Stars like it Kiwi style

By TAMMY BUCKLEY - Sunday News | Sunday, 30 December 2007

A summer star-spotting frenzy has broken out with two of Hollywoods' biggest names believed to have been joined by one of the world's richest men.

Oscar winners Charlize Theron and Jack Nicholson were reported to be enjoying the sights and sounds of Auckland's Waiheke Island.

And last night music fans were on alert for a possible sighting of the celebrity pair at the first of two Little River Band concerts at the island's Ridgeview Estate winery.

Nicholson, the star of movies such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and As Good As It Gets, is no stranger to the country and was one of countless high-profile spectators who arrived here to watch the 2003 America's Cup.

Unconfirmed reports suggest the 70-year-old film legend has a property on Waiheke.

South African-born stunner Theron, who won her Oscar for Monster, has visited before and is a friend of Kiwi filmmaker Niki Caro who directed her in North Country.

Meanwhile, the small northland community of Ahipara was buzzing last week after a surprise appearance by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, said by Forbes magazine to be worth $73 billion.

Gates apparently enjoyed a two-hour quadbike tour near the surf town.

Local quadbike tour operator TuaTua Tours last night refused to confirm to Sunday News that Gates had been in town.

"I can't confirm anything," a spokeswoman said, citing client confidentiality.

Gates, a frequent visitor to our shores, reportedly flew in on Boxing Day with his family and a small platoon of security guards in tow.

The celebrity rumour mill also suggests superstar Johnny Depp is due to visit the surfing hotspot over the next few weeks.

New Zealand has fast become a top holiday retreat for the rich and famous.

When Tom Cruise came in 2003 to film The Last Samurai around New Plymouth he praised the country's beauty and Taranaki's "stunning and breathtaking" scenery and the warmth of the Kiwis he met.

"New Zealanders are known for their warmth and hospitality and generosity and I certainly have seen every bit of that since I've been here," Cruise said.

Singers Jack Johnson and Ben Harper's love for the country and Raglan's surf saw them buy properties in the coastal town.Country music star Shania Twain has also found a haven here, purchasing Motatapu Station near Wanaka a few years ago.