Shorelines: The hunt is over

By COLIN MOORE

Greg Hunt says the Northland lodge he and his wife Mary have just completed is part of a cunning plot.

The 41-year-old former motor company executive pictures a lifestyle of fishing and sailing in a coastal paradise, an ocean of stress away from a desk in the city. The cunning part, perhaps, is that Mary keeps working in the city and will not always be around to keep an eye on him.

But building Huntaway Lodge at Te Ngaere Bay, between Matauri Bay and Whangaroa Harbour, was one smart move.

Seven years ago the Hunts began holidaying at Te Ngaere and the idea for a new future germinated.

The stretch of coast inshore from the Cavalli Islands is one of the most delightful in the country. It is quintessential Northland east coast, heavily indented, pohutukawa-fringed bays and rocky inlets.

Offshore, it is a boatie's paradise, but there are few places where you can do more than glimpse the coastline from the road. Te Ngaere Bay, with its cluster of baches, is one of them.

Like most people who travel the tourist loop detour off Highway 10 past Matauri Bay and back to Kaeo, the Hunts fell in love with the spot.

There must be some land to buy, they mused. Eventually, four years ago, they struck their nirvana - a hill site with a vista of Te Ngaere Bay, the Mahinepua Peninsula and Flat Island.

So when Greg was not at his desk as a business development manager and Mary was not working as a sales and marketing manager, they were planning, plotting and planting the site for the lodge that named itself from the message on their voicemail - "The Hunts are away ... "

The couple designed the three-bedroom lodge. Each room has a balcony deck, with sweeping views of the coast, and an en suite with underfloor heating. The main dining room, lounge and kitchen are light and spacious, just the spot to sit and relax, admire the view and luxuriate in the Hunts' hospitality.

Mary has a background in the hotel industry and it is a moot point as to who is the better cook, as Greg is no slouch in the kitchen either.

And that is where his cunning plan might have a sting in the tail. The way the couple look after guests, it is unlikely that too much time will be left to loll around. There are gourmet breakfasts to prepare, evening meals if you want them and luxury bedrooms to keep in pristine shape.

Greg, a keen and experienced blue-water sailor, has refitted a wooden, clinker-built fishing dory, which will carry up to eight people. Guests will be able to fish or be ferried to the Mahinepua Peninsula reserve and left with plastic kayaks and food for a private picnic and beach barbecue.

In the evening they can relax and watch the moon rising over the Cavallis.

The lodge may sit in an isolated paradise but there is no shortage of activities. Top of the line is a round of golf at Kauri Cliffs, New Zealand's most exclusive golf course, just 10 minutes down the road. A round will cost you $400 but where else is there antique furniture in the locker room?

Oceans, the Matauri Bay resort owned by Dover and Jacqui Samuels, is also just down the road. You can go there for an evening meal or to organise a dive to the wreck of the Rainbow Warrior.

Fishing charters, deep sea and wet line, are available at Whangaroa Harbour. The craft shops and restaurants of Kerikeri are handy, and you can get back to nature among the kauri trees of the Puketi Forest.

* Huntaway Lodge costs $245 a couple a night, including gourmet breakfast. Dinner is available at $55 a person. Lunches can also be ordered.

Contact: Huntaway Lodge, ph 09 405 1611, e-mail greg@huntawaylodge.com

Huntaway Lodge

* colinmoore@xtra.co.nz