Savouring Views in New Zealand with Julian Robertson

As the co-founder, chairman and chief executive of the US$30 billion investment firm Tiger Management L.L.C., American Julian Robertson, 82, has achieved a high profile in the world of finance. Robertson, who owns three upscale properties in New Zealand, talks to the New York Times about how he fell in love with this country and what travellers should do on their own trip here.

New York City-based Robertson is the owner of Kauri Cliffs Lodge in the Bay of Islands; the Farm at Cape Kidnappers; and Matakauri Lodge near Queenstown. His love for the country began just before he started Tiger in 1980 when he spent six months in Auckland with his wife, Josephine, and their two children (a third son was born later) to write a novel. The book was never published, but his attraction to the region stayed with him when he was back in the United States. He made his imprint there permanent more than a decade ago when he bought the farmland where he built Kauri Cliffs.

Robertson was compelled to write his novel in New Zealand because he says he was always interested in geography.

“Since the country has some of the most diverse geography in the world including mountains, sea and farmland, I was drawn to it,” Robertson explains. “On one of my trips to New Zealand, I saw the farmland, which would be Kauri Cliffs and learned it was for sale at a good price. I thought it was such a gorgeous piece of land and decided to buy it and build a hotel.”

“[An ideal itinerary for travel in the country would be] two weeks,” he says. “When you’re here, I would say to stick to the coastline and the countryside, including the mountains like Mount Cook. They are spectacular and really what make the country special.”

Original article by Shivani Vora, The New York Times, February 13, 2015.

Photo by Vaughan Leighton Brookfield.