Caddyshack Mini Golf

This quirky miniature village in Queenstown is fun for the whole family and won’t break the bank.

It was Krystal’s first time ever playing mini golf and given the competitive nature of our girls I wasn’t sure how it was going to go and by hole 2 I was starting to think I had made a terrible mistake.

I took a deep breath though and decided what we needed was a bit of practice.  It wasn’t busy so we spent 10 minutes practicing our stance and our putting which turned out to be just what we needed and the game improved immeasurably from there.

It took us 2 hours to get around this little miniature mini gold world and the girls absolutely adored it!

Caddyshack Mini Golf Queenstown

Perfectly set up mini towns – complete with a gondola for the ball to ride up!

It was really engaging for kid and well priced at under $60 for the 4 of us (James sat this one out and made us an amazing dinner back at the campground instead).  It is definitely something you can do with just one parent so it is a great one if one of you are looking for a bit of time out.

There are no under 5’s allowed on the course (they have to be in buggies) so that is definitely something to think of if you have a pre-schooler.

They don’t have a website but you will find them just next to the gondola or you can call them on 03 442 6642

How we rate them…

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 10/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 10/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 10/10

Cat rates it 9/10

Queenstown

Following the “road rage on the luge incident” with the youngest two of our three girls I set off to spend some alone time with our eldest daughter Bella in Queenstown while we waited for the other two to make up.

We grabbed a drink from Starbucks in the Queenstown Mall and sat out in the sun and watched the world go by.

After about half an hour we got a snapchat from the road racers who were now once again best of friends and we waited for them to join us.

All together we wandered through the shops and down to the lake front.

Walking through Queenstown

There are so many things to see on Queenstown’s lake front – it truly is like no other town in New Zealand.

In particular we loved the mechanical sharks that raced through the water (with a person inside), dove under and jumped up 18 feet (the picture is one I took of them jumping out of the water).  We didn’t get to have a turn but James and I have already decided we want to go back sans kids so this will be high on our list of must do’s – you can check it out here…

Queenstown’s Semi Submersible Shark Ride

After wandering around for a while we decided we had to do the obligatory trip to Fergburger for dinner.  The last time I went to Fergburger it was amazing and the queues outside are testament to its fantastic reputation but for some reason our’s wasn’t great – we were up to number 90 when our number 75 was finally called and the food was cold as soon as we got it.  So I can’t recommend it based on this visit but based on previous visits absolutely and hey, I’d still go back and give them another chance.  Phone ordering is a great idea too – you can visit them here….

http://www.fergburger.com/fullscreen.html

We were determined to try some Central Otago reds on our trip but going into Betty’s Liquor store we got totally side tracked by Man O War and ended up traveling across two islands to drink something just across the harbour from home – it’s just so good though!!!

Queenstown just feels great – everyone is happy and relaxed and there is much a sense of adventure as there is a peacefulness in the beauty that surrounds everything.  It should be top of the list for anyone travelling in New Zealand.

Chilling by the lake in Queenstown

James says…

It’s like Paihia on steroids.  It’s like a small Vegas by a lake.  Can’t really say I ate anything sensational except for that one meal I cooked.

How we rated it…

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 9/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 10/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 7/10

James rates it 8/10

Cat rates it 9/10

Queenstown gondola and luge

The Queenstown gondola and luge were a short walk from our holiday park Creeksyde and were high on the kids list of things to do in Queenstown so it was the first thing that we did for our first day in Queenstown.

For less than $200 we secured rides up and down the gondola and 20 luge rides.

We were lucky enough to go down the Rotorua luge last year so we were comparing against this and found that the view was far more spectacular, the gondola steeper and more dramatic but the luge ride itself a lot less adventurous.  So much so that after two rides down James and I gave our remaining rides to the kids who all got 5 rides down.

All was going well until the end of the 5th ride when Krystal came down the hill with a face like thunder.  Apparently Sophia had side swiped her on the way down and we now had a serious case of road rage on our hand between the youngest two.

Shaking with rage and declaring they hated each other we had to separate them (hard when you still need to get back down the hill in a rather small gondola).  At the bottom Krystal had said sorry but Sophia wasn’t having a bar of it so they were sent off with James for a bit of time out in the camper van while I took Bella for a drink in town.

Luge fun – prior to the road rage

Road rage aside, its a great way to spend a morning and while it is not the most adventurous thing you can do in Queenstown it certainly has the nicest views.

Views from the top of the gondola

Queenstown views

Queenstown Views

You can find out more about the Queenstown gondola and luge here….

http://www.skyline.co.nz/queenstown/

James says…

Just not as good as Rotorua – we couldn’t recreate that here.  The girls bonded at Rotorua – here they squabbled, they couldn’t even share a muesli bar nicely there.  The views were amazing and seeing the parachuters walking off the cliff was pretty cool.

How we rate it…

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 9/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 10/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 10/10

James rates it 7/10

Cat rates it 7/10

Creeksyde

I know I paint a glossed over picture of life on the road and our lovely kids but sometimes they are just out and out nasty and that is certainly the case on this particular stretch of the road as we embarked on our third late night in a row and they were all exhausted after skiing.  Fortunately their tempers were relatively short lived and we managed to get back to an equilibrium and I grabbed a wine glass from the camper van cupboard and cracked open a bottle of Pinot Gris in the passengers seat.

Me, neglecting my co-pilot duties

It was at about this point that James reminded me of my co-pilot duties – which it would seem are not to drink wine, take photos and check Facebook while he does all the driving.

Apparently a good co-pilot should be finding out where we were going (remember, I like getting lost) and know a few interesting facts about the places we were travelling through.  I was failing on all fronts fairly miserably so tried a little more googling/sign reading as we travelled in between wine drinking, facebooking and photo taking of course.

Fortunately my pre-planning when it came to our accommodation for the next 3 nights had been nothing short of superb and I somewhat redeemed myself – for no other reason than I chose Creeksyde as the our camper destination.

We arrived at Creeksyde just after 8 with the office shut (flashbacks to Haast) but a lovely note welcoming us to the camp and giving us all the information we need.

We pulled in to our camp site to find a communal BBQ area with a thatched roof and the neighbours toasting marshmallows.  The kids rolled out and were instantly presented warm toasty marshmallows and I, seeing that the neighbours had their wine out too, poured another glass and settled down for Spaghetti on Toast.

Our spot at Creeksyde Camping Ground

This was the first night that we had stayed somewhere and didn’t need to leave first thing in the morning and it felt fantastic!  The kids firmly on holiday time we all slept in and woke up to explore the wonderful eclectic camp ground that is Creeksyde.

The whole campsite is quirky, fun and entirely usable but the highlight is most definitely the fantastic toilets with the boys toilets styled as a pub and the girls toilets as a spa.

Creeksyde’s eclectic and highly functional facilities

Everything about Creeksyde is considered and unique – from the day spa toilets to the heart shaped trees

When I booked I was worried about the lack of playground – I needn’t have worried at all!  There were ample trees to climb and places to play tag with other children in the campground and endless places to explore including the neighbouring school which did have a very cool playground and parachuters landing on the field.  We stayed 3 nights and could have still stayed longer happily.

We were super central to the city and walked to the luge and town in less than 10 minutes.

I couldn’t recommend it more highly and you can book your spot here…

http://www.camp.co.nz

James says…

Blown away really.  You had more facilities than you needed really – so many campers but nothing felt over crowded.  Their use of space was amazing.  The eccentric ideas – it had everything – even a gourmet supermarket across the road.

How we rated it…

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 10/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 10/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 10/10

James rates it 9/10

Cat rates it 10/10

Tips for hiring a camper van in New Zealand

First up – hiring a camper van is awesome and surprisingly affordable for a family of 5 to have a really amazing holiday!

However, there are some things that I wish I had of read about hiring a camper van before embarking on a journey across the South Island with our 3 children….  Hopefully some of this will give you some useful tips for hiring a camper van in New Zealand.

After the inevitable toilet stop we finally made our way out of Christchurch airport and on the shuttle headed for our Maui camper van pickup.

I had checked in earlier in the week online and printed all the information we needed so I was ready to race in, pick up our camper van and head off to the city to meet my good friend Sarah for a well deserved wine.

This is a good time to point out that organisation is not my strong point.  I’m more a big picture thinker and the finer details not only escape me – they scare the living daylights out of me.  It probably won’t surprise a lot of you given the name of this blog (Getting Lost) that I prefer to cruise along and see what happens.  So clearly for me this level of pre-organisation is only reserved for the very special occasions where I need a speedy departure.

Feeling mighty proud of my organisation skills I sauntered in with kids in tow ready to collect our keys.

An hour later I’m sitting at a table with 3 children in various stages of melt down, hot chocolate spilt over the floor and luggage strewn all over the place.

Finally we get to key time but there is some fine print in the terms and conditions that we didn’t read where it said that in the event of a roll over we wouldn’t be covered by insurance.  These things are high and let’s face it – the chances of rolling one of these is probably higher than anything else we drive.  Grumpily I pull out my credit card and decide it’s just not worth the stress.

Finally we head out to the camper van.  By this time all three kids are in complete meltdown, I am grumpy and James is looking like he might just drive off without us all but I’m excited to see my new Maui camper.  So I’m a little surprised when they lead us up to a Kea camper….  Apparently all the same company but in my head I had made a decision for Maui over Kea so I felt quite disappointed.

The purpose of this blog is not to complain about companies, but I do feel that if I had of done a bit more research and read a few more blogs before our trip then I wouldn’t have felt so disappointed initially – I hope it does the same for you.

Overall Maui/Kea provide fantastic camper vans that drive brilliantly and have great on road assistance.  They answered my complaints quickly and authentically and went out of their way to help fix the situation.

There are however some things that I wish I had of read about hiring a camper van first….

1. There will be a wait when you check out your camper van – even if you do it online.  Allow for 2 hours from when you arrive at the airport and plan entertainment for the kids.
2. Maui and Kea – same company.
3. For peace of mind, expect an extra charge for roll over insurance
4. There are some roads that are excluded – like the road from Queenstown to Cardrona – if you are planning on going over there you will need to take an alternate route (we did – it’s not bad at all, just longer)
5. The TV is not able to be viewed from the seats down low – only the cabin up high – this really helps with bedding expectations
6. For Kea (not Maui) the rear bed is cut on an angle so while it is a double at one end it is a lot narrower at the other and has cushions that separate instead of a mattress – again, helpful to set expectations with where little ones are sleeping.

Grumbles over we are on the road.  The music is blasting and we are singing at the top of our lungs, waving madly at every camper van that goes past and James is asking if we can download that song about the King of the Road.

How we rated it….

Sophia (6 years old) rates it 6/10

Krystal (8 years old) rates it 9/10

Bella (9 years old) rates it 7/10

James rates it 8/10

Cat rates it 7/10

The South Island Road Trip – Packing

Only 3 days until we will be getting lost in the South Island and preparations are well and truly underway for the great South Island Road Trip.

7 days, 2 parents, 3 kids and 1 6 berth camparvan – first stop Christchurch.

Today’s mission – packing.

Packing and children, especially girls, do not mix.  If your daughters are anything like ours they pack pretty much everything except what they will actually need (which coincidentally is what I do as well so maybe that apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree).

We once arrived on holiday for 2 weeks with our eldest child Bella sporting just one (yes one) pair of underwear for the entire trip.  Another winter holiday we found that Krystal had packed only singlets.

Determined not to repeat past clothing disasters and aware that the current forecast in Christchurch is a chilly 2 degrees I decided that supervision was the key.

The problem with most boring things like packing is that they are just that to kids – boring.  So I decided to make a bit of a game of it with an elaborate points system for the person who could get back the fastest with the correctly specified garments.

It worked a treat and in no time at all we had the correct number of hats, gloves, tops and pants – the problem now being how to fit it in the one baggage allowance that I had (in my infinite wisdom) decided was all we needed….

The cat (Monkey) is never far from the action so got in on the action – I did have to check he wasn’t actually in a bag after last weekend getting stuck inside a cushion (seriously – this cat needs a blog of his own) and was even obliging enough to pose with one of my vintage suitcases for this blog.  And no, just in case you were wondering – it’s not the suitcase we are taking….