Lou’s place is private, tucked away behind a wall of flowers and a beautiful garden area with a lovely porch for reading and enjoying the sun outside. The interior was spotless, had excellent WiFi, very comfortable bed and couch with good blinds to block out the morning sun. Bathroom was very clean, good water pressure and steady temperature, clean towels for us to use. There was even a friendly cat who came to visit us while we were sitting outside in the garden.
The purple bus line was easy to find at the airport, 9$NZ fare per person, went directly to Lou’s place. We got off the bus too early and had to hike, wait till you spot the driveway to ring the bus bell. We didn’t wait more then 10 minutes for the bus at the airport, definitely the way to go.
There’s a small shopping district east on Ferry St with a couple of breweries and low key bars, check the hours on them before you go for food but there’s enough variety that you’ll find something tasty. It was a 15 minute walk for us. If you walk further there’s a trail along the river which is nice, and some more trails through a marshy area close to the ocean. Again, all of this is very walkable, we probably were out for 1 to 1.5 hours.
After our long flight from the US, Lou’s Place was exactly what we needed before our camper van rental came to pick us up.