Using an Australian Bartercard in New Zealand: What no one tells you

New Zealand from the sky

One of the big things we utilise our Bartercard membership for is travel. Bartercard is only available in a limited number of countries, and outside of Australia, New Zealand is one of the bigger ones. This makes it perfect for use when travelling. There are, however, a few caveats that Bartercard won’t tell you. Ironically … Read more

Greyfriars Motel, Greytown New Zealand – Garden Room Review

Greyfriars Motel Greytown Garden Room

Greytown is a small town about an hour north of Wellington. We chose it as our base for a few days because it put us on the opposite side of Wellington Harbour, the perfect place for exploring the south-east corner of the New Zealand North Island. There are not a whole lot of accommodation options … Read more

How to get the cheapest accommodation (without skimping on quality)

Conrad Tokyo Corner Room View

Today I want to share with you my tips for getting the best price on accommodation no matter where you are travelling to, and remember, the cheapest accommodation doesn’t have to be the worst. We’ve picked up deals on 5-star hotels well below half-price by doing our research. Combine that with rewards and even options … Read more

Review of The Arrow Private Hotel Cherry Suite – Arrowtown New Zealand (With Photos)

Arrow Private Hotel Bed & Lounge

On our honeymoon we spent a few days at the Arrow Private Hotel in Arrowtown, New Zealand as a relaxing breather in between a couple of days of long driving. Arrowtown is only about 15-20 minutes from Queenstown, so it’s an easy drive for any Queenstown activities or for the Frankston New World Supermarket. We really enjoyed it there and decided to stay there again for our anniversary. We spent 4 nights here and once again loved the place. Tim, your host, is extremely friendly and helpful and goes out of his way to make your stay as comfortable and pleasant as it possibly can be.

We stayed in the Cherry Suite on our honeymoon and Tim booked us into this one again this time – I think he knew we liked it! From the looks of the photos on their website, most of the rooms are fairly similar anyway, but this one is right at the front, which we felt gave us a little bit more privacy because we only had another suite on one side (granted there are only 6 suites in the entire hotel just out of the centre of a quiet town, so it’s not like any of them would have a privacy issue really). This suite is named for the beautiful cherry blossoms that are planted around it. When we were here last time, they were out in flower and were stunning, we were a bit earlier this time though and they were just budding.

When you first enter, you can turn to the left where you have bag and clothes storage as well as the air conditioner, fridge and bathroom access.

Arrow Private Hotel Entry
To the Left of The Arrow Private Hotel Cherry Suite Entry

Then off to the right is the bed, lounge, dining, kitchen and study with large windows for taking in the beautiful mountain view. The bed is a “super king” size bed. Unfortunately, it is not a single mattress, so there is a join in the middle, but of all the king size beds we got to try on our honeymoon that were joined together, this was one of the most comfortable. The join was almost unnoticeable and the sheets were beautifully soft. Both times we have been here it’s been some of the best sleep I’ve gotten!

Arrow Private Hotel Bed & Lounge
Arrow Private Hotel Bed & Lounge

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Mackenzies Bar and Grill – Stonegrill Review

Mackenzies Stronegrill Chicken

On our way from Christchurch to Queenstown for our holiday we went through Lake Tekapo. Our plan had been to arrive here around sunset time so we could get a few nice photos at the Church of the Good Shepherd with the sun setting in the background over the lake. Then we would go get dinner at Mackenzie’s Bar and Grill looking over the water as the sun finishes setting. Unfortunately with our flight into Christchurch delayed we weren’t in time for sunset. We definitely didn’t miss out on Mackenzies Bar and Grill for dinner though! We tried this place out on our honeymoon because they accepted Bartercard which helped keep our costs down and we absolutely loved it, so since we were going through at a meal time we didn’t want to miss out.

I didn’t get any photos of outside unfortunately since it was dark, but it is just here:

Ignore where Google Maps actually places it further up the highway, it’s incorrect. If you use the above location and jump on Google Streetview, you will see the “Observatory Cafe”. That is where Mackenzie’s now is located.

Mackenzies Stronegrill Chicken
Mackenzies Stonegrill Chicken

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