Enjoying The Day at Lake Tekapo

Our last day in New Zealand was spent in Lake Tekapo. There was nothing much to do at Lake Tekapo except enjoying the beauty of the lake and the lovely church called church of the Good Shepherd, one of New Zealand's iconic picture.

I saw many tourist buses stopped at this church for a while, giving the tourists an opportunity to take picture with the church. We were fortunate that we had a one night stay at Lake Tekapo.

Beautiful old church at Lake Tekapo

Baca Selanjutnya...

Review of Mantra Lake Tekapo

Looking for a place to stay at Lake Tekapo was not easy. I couldn't get any accommodation within our budget of NZD120/night when I was looking a room for our one night stay on January 1, 2014 at Lake Tekapo. Actually there's a holiday park at Lake Tekapo, but they requested a min 5 nights stay for our period.

From tripadvisor review, I finally choose a 3 bedroom apartment at Mantra Lake Tekapo. Traveling with other family to New Zealand was an advantage, so that we could share a 3 bedroom unit.

I knew from the time of the booking that Mantra Lake Tekapo was going to be a fabulous place for us, a special place on our last night in New Zealand. But when I arrived at the place, it was more than fabulous! It was home away from home. I mean, someday I dream to have a house like this:p It was awesome!

The apartments at Mantra Lake Tekapo

Baca Selanjutnya...

On The Road from Dunedin to Lake Tekapo

The roadtrip we took from Dunedin to Lake Tekapo was the longest and the most beautiful journey from all of our roadtrip route in New Zealand's South Island. It might not be the longest, but we made so many stops! All the transit points we visited were free and very gorgeous.

1. Amazing Moeraki Boulders

The information of the boulders at the entrance

Baca Selanjutnya...

Things To Do in Otago Peninsula Dunedin

A visit to Dunedin is not complete without taking a drive to Otago Peninsula and enjoy its natural beauty. If you are not on budget, you could also visit The Lanarch Castle claimed to be New Zealand's only castle. 

We drove two times to Otago Peninsula. First time at the evening to catch our blue penguins tour, and the second time was to enjoy Otago Peninsula because we couldn't see anything on the previous night. Although it was cloudy, we managed to capture some great pictures at Otago Peninsula.

The view of Dunedin City, from Otago Peninsula

Baca Selanjutnya...

Review of Tourist Court Motel Dunedin

"Welcome to Dunedin, today is raining but you will enjoy sunshine the next two days", John welcomes us warmly in his tiny office of Tourist Court Motel. Yup it was raining when we arrived at John's motel around 5 pm. We had our longest roadtrip ever from Te Anau, transit in Nugget Point, and continued to Dunedin.

John continued "Your friend is already here, they are staying next to your room" Then after paying the two nights room rate of Large Studio room, John walked with us to our room which is located on the second floor.

John's office and our room,
picture was taken on the next day with the sunshine:)

Baca Selanjutnya...

5 Free Things To Do In Dunedin With Kids

Dunedin, a city in the south-eastern coast of New Zealand's south island was almost not included in our itinerary, because of its unfavorable location. We had to drive 4 hours from Te Anau, but we glad we did. Dunedin is a very beautiful city with heritage buildings, and also possess natural beauty: beaches and the Otago Peninsula.

If you are traveling with kids, here are some places you can enjoy for free in Dunedin:

1. Visit Baldwin Street, The World's Steepest Street

We parked not far from this sign of Baldwin St.

Let's start our morning walk

Baca Selanjutnya...

Roadtrip from Te Anau to Dunedin : Visiting Kaka & Nugget Point

We left Te Anau to continue our roadtrip in the South Island of New Zealand. That day we had to drive 293 KM from Te Anau to Dunedin and estimated to arrive in 4 hours. Cloud and rain accompanied our trip that day. Nevertheless, we still made some several stops because those sheeps on the hill, in the farm and almost everywhere were too cute!

Sheeps, sheeps, sheeps were everywhere!

We prepared lots of food from the motel, we had our breakfast in the car. We wanted to stop somewhere and had a picnic, but the it was raining until we arrived in a city called Balclutha. 

Passing The Balclutha Road Bridge

Baca Selanjutnya...

Review of Birchwood Cottage Te Anau

Had no idea where to stay at Te Anau, a quiet little town located 2 hours away from Milford Sound, I count so much on tripadvisor review. From the most recommended "speciality lodging" section I found a beautiful place called Birchwood Cottage.

I booked the hotel via booking.com, the price for a 3 bedroom cottage is NZD 240 per night. Perfect as it was within our budget of NZD 120 per night, and we could share the whole house with Dini's family. 

Home away from home at Te Anau

Baca Selanjutnya...

Milford Sound: Which Cruise to Choose?

Milford Sound was one of our reason of visiting New Zealand. I believe it's not only for our family, but for many first time traveler to New Zealand. The beauty of this place is so breathtaking. Just like our first view of Milford Sound, before we even reach the ferry terminal.

Lovely Milford Sound 

Baca Selanjutnya...

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.

Baca Selanjutnya...

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

Baca Selanjutnya...

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

Baca Selanjutnya...

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

Baca Selanjutnya...

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

Baca Selanjutnya...

Mengajukan Visa New Zealand

Berbeda dengan saat kami mengajukan Visa Australia satu tahun sebelumnya, entah kenapa rasanya kami lebih percaya diri ketika mengajukan Visa New Zealand. Mungkin karena ini pengalaman kedua kami mengurus visa tanpa bantuan biro jasa. Pengajuan Visa New Zealand melalui New Zealand Visa Application Center (‘NZVAC’) dilakukan di tempat yang sama dengan pengajuan Visa Australia (Australian Visa Application Center ‘AVAC’) yaitu di Plaza Asia lantai 22, Jalan Jend.Sudirman. Sebelum Maret 2013, pengajuan visa New Zealand dilakukan di New Zealand Immigration di Sentral Senayan Building, Jakarta.

Supaya semangat mengurus visa,
saya kasih foto teaser Milford Sound ya:)

Baca Selanjutnya...