Category: Travel

  • Kumarakom Coconut Lagoon

    When I think of it, it’s pretty surprising that it took us this long to get to Kumarakom.

    ‘Better late than never’ became even later thanks to a red alert in the district because of heavy rains in early August. We finally got there at the end of August.

    Where to stay in Kumarakom

    We had finally pulled the trigger on CGH Coconut Lagoon when we found a good offer. Thankfully we didn’t have to pay much extra for the new dates.

    For the last mile, you have to resort to a ferry to the resort. #oksorry Well, there is a road, but why kill the mystique. This is their jetty, where you wait for your ride. Yes, it has a toilet, in case you’ve been holding it all in during the 2.5 hr ride from Kochi Airport. 😀

    Coconut Lagoon Kumarakom
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  • Christchurch

    To keep it 100, Christchurch was an afterthought, mostly thanks to the ticket prices arbitrage. That said, we did have a good time there, and it worked as a good landing for the holiday.

    Where to stay in Christchurch

    Hotel Give, formerly YMCA (we think) was a very well located place at a reasonable rate. Our little research showed a paucity of such placess in Christchurch.

    Hotel Give Christchurch
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  • Queenstown

    Our perfectly planned itinerary’s spanner came in the form of Jetstar cancelling its flight from Auckland. This was their last flight for the day, and since we we had to reach Queenstown the same day for a tour, we had to book an Air New Zealand at a price high enough for my kidneys to fear separation. Small consolation – we reached earlier than planned.

    Where to stay in Queenstown

    And used a bus (instead of the planned Uber) to get to the Rendezvous Heritage Hotel, which practically had its own bus stop. With a Bee card, this did make our life easier.

    The serious-looking receptionist didn’t exactly make us feel welcome, but the room made up for it…

    Rendezvous Heritage Hotel Queenstown
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  • Auckland

    New Zealand’s scenic magnificence is legendary and any trip to the left side is risky so long as Trump is around, ergo… We were only the second disaster to hit Auckland in a span of two days. We arrived a day after the cyclone Vaianu. Thankfully, barring the minor inconvenience of small shower spells, we were largely unaffected.

    Stay in Auckland

    We have aged. We know that because we now choose a Radisson/Accor/Marriott over any cutesy boutiques. Radisson in New Zealand is new. This was Red and we had perks, that helped. We had a decent view of the city, and we could comfortably watch it from that sofa. So, nice enough.

    Radisson Red, Auckland
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  • Kannur

    Kannur was only a vague plan for some other time, until Theyyam became a bucket list item for D. Then we got hold of a schedule and a guide and landed in Kannur. Well, actually our Kannur flight got canceled, and we landed in Calicut, but that was a minor inconvenience. Passing by many places we only knew by name was a nice experience too.

    Where to stay in Kannur

    We had originally booked a place called Anansa Boutique Hotel but they canceled us a couple of months before the trip. Ah well. That got us to Sunfun. Our room was on the top floor, and only just ok, but the rooms on the first floor looked a lot better.

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