally smiles.

Once I got home, the golfers I know were envious of my visits to the Kauri Cliffs and Cape Kidnappers. They couldn’t believe I didn’t even go to the driving range. I told them they had no idea what they were missing.

If you go

Air New Zealand runs direct flights between Vancouver and Auckland.

Rosewood Kauri Cliffs, in Northland, New Zealand, is around four-hour drive from Auckland, but many guests fly into nearby KeriKeri regional airport, which is a 30-minute drive from the resort. Rosewood Cape Kidnappers, is about a five-hour drive south of Auckland, but many guests fly to Napier regional airport, which is 40-minutes from the resort.

In the South Island, overlooking a quiet corner of Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown, Rosewood Matakauri is a short drive from the airport. There’s golf nearby but guests come for alpine adventure year-round. Located near a dark-sky preserve, the stargazing experience run by a local astronomer is one of the best ways to enjoy the southern skies. Rooms at each property start at $2,520 New Zealand dollars ($2,000), which includes breakfast, dinner, predinner cocktails and the suite’s non-alcoholic mini bar.

The writer was a guest of Rosewood Hotels, which did not review or approve this article. Stories are based on merit; The Globe does not guarantee coverage.