tesyasblog : January 2014

Glenorchy: A Gateway to Paradise

We left our motel Pinewood Lodge early and head to Glenorchy passing by the beautiful Wakatipu Lake. Our journey started when we saw a sign "Take a Drive to Glenorchy". And below that sentence, there's a little text saying "gateway to paradise".

thanks to Mr.Sunshine that day

Indeed it was a gateway to paradise, the journey from Queenstown to Glenorchy and vice versa was very beautiful! We made several stops to take picture and of course utilize our gopro to take picture from the car.

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Review of Pinewood Lodge Queenstown

It was frustrating to find a place to stay for our family in Queenstown New Zealand during summer time within our budget (NZD 150 per night). Hotels located in the heart of Queenstown were expensive during the peak period, whilst motels weren't cheap either. We preferred to stay in a motel in order to be able to cook our meals. After hours spent to search for a hotel in booking.com we finally choose The Pinewood Lodge, a lodge with a decent review on tripadvisor. We got a unit for four person cost NZD 120 per night.

We drove from the city center to Pinewood Lodge on our first day, it took only about 5 minutes by car. Then we parked our car near their reception area. One thing I learned from check-in process in New Zealand, guests are not required to present passport. It is different than its neighbour country, Australia.

The Reception of Pinewood Lodge

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Queenstown With Kids: Skyline Gondola and Kiwi Birdlife Park

There are so many free things to do in the beautiful city of Queenstown New Zealand, and of course so many attractions which are unfortunately expensive (well, at least for us it was expensive!). For example, if you wish to do a bungy jumping at Kawarau Bridge, one adult has to pay NZD 180. Oh my...

As we took our kiddos to Queenstown, we tried to choose kids friendly attractions. We choose to go up to Bob's Peak by Skyline Gondola and to take our kiddos meeting up the real Kiwi Bird at Kiwi Birdlife Park.

Skyline Gondola

We arrived at 8.15 pm and were 15 minutes late to buy the Sky Luge tickets. But as we have told our kiddos that we were going to take a gondola that evening, we decided to pay NZD 76 for a family ticket. Off we went to Bob's Peak where we could enjoy the beauty of Queenstown at around 8.30 pm.

It was really peaceful

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6 Things To Do for The First Timer in Queenstown New Zealand

If you are planning your first time holiday to New Zealand, make sure that Queenstown is the number one city of your list. When I was looking for a connecting flight from Melbourne to New Zealand, the most expensive ticket was to Queenstown. No wonder, this city is located 4 hours away to the magnificent Milford Sound. And of course, first timer to New Zealand will put a Milford Sound cruise in their itinerary. Read our story of Milford Sound in this link.

Here are our list of things to do if you are visiting Queenstown for the first time:

1. Visit Lake Wakatipu Over and Over Again

The beautiful Lake Wakatipu, in the heart of the city

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The Top 10 Highlights of our Holiday in New Zealand with Kids

Hi all, happy new year! I hope it is not too late to wish everyone a happy new year, as we have just came back from our new year’s holiday in New Zealand :)

I was in doubt where to start posting about our New Zealand holiday with kids, there are too many beautiful pictures and memorable stories to be shared with tesyasblog’s readers. I shall start with a recap of the 10 ten highlights of our New Zealand trip. Oh gosh, I miss the clear sky, fresh air, beautiful view in New Zealand really bad!

1. Tekapo Springs, a hot pool with incredible view (Lake Tekapo)

Our kiddos love to swim so much, but it was too windy and cold to swim except in a hot pool. Fortunately we had bought tickets to Tekapo Springs, a hot pool overlooking Lake Tekapo via bookme at a 50% discount. We paid only NZD 10 for one person, the normal price is NZD 20 for adult and NZD 12 for children.

We enjoyed our time in the hot pool, just to relax at the pool while enjoying the scenery of a pinewood forest and also the beautiful Lake Tekapo.

a stunning hot pool

so happy to be back in the pool

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Hotel Tentrem Yogyakarta, a Luxury and Kids Friendly Hotel

It was a nice surprise when my friend told me that our year end meeting of 2013 was going to be held in Yogyakarta. And I was super excited when I knew that Hotel Tentrem was finally chosen of the venue of our meeting, meaning that we were going to stay at this brand new hotel for two nights.

When I first saw the hotel from the outside, it didn't interest me, until I arrived at the lobby. I knew this hotel would be my fave hotel in Yogyakarta.