Before I start, I will accept that I probably should have thought through the logistics of yurt + children + no own bathroom + middle of winter a little more! Our situation was made a little more challenging yet by my husband not being able to accompany us as planned.
Anyway, the yurt itself is fabulous! As far as these things go, not that I've stayed in a yurt before. But I know that yurts don't typically have bunk beds, comfortable double beds, Dyson heaters, stoves and unlimited wifi!
The main lodge is where all communal activities take place - a shared kitchen, eating, shared bathrooms and showers. BYO food and drink.
Rusty & Jo, our hosts, were very welcoming and friendly, and it's wonderful to see such a commitment to the environment in every aspect of this build.
The location is a 4 minute drive out of Wanaka central; 3 mins away to the south is a beautiful lavender farm that we visited, and 3mins away to the north is Puzzling World, which provided hours of entertainment to my tribe.
My challenge (and self-inflicted) was the logistics of showering three young children, in the middle of winter, in a shared communal bathroom. They had to wear clothes to the shower, and of course clothes were dropped on the wet floor, people forgot toiletry items, etc, etc. Let's just say that on the 2nd morning, we decided showers were all too hard!
But I would highly recommend the yurt overall - think of it as 'glam camping'!