WW: The Good Shepherd Church Lake Tekapo - Road Trip in South Island NZ

Lake Tekapo.

One of the many beautiful lakes we encounter in Aotearoa New Zealand.

Recently, as we explored South Island, enjoying our first Road Trip in South Island, Aotearoa New Zealand, we stopped by at Lake Tekapo’s most famous landmarks, the Church of the Good Shepherd.

This charming small, stone church is beautifully located at one corner of picturesque lake and making it arguably one of the most photographed churches in New Zealand.

Golden hour at The Good Shepherd Church Lake Tekapo

While we visited the area, we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to capture this as well. 

Here’s what we got on our 2 nights in Lake Tekapo, taking tons of pictures, literally, in different times, even till pass midnight.

the purple sky

On the first night, we stopped by rather late as we checked in to our hotel in Twizel first before heading here and had dinner. The trip from Twizel to Lake Tekapo takes around 20 minutes. The reason 

Apparently, the church and the church's yard is closed at 8 PM during summer. But we managed to see the yard and also the lake and the surrounding. The church is not open except during its scheduled mass, but if you or your group would like to visit inside or attend the mass, you can definitely be in touch with the church.

So after getting our dinner, we sticked around and waited till dark to get more photos of this place.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

yaaaay we got the star trails...

the picturesque Good Shepherd Church at Lake Tekapo, New Zealand

Enjoying our nite at the Good Shepherd Church Lake Tekapo

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the link

Sebelum Road Trip, Ini Persiapan Yang Harus Dilakukan

Cheers from Bo et Obi ..posing at the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls furing our road trip

Sebelum Road Trip, Ini Persiapan Yang Harus Dilakukan

Road trip bagi seorang petualang bukanlah merupakan suatu hal yang baru dan biasanya dilakukan bersama teman- teman yang memiliki hobi yang sama. Tidak hanya bersama dengan teman-teman saja, road trip dapat dilakukan bersama keluarga.

Sebelum melakukan road trip ada beberapa hal yang harus kamu persiapkan. Apalagi, jika dalam anggota keluarga harus mengajak bayi atau balita dan belum terbiasa untuk melakukan perjalanan jauh. Kamu harus memastikan persiapan dan kesiapan peserta road trip, agar nantinya perjalanan berjalan lancar, nyaman, dan aman.

Langsung saja simak lima hal penting berikut yang harus kamu persiapkan ketika hendak road trip :

1.     Menentukan Tempat Tujuan

Terlebih dahulu kamu harus merencanakan dan mengatur persiapan road trip dengan matang. Hal ini perlu dilakukan, mengingat kamu akan pergi berlibur bersama dengan anggota keluarga dan juga mengajak anak. Rencana ini dapat kamu mulai dari menentukan kapan road trip tersebut akan dilaksanakan, mencari rute perjalanan dari yang terdekat dan menyiapkan akomodasi secara tepat.

Selain itu, kamu juga harus mengutamakan faktor keamanan, seperti pemilihan jalur yang aman. Kamu juga harus memilih hotel yang bersih dan aman serta menyediakan berbagai fasilitas untuk anak-anak.

Sebelum road trip dijalankan, lebih baik kamu mencari tahu beberapa informasi dan juga membuat itinerary perihal tempat mana saja yang akan kamu datangi bersama keluarga dan anakmu. Kamu juga dapat memulai terlebih dahulu dari jarak tempuh yang paling dekat menuju destinasi dengan jarak yang paling jauh.

Kamu juga perlu harus mencari tahu tentang tempat destinasi liburan yang akan kamu kunjungi tersebut seperti apa, kegiatan seperti apa yang akan kamu lakukan dan nikmati bersama keluargamu setiba di tempat tersebut. Dengan rincian yang sudah sangat matang tersebut, kamu dapat mengerti persiapan dan barang apa saja yang harus kamu bawa untuk menunjang liburan yang nyaman dan menyenangkan tersebut.

Our car in NYC...during winter..

2.     Cek Kendaraan

Jika selama road trip kamu menggunakan mobil pribadi, kamu harus memeriksakan kendaraan tersebut ke bengkel. Sebelum road trip dimulai, kamu harus memperhatikan keadaan fisik dari kendaraan tersebut seperti kondisi mesin, kestabilan suhu ban, keamanan fungsi rem dan juga alat penerangan mobil kamu.  Mobil yang akan digunakan harus dalam keadaan layak untuk melakukan perjalanan jauh. Hal ini dilakukan agar road trip kamu berjalan dengan lancar, nyaman dan aman.

3.     Siapkan Bekal dan Perlengkapan Untuk Anak

Jika menempuh perjalanan jauh selama road trip, kamu tidak bisa sembarangan untuk berhenti di rest area atau restoran. Untuk mengantisipasi hal tersebut, kamu dapat membawa bekal makanan (berat maupun ringan) dan minuman agar mengganjal perut kamu dan keluarga saat lapar.

Di samping itu, perlengkapan seperti pakaian ganti, mainan dan selimut merupakan barang penting yang harus dibawa. Kamu juga harus memberitahukan kepada anakmu mengenai perjalanan yang akan kalian tempuh dengan gembira, agar anakmu juga antusias untuk melakukan road trip tersebut.

4.     Siapkan Kotak P3K

Kamu harus memastikan bahwa mobil yang kamu gunakan terdapat kotak P3K yang masih dapat digunakan dan juga tidak kadaluarsa. Menyiapkan Kotak P3K ini berguna pada pertolongan pertama saat kejadian tidak diinginkan terjadi.

Contohnya, jika di lokasi wisata anakmu terjatuh dan tiba-tiba merasa tidak enak badan dan lainnya. Selain perlengkapan pertolongan pertama, kamu juga harus menyiapkan obat-obatan untuk meredakan sakit perut, demam dan sakit kepala.

5.     Proteksi diri

Salah satu hal penting yang harus disiapkan agar road trip kamu berjalan lancar dan menyenangkan adalah proteksi. Proteksi dalam bentuk asuransi akan melindungi kamu dan juga seluruh keluargamu yang dalam road trip tersebut. Asuransi menjadi sebuah perlindungan risiko yang tak terduga saat road trip, seperti mengalami sakit saat dalam perjalanan, mengalami hotel yang bermasalah, dan juga kasus pencurian.

Lifepal adalah salah satu marketplace yang menyediakan asuransi dengan kisaran produk yang luas dan membantu kamu untuk memilih produk sesuai kebutuhan. Marketplace ini menyediakan asuransi sederhana dan juga terjangkau dan dilengkapi oleh layanan kesehatan bagi para pengguna.

Kamu juga dapat memilih sesuai dengan kebutuhan kamu, misalnya dalam hal ini kamu memilih asuransi dengan tujuan liburan dengan melakukan road trip. Asuransi kendaraan terutama asuransi TLO maupun  yang kamu pilih tersebut akan memberikan perlindungan jika terjadi kerusakan pada kendaraan yang cukup parah selama perjalanan.

WW: Murals at Springfield, Connecticut

Some #throwback edition fo this week's (almost) Wordless Wednesday.

the lovely carousel in Springfield, CT

We were visiting Springfield, Connecticut and went to Dr. Seuss Museum.

Read the complete story at The Amazing World of Dr. Seuss 

Then before heading back to New York City, we stopped at the Court Square Historic District and enjoyed beautiful murals of celebrities, musicians as well as the characters from the Wizard of Oz. Some of them are painted on the wall, doors, and windows.

We also enjoyed the lovely red bricks buildings around the area.

One lovely corner

Here are a few snaps from there.

Can you guess who they are? 

I bet you can :).

Do you like taking pictures of the murals and buildings?

Where is your favorite place for that?

Join us on  (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the link party!

WW: Whimsical Parc Güell, Barcelona

Some lovely mementos from our road trip to Spain, including the amazing city of Barcelona.

And Parc Güell is indeed one of the highlights (of so many incredible landmarks we visited here) of our 3-day trip in Barcelona.

some mosaics at the Greek Theater, Parc Guell, Barcelona

With its whimsical, out-of-this-world design, Antoni Gaudi is indeed genius!
And even when we came down here quite early, the park was already packed by admirers and tourists like us, taking pictures in many corners of this lovely park.

I love this gingerbread house :)

Near the Gecko statue..

some details from the Greek Theater roof

more details from the park

looks like the hunch back of a dragon

Happy Bo at Parc Guell

I have written more stories and details on our half-day visit to Parc Güell, Barcelona on the next post. So don't miss it :).

Join us (almost) Wordless Wednesday and enjoy the linky party

WW: Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona

Happily sharing more photos from Lower Antelope Canyon, Page, Arizona for this (almost) Wordless Wednesday.

Well, we went there in 2016 but with breathtaking beauty and amazing landscapes, I have tons of unpublished photos from this trip alone.
Read the story at Spring Break 2016: Deeper Underground at Lower Antelope Canyon

Hope you like it as much as I do!
Feel so small standing amidst these naturally shaped rocks.

after thousands of years..

with a bit of ray of light

indigenous shape and colors..

Join us on (almost) Wordless Wednesday and have fun with the links! 

Top Five Places for Family to Visit in Toronto, Canada

"Ma, what is that tall building?" asked Obi, my daughter, as we drove around Toronto during our last spring break road trip.

"It looks super high" added Bo, my son.

"I guess it's CN Tower, one of the landmarks of Toronto" I answered that while flipping the tourism magazine we got from our hotel.
"Oh...let's go there, let's go there! It must be cool to be up there!" acclaimed Obi, looking so excited sitting in the back of our car while pointing that tower.
"I guess that's where we're heading to now" I answered as my hubby tried to find the parking spot for our rented card.
Toronto, we're here.

***

We're getting closer to the end of our spring break road trip as we left Ottawa.
Toronto is next and after that, we have Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, before heading to the US side. I have to admit that every city with visited offers a great variety of new things, places, and food to explore!

And we did enjoy our visit to Toronto.
My kids, Bo et Obi, loved it!
They even wrote their stories of our visit to the those places in their notes. 
I sincerely hope I will manage to put them in Bo's blog, bofrakarsa.blogspot.com.


Known as the Capital city of Ontario, Toronto is a fun metropolis that will cater the needs of adventurous family with young children like us. After visiting Québec City, Montréal, and Ottawa, we saw all the differences between those cities and we love them all.

As we arrived a bit late in Toronto after driving around 4 hours from Ottawa, we went straight to our hotel, Hilton Double Tree at down town Toronto. Love the hotel as always, as we have been a member of the Hilton Honors group for the last 5 years. As we arrived, a package of 4 warm, yummy, chocolate cookies as well as water and chips awaited. Our double-bed room is very comfortable and without further ado, we rested well.

Early morning, after breakfast, we went exploring down town Toronto and stroll around the Yonge street. and we had a full day here as later that night, we were scheduled to see Bon Jovi This House is not For Sale concert. So, here are the top five places to visit in Toronto a la Mama Bo et Obi :).

CN Tower

Obviously, a visit to the landmark of Toronto is a must!
Before coming to this place, we have done a bit of a research in order to get the best package deal available. 

As we visited this place during the lunch hour, we chose the package to enjoy 2-course fixed-menu lunch at 360 Restaurant  with a free ticket to CN Tower. The lunch costs us CAD 58 per adult and $40 per  kids, but we have the free ticket to the CN Tower.

If we only visit the tower, it costs us CAD 36 per adult and CAD 26 for kids (4 - 12 year old).
So, considering we had the yummy, top-notch lunch, we took the package deal.

The view from above is indeed stunning!
There are 2 observation decks where you can enjoy the view. 

But get ready to line-up for the elevator up. Good thing we had that restaurant access and we had ur own elevator, so it's great.

We also get to see the world's first Glass Floor experience!

I really have issues walking on those glass floor while my kids just ran around freely!

Old City Hall

Love this place for its antique building architecture.
We didn't manage to get in, not pretty sure whether there is a tour available here. But we love taking pictures in front of it.

New City Hall

For all selfie lovers :), here's your place!
The colorful name TORONTO in New City Hall has been the magnet for all visitors. For sure, people are flocking in this very spot to have their souvenir snaps from Toronto. So are we :).

360 Restaurant

This is the place were we can have yummy lunch, perfect view of Toronto from above and access to CN Tower.
It's the revolving restaurant, up 350-m above, with stunning view.

When we visited this place, we chose Atlantic Salmon and steak as the main course and the chowder as well salad. 

The lunch costs us CAD 58 per adult and $40 per kids. 

This is how it looks:

Toronto Railway Museum

This is a fun place indeed.
Right across the CN Tower and the exhibition is for free.
We only see some old trains but they look great on the photos :)

Well, of course there are more to see and visit here in Toronto, like Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto Zoo, St. Lawrence Market and more. But since we had a concert to catch, we're good with those 5 places.

So, what do you think?
Do you think you will enjoy Toronto as much as I do?
What is your favorite place to visit here?

WW : Niagara Falls, New York

Completing our journey to the Niagara Falls, we visited the American and Bridal Veils Falls at the US side.

It was cloudy that day, but it didn't stop us from enjoying this wonderful Park.

It's the same majestic feeling of looking at those rumbling Falls and clear water.

Crossing the border is only around 15 minutes from our hotel in the Canadian side, so we stopped at the US side on our last day of the trip.

         Join us in (almost) Wordless Wednesday  and enjoy fabulous links!