The couple, who are based in Britain and the United States, and their three children, teenagers Poppy and Tilly and 6-year-old son Kit, have been in New Zealand since mid-December. Sources tell Society Insider that while their older daughters have memories of New Zealand, Dixon wanted Kit to start forming some of his own during their holidays.<\/p>\n
Sir Scott Dixon with his son Kit at the opening of the Sir Colin Giltrap Raceway. <\/p>\n
In the lead-up to Christmas, Dixon took his son to the opening of the Sir Colin Giltrap Raceway<\/a>, a world-class karting facility in Auckland\u2019s Wiri. A six-time IndyCar Series champion<\/a>, Dixon started karting in New Zealand when he was 7, and was spotted beaming when his son had the honour of doing the first lap around the new track. <\/p>\n The Dixons then travelled to Queenstown over Christmas. The area\u2019s legendary chopper pilot, and owner of Over The Top \u2013 The Helicopter Company, Louisa \u201cChoppy\u201d Patterson, personally flew them into the snow-capped mountains and fiords of Southern Otago.<\/p>\n The family based themselves at an estate on Waiheke to see in the New Year, visiting Cable Bay winery<\/a> and exploring Stony Batter historic reserve, famous for its boulders, coastal scenery and subterranean tunnels that date back to World War II.<\/p>\n Sir Scott and Lady Emma are understood to have enjoyed the Highlife party, where select guests had VIP areas with their own private bar and DJ. Also attending were Kiwi billionaire Steve Owen\u2019s daughter Libby, broadcaster Wilhelmina Shrimpton and her new husband, rugby referee Ben O\u2019Keeffe, and media personality William Waiirua and his fianc\u00e9e, Taylor Sutherland.<\/p>\n American tech multi-billionaire Matthew Prince, of the technology company Cloudflare, was also spotted. With a net worth of US$5.5 billion, Salt Lake City-based Prince and his wife, Tatiana, are reportedly Utah\u2019s richest family. <\/p>\n Society Insider is told the Princes, their children and friends were staying in Auckland for the holiday period, with the adults choppering to Waiheke for the party.<\/p>\n They intend to see the best of New Zealand<\/a> on their visit, including Queenstown, where billionaires Daniel and Jillian Friedlander and Rich Listers Mark and Dominique Francis also enjoyed a holiday break.<\/p>\n Like Dixon, F1 driver Liam Lawson<\/a> has had a busy visit home.<\/p>\n Before Christmas, he joined Rich List son and US-based robotics engineer Toby Baker\u2019s stag do and made a quick trip to Queenstown, flying into town with his girlfriend, American Hannah St John<\/a>, and billionaire Nick Mowbray on the Zuru co-owner\u2019s private jet.<\/p>\n Lawson travelled with Mowbray and his father, Harry, to Cromwell for a hotlap at Highlands Motorsport Park, followed by lunch at Ayrburn restaurant Billy\u2019s.<\/p>\n After spending Christmas with his family, Lawson rented a smart waterfront Airbnb in Mount Maunganui, where he and St John saw in the New Year with friends, including Baker and his fiancee, Mikayla Haycock, who is the talent agent for both Lawson and St John. <\/p>\n St John was spotted at Haycock\u2019s bachelorette party on Monday at First Mates, Last Laugh<\/a> on Auckland\u2019s waterfront. <\/p>\n Haycock and Baker are set to get married this weekend at the St Heliers\u2019 estate of his parents, motoring Rich Listers Grant and Donna Baker. <\/p>\n Meanwhile, over the New Year, Mowbray and his fiancee, Monday Haircare founder Jaimee Lupton<\/a>, entertained friends and family with myriad water sports in the Bay of Islands, sailing their super yacht, the 40.6m Mahoenui. <\/p>\n Interior designer Sally Ridge and her partner, multi-millionaire developer John Darby, were also spotted enjoying time in the Far North on a teal-coloured expedition motor yacht.<\/p>\n Ridge\u2019s daughter, Los Angeles-based fashion influencer Jaime and her husband, AI specialist Tommy Bates, joined them with their two young children.<\/p>\n Both boats were dwarfed by the 117m mega yacht Infinity, valued at more than $500 million, owned by American billionaire and former Google chief executive Eric Smidt.<\/p>\n The Infinity also had its 69m support vessel Intrepid on hand. It is valued at $70m, with a helicopter on board. <\/p>\n California-based Smidt, who Forbes estimated last year to be worth US$36 billion, and his wife, Susan, have not been spotted out and about in Auckland since the Infinity docked at Westhaven Marina last September after sailing to New Zealand from Fiji. However, sources say it is unlikely they have rented their boat out, and the couple and their family are most probably enjoying some quiet time here.<\/p>\n A year after their Queenstown wedding, New York-based model Maia Cotton<\/a> also returned to the Bay of Islands with her husband, venture capitalist Max Feldstein, to spend Christmas with her family.<\/p>\n They spent time at Rosewood Kauri Cliffs<\/a> before Feldstein, Cotton and her sister, gallery owner Mika, relocated to a pad with panoramic views in Sydney\u2019s Eastern Suburbs for the New Year.<\/p>\n Fellow Kiwi former Victoria\u2019s Secret model Georgia Fowler was also back in Sydney from New York, and if Australian media reports are to be believed, it looks like she may have reconciled with her husband, Australian hospitality multi-millionaire Nathan Dalah.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, New Zealand\u2019s wealthiest man and his family enjoyed the holiday season in the US and the Caribbean.<\/p>\n Some members of Graeme Hart\u2019s family<\/a> are understood to have done some New York Christmas shopping, where Hart is reported to own a $50m five-bedroom penthouse in Chelsea.<\/p>\n In the lead up to Christmas, Hart, wife Robyn, son Harry and daughter Gretchen Hawkesby, her husband Duncan and their four children descended upon Colorado, where the family have owned an estate for more than a decade.<\/p>\n In Denver, the family watched the NBA\u2019s Nuggets beat Kiwi Steven Adams\u2019 Houston Rockets. Adams posed for photos with the family, with Gretchen and her daughter Jemima wearing Rockets support gear while husband Duncan and son Dylan wore Denver\u2019s.<\/p>\n The Hart family spent Christmas Day at their beautifully decorated Aspen estate with the Hawkesbys, and are believed to have jetted off to the Caribbean for New Year.<\/p>\n Both the Hart family boats, the 103m mega yacht Ulysses and the 53m Five Oceans, were moored in Saint-Barthelemy. Overseas media nicknamed St Barth\u2019s the bay of billionaires, with Hart\u2019s two boats joined by dozens of mega yachts including those owned by Aussie James Packer, Amazon\u2019s Jeff Bezos (Koru), film producer David Geffen and Swiss billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli.<\/p>\n Since the New Year, Ulysses and Five Oceans have moved northwest to Saint-Martin.<\/p>\n Back in the US, Kiwi Rich Lister and Sky TV founder Craig Heatley spent Christmas with his family at his $20m Maui mansion, and the family have now headed to Whistler in Canada for a spot of skiing.<\/p>\n Kylie Bax returns to NZ screens <\/p>\n Former supermodel Kylie Bax<\/a> is going behind the scenes of New Zealand\u2019s billion-dollar thoroughbred industry in the new Sky Open documentary series, Upon The Land We Stand.<\/p>\n \u201cThis show is not about glamour, until it is,\u201d says Bax. \u201cI moved from gumboots to heels, coats to dresses pretty smoothly in the show.\u201d<\/p>\n Bax tells Society Insider the six-part documentary is about understanding why the racing industry is such a big part of New Zealand culture.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe people will see that the horse industry holds so many values and that we truly love our horses,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Executive producer Leigh McSwan says Bax\u2019s lifelong passion for horses makes her the perfect anchor for the series.<\/p>\n \u201cKylie and her family have bred some of NZ\u2019s top track stars,\u201d says McSwan.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, it was very important that the series wasn\u2019t as much presented but [that it] created a conversation, which Kylie has so naturally achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n Bax grew up in Thames, where her family home overlooked the local racecourse.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so much fun, and since I was 9 years old, I have been studying pedigrees and delving into what makes a good stallion through their bloodlines and lineage,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n When Bax was living in New York in the 1990s, she started learning about American stallions. She went on to buy into her parents\u2019 Blandford Lodge, a prominent thoroughbred breeding operation in Matamata.<\/p>\n These days, Bax is Cambridge-based and operates three businesses: Coniston Lodge for equine development and pre-training, breeding thoroughbreds through her Goldeneye Trust, and syndicating horses through B.A.X Ltd (Bloodstock Achieving Xcellence).<\/p>\n Bax says the new show is coming out during the busiest time in the racing industry.<\/p>\n The New Zealand Bloodstock<\/a> sales in Karaka take place after the Karaka Millions raceday at Ellerslie on January 24. This year marks 100 years of the yearling sales in New Zealand.<\/p>\n Last January, Society Insider reported<\/a> South Canterbury Rich Lister Glenn Ritchie paid a record-breaking $2.4m at the sales, the highest price paid for a filly in New Zealand history.<\/p>\n \u201cNew Zealand thoroughbreds are highly sought-after all over the world. We breed some of the most elite racehorses that compete on the world stage to the highest level,\u201d says Bax, who is currently preparing two yearlings for sale.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not simple to raise horses \u2013 you have to be truly dedicated and passionate about them.\u201d<\/p>\n In the series, she finds out what makes industry insiders tick, including legendary jockey and horse trainer Lance O\u2019Sullivan at Wexford Stables in Matamata, as well as his wife Bridgette and daughters, Caitlin and Georgia.<\/p>\n Bax also met up with horse breeders David and Karyn Fenton-Ellis, the principal owners of Te Akau Racing, spotlights how dairy farmer Alex Parrot retrains thoroughbreds to become polo horses and tells the story of TK, the thoroughbred who has become a therapy horse at Equipotential, a Waikato therapeutic horse riding facility. Bax also spent the day at Waikato Equine Veterinary Hospital with surgeon Dr Greg Quinn.<\/p>\n In the South Island, she meets former jockeys, now trainers, Terry and Debbie Kennedy.<\/p>\n Episode 1 of Upon The Land We Stand premieres on the Sky Go App on January 10. <\/p>\n Party people of the week<\/p>\n First serve of the year <\/p>\n The ASB Classic<\/a> and G.H. Mumm<\/a> hosted an exclusive group of guests at Maison Mumm on Sunday evening for the opening of the ASB Classic at Auckland\u2019s Manuka Doctor Arena. The glitzy event marked the beginning of the tennis tournament, which runs to January 17.<\/p>\n Guests enjoyed delicious bites from Urban Gourmet and beverages from the event\u2019s partners \u2013 including G.H. Mumm and Peroni.<\/p>\n Tournament director Nicolas Lamperin hosted Ukrainian tennis player and women\u2019s top seed Elina Svitolina. Other players in attendance included Kiwi Erin Routliffe and France\u2019s Kristina Mladenovic, with her brother and coach Luka.<\/p>\n Also seen enjoying the launch were actresses Madeleine Sami and Fleur Saville, NZ Herald editor-at-large Shayne Currie and his wife, NZ Woman\u2019s Weekly editor Marilynn McLachlan, TVNZ sports broadcasters Bonnie Jansen and Guy Heveldt, entrepreneur lyia Liu, model Maya Silwood, Real Housewives of Auckland star Angela Stone and influencers Hannah Koumakis, Becky Clements, Samantha Richards, Elise Maric, Jeannie Grace and Jasmine Kim.<\/p>\nSir Scott Dixon with helicopter company pilot and owner Louisa “Choppy” Patterson. <\/p>\n
Highlife Entertainment owner Adam Bennett with US billionaire Matthew Prince. <\/p>\n
Liam Lawson and Hannah St John. <\/p>\n
Nick Mowbray and Liam Lawson (pictured with friends) spent time together this summer. <\/p>\n
Nick Mowbray, Jaimee Lupton and their daughter Noa aboard the Mahoenui. <\/p>\n
Sally and Jaime Ridge at The Landing in the Bay of Islands. <\/p>\n
The 69m support vessel Intrepid with 117m mega yacht Infinity in the Bay of Islands. <\/p>\n
Maia Cotton and Max Feldstein in Sydney. <\/p>\n
Harry and Robyn Hart, Gretchen Hawkesby, Steven Adams, Duncan, Dylan and Jemima Hawkesby. <\/p>\n
The Ulysses in St Barth\u2019s.<\/p>\n
Kylie Bax hosts the new doco series Upon The Land We Stand. <\/p>\n
Kylie Bax mucks in while filming her new series. <\/p>\n
Lance O\u2019Sullivan features in the series. <\/p>\n
Elina Svitolina doing tap tap on Mumm Champagne at the opening of the ASB Classic. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Luka and Kristina Mladenovic. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Georgie and Guy Heveldt. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Ivana Mihaljevich, Iyia Liu and Taylor Delmont. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Hannah Koumakis and Jason Hart. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Claire Southon, Lizzi and Ava Pearson. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Jasper Morrison and Chris Bowen. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Ngahuia Damerell, Shannon Green, Charlie Copsey and Kate Jones. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Jasmine Taggart and Brad Toogood. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Casey King, Juliet McLaren and Bridgette White. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Chris Henry and Matt Reyland. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Anna Archer and Olivia Wright. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Matthew Jacobi and Elise Maric. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Tyson Beckett, Marilynn McLachlan, Anna Lee and Hemma Vara. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Annie and Jeannie Grace. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
LJ Welsh, Bethany Pettengell, Keany Morey and Maya Silwood. Photo \/ Tim Marshall
Liv Airey and Saskia Willox. Photo \/ Tim Marshall<\/p>\n