House sit number 1 is in the Jervis Bay area, South Cast, NSW. We haven’t been house sitting for close on 2 years because of covid, so we are feeling a little bit nervous. We were in such a good rhythm before the world turned upside down. We needn’t have been! There are some beautiful people in this world and we are so lucky to be meeting so many of them.
Blenheim Beach
But the weather has turned on us, rain forecast for the next week or more, oh well, we have a beautiful home to stay in and there is always Netflix!
Rain, Rain and more Rain
We settle in and create our routine, but we really want to get out to explore the coastline here, we have heard it is beautiful. Two days in, we decide to just do what we do – too bad if its not sunny and hot. We mark off a couple of beaches on the map, pack a picnic and off we go. We head toward Murrays Beach as it is the furthest away so we will start there and work our way back. Woops, we find ourselves in a line of cars with no way to turn around. And why are they taking so long! As we sit and wait, trying to be patient, we try to figure out by google maps what we have actually come across. Is this the military base? Or it could be a National Park? Its not that clear on Maps. We finally get up to the kiosk and yes, this is the entrance to the Booderee National Park, who knew! Fee of $14 for a 48 hour pass. And we find out why the line took so long, the lovely lady just wanted to have a chat – with everybody! She was so nice you just couldn’t help engaging in her chit chat. So after understanding her whole family dynamics, off we go, Murrays Beach here we come.
Booderee National Park
The day is still not very nice but we have our picnic on the beach and Chris has a swim, its too cold for me. We get back into the truck and head for the historic lighthouse, Cape St George Lighthouse. This is a ruin and quite lovely. Sad story about it though. It was erected in 1860 a spot that was easy to build, ie transport the sandstone etc in, but it wasn’t in the best spot for the job it was intended to do – be a lighthouse. Being in a poor position, it didn’t halt the shipping toll and was replaced by Point Perpendicular Lighthouse in 1898, which was built on the opposite side of the entrance to the bay. The lighthouse tower was then torn down in early 20th century as the sandstone it was constructed with was too bright at night and was distracting to shipping. There were many deaths among the around 15 people living there during its short life span, mostly children. From Typhus and Pleurisy to falling over the cliffs, being kicked in the head by a horse and being shot by mistake by a teenager playing around with a loaded gun. Quite sad, but probably quite typical for the time.
We had 14 days here and it rained for the first 10 days. We still got out a few times and discovered some stunning beaches along this coast, all within 20 minutes of the house sit. We completed quite a bit of the White Sands Walk, from Nelsons Beach to Hyams Beach. We fell in love with Huskisson, and spent a bit of time in the local pub there – well it WAS raining!
We had a stunning house and two beautiful, affectionate cats to care for, life is good. There is a field across the road from the house and there are kangaroos grazing there every morning. In the evening they sometimes come right up to the road, it is so exciting to see them. One day there was a Mum with a baby and they turned and jumped right down the street, it was so funny – love Australia!
Our furry friends
Our lovely home owners returned and we a had another great night together, catching up on the previous 2 weeks, then back into FatBoy to hit the road again.
We head back to Sydney to celebrate Australia Day with a group of English, Welsh, American, Dutch, Slovakian, Kiwis and even a couple of Aussies – How about that!
What a blessing in disguise having to fly to Sydney rather than Brisbane. Again, we have landed in a place where we had not planned to come but are so very glad we did. A couple of days in Sydney with friends, feeling so welcome and loved, we take off south toward our first house sit. Yippeee- WE’RE ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
FatBoy
I am introduced to “Fat Boy” Chris’s Toyota Hilux campervan, and off we go. Heading to the South Coast, NSW. The first thing I notice is the stunning rocky coastline.
Kiama
We are very lucky with beautiful weather, but not so lucky with this being the height of the season so camping grounds are all full. Not to worry as we talk ourselves into a space on the Kiama rugby field which opens up for 4 weeks only every year as a camping area. Perfect! Just a short walk finds us at a stunning lighthouse and famous blow hole. Not far round the corner is an ocean rock pool. We had seen another one of these ocean pools at Corrimal and thought the concept was awesome, it fills up at high tide and retains the water as the tide goes out. Unlike Corrimal though, this one was mostly built into the natural rock formations. There was quite a display with the heavy swells and high tide, the rock pool was actually closed due to the heavy swells, but no one seemed to take any notice. It was like a washing machine in there! I could have watched for hours. Always in awe of the power of the sea.
Heading up into the hills behind Kiama the weather comes down. The road is so narrow and windy and remembering this is only the second trip I have done in this camper, so was feeling a little nervous. The weather kept closing in as we progressed up and up. I have seen a heavy fog in my days off shore on the North Sea, but this really seemed to be the thickest fog I had ever been in. Chris did an awesome job at keeping us on the road, the visibility was almost zero.
We found a National Park camp site and didn’t want to go any further with the weather, so made camp. We tried to call to book in but no one seemed interested, even though all signs say – booking essential due to covid. Oh Well….. we tried! The camp was right by Carrington Falls. We took the short walk to the falls and could hear the rumble so knew there was something mighty in amongst the fog but couldn’t see much. The bush had a very eery feeling in the mist, it was quite spectacular and almost mystical – and safe, now that we were not having to navigate through it. By the morning the fog had lifted so revisited the falls and were blown away by the sight, so beautiful. So not just beaches and sunshine in Australia.
We followed the road down through Kangaroo Valley back to the coast. Australia is a massive country, some of the views out through the valley show just how extensive this country is, quite breath-taking and we are surprised at how green everything is. But this is due to all the rain they have had lately, which has also left all the rivers and waterfalls at their peak which is great for us – except when the road is now a river! I said no, Chris said yes and Fat Boy was quivering with excitement at the challenge – across the ford we go – NO TROUBLE AT ALL!!
No problem for FatBoy
We are starting to get used to life on the road in the camper van and are getting braver with pulling up and free-camping. There is quite a community and we are seeing some of the same people over and over. Some of the Surf Life Saving Clubs allow overnight parking which is great as they always have toilet blocks and showers (though cold) and of course they are right on the beach!
Hanging out with FatBoy
Next stop house sit number 1, 2 hours south of Sydney, It is so good to be back on the road!
Oh how time fly’s by! Even in lock down. It is now November 2021, the world of COVID 19 has been with us for a year and a half, the world as we knew it has changed dramatically. But recalling our adventures and memories is a wonderful pass time!
River running through Kampot
2017, Chris and I took off from our everyday “normal life” and spent the year house sitting in various parts of the world. My last story got us half way through our 10 month adventure, so we carry on, flying from Pankor, Malaysia back to Cambodia, this time a small town in the south called Kampot for house sit No.4.
I say it in every story and I will say it again – it’s the people we meet who make the difference! And another awesome home owner couple we meet here in Kampot. We usually have a night with the home owners before they leave, to get the run of the place and be introduced to the pets etc. We had a fantastic night and fell instantly in love with the 2 dogs, Zena and Eric. We also have 3 cats, 2 chickens and a pond fully of fish. This is our home for 4 weeks.
Kampot is a great place, all the same kwerks of Phnom Penh but on a much smaller scale. We are able to cycle everywhere, it is as flat as a pancake and hot! Still very hot! Again we do not do much cooking at home, the food available out on the street is phenomenal and so cheap and tasty. We have a soft spot for banana in sticky rice – 75 cents (USD) and steamed buns, $1. During this stay, our dear friend Karen came for a visit from NZ. It was so great to see a friend from home. At this stage we had been away for 8 months.
I went to Phnom Penh to meet Karen and left Chris to look after the “farm”. We spent 4 nights in the city. It felt good to be back, as we had been there for a month previously, I felt really at home. We caught up with Jacqui and Randall, shopped at the markets, went to Christmas parties. We also visited the S21 genocide Museum and Killing Fields. Horrific and very sad, hard to believe that this all happened in our life time 1975 – 1979. On the bus back to Kampot for 1 night then onto Kep, on the coast. We took a small boat out to the Island of Kaoh Tonsay AKA Rabbit Island where we spent 2 nights in a shack with no power except from 6pm – 10pm. It was so lovely out there but sadly Cambodia was going through its first cold snap in 10 years! DAM!! Lucky the bungalows had fleecy blankets! We had a great time though and met some awesome people. Poor Karen didnt get her bikini on once! We made up for it trying some wonderful food and delicious cocktails.
Rabbit Island, colder than expected
While we were away Chris explored the town of Kampot and made friends with the local Cider maker, home of 14% home made cider, and others and was able to introduce us to Kampot when we got back. A driver took us up to Bokor Mountain. Well worth the hair raising trip up the windy road, fabulous view from the top. We cycled to a pepper farm where we learnt all about Kampot Pepper. World famous – this time truly! Karen and I took part in another cooking class which was out in the country and basically outside. We met some more wonderful people and cooked some delicious food. Now time to say good bye to Karen – This has been such an amazing trip – but too many goodbyes!! The people we are meeting and getting to know has been the absolute highlight if this adventure.
We felf really comfortable and safe in Cambodia, even though it’s a very corrupt country and has many serious problems with the government. We saw for ourselves in Phnom Penh when the government sacked the opposition (late Nov 2017) the city closed off and police barricading the whole down town with riot gear at the ready…….but the people on the ground? The regular Cambodian worker? Happy people generally, and very glad to say hello and give you a beautiful smile. This kiddies are gorgeous and fight with each other just to say hello! Love it!
Phnom Penh Nov 2017, city locked down
We had an orphan’s Christmas, 3 kiwis and an American, Jacqui and Randy came down to visit, we had so much fun!
BUT
Time to say Goodbye Cambodia! and Hello Thailand!
House sit No, 5. After a week visiting a great friend in Chang Rai, we travel south to a small island off the west coast near Ranong, Ko Phayam. We are met off the ferry by our awesome home owner. First question, can you ride a manual motorbike? After our efforts in Pankor – YES of course we can!! Off we go. Me on the back of Cristina, Chris following with a backpack and another bike behind that with the other bags, Its amazing how much they can get onto their bikes! Nothing short of miraculous! There are no cars on this island, the roads are like footpaths, only wide enough for bikes, so cool! So off to our new home.
We find ourselves up on what seems like a mountain, even the bikes cant get up there, well not when we were riding them anyway, up we trudge and what a view! We can see almost every corner of the island. The house is open to the view on 3 sides, this is amazing! Stunning. We are met by 16 excited dogs! This is going to be fun!
We spend a week with Christina helping with the dogs and exploring the island. I don’t think we have met a more selfless person. Not only does she adopt dogs who have been neglected off the street, cares for them and nurses them back to health, she feeds and cares for other dogs in the community where the owners are not able to (or want to) look after them. She cares so deeply. Such a beautiful human being. It takes a week to get to know all the dog’s names and what they eat, then Cristina leaves us go away for a week – we are now on our own!
Each day we go to the little shop – no supermarkets here – buy kidneys and hearts, blocks of congealed blood!, a few carrots and any other veg we can get. Boil up 2 big pots, one of rice and the other a soup made from our purchases. This feeds the dogs for the day. So cool at feeding time, they all wait and know the drill, and not one complaint about my cooking! We spend the week in this routine. We are able to go on the bike to the beach, taking 3 of 16 dogs with us – yes we all fit on 1 bike. This is a great life, the dogs all have their own personalities and we quickly find our favourites! Most of our day is filled with spending time with the dogs, relaxing and drinking in this incredible view!
By now it is March 2018 and 5 house sits done, we now need to get back to NZ and back to work. We loved everything about that year, so much so that it wasn’t long before we realised we wanted to do it again. So 1 year later we were back on the road, doing it all again. From Australia to Brazil, then France, Greece and New York. COVID hit and we had to return to New Zealand.
Thank you for reading my story! We are hoping to get travelling again soon, there are many more adventured to have!
Following on from my last story, here we are, its October 2017 and we are displaced, following hurricane Maria, in Maine, USA. Check out how we got here
We have taken a year off from “normal” life in New Zealand to house sit. But here we are in the beautiful state of Maine – and in Fall to boot! The time where the Autumn colours are spectacular. We hadn’t intended to be here, but so glad we were. We spent 10 days with our wonderful Vieques home owners. We were looked after so well, all the support and love we needed as we came back to reality and realisation of what just happened. It gave us a chance to “get out of the war zone” and recover from the past month. We also got to experience a part of the country we didn’t think we would ever see, and boy is it beautiful!
We were driven to Kennebunk where we stayed with a friend of our home owners for another week. You know, I cannot say enough of the hospitality and welcoming feeling from the people of Maine. We were taken in and treated as part of the family, as one of their own. We are truly grateful and will always save a special place in our hearts for that time. But where to from here?
I was totally fascinated by the Halloween decorations EVERYWHERE! We dont really celebrate this holiday in NZ, it was quite something.
So where to from here?
Chris had secured a 30 day house sit in Kampot, Cambodia for mid December, there is a bit of time before that so back into the business at hand – Find another House sit. We get accepted for another house sit in Cambodia, this time in Phnom Penh – lets get to Asia! A train trip to Boston and a great night with a wonderful couple we met on Vieques, then Cambodia here we come, via Doha, via Bangkok, 27 hours later landing in Phnom Penh.
Phnom Penh
House sit No.2 Another wonderful home owner! We meet the most awesome people while house sitting! 1 little kitty to look after this time, yes I think we will like it here. Our home owner was very flexible with dates and the 3 week house sit turned into 4. As we were unsure of our next move, it suited us too. We were introduced to her friend, who happened to be a Nelson girl living in Phnom Penh. She introduced us to her friend from USA who was fairly new to the city and there we have new friends! Four weeks went by so fast! We loved the food, there was no shortage of it! Street vendors and restaurants EVERYWHERE!! I cooked at the house 1 night! So cheap to eat out, why would you do it at home – it only means dishes! The beer was great and at only 50c a handle…. well, lets just say, we didn’t go thirsty! While in Phnom Penh we enjoyed the water festival, did a Khmer cooking class, hiked to Chisor Temple, cycled to the Mekong Islands and Silk Islands and saw silk being harvested and woven and ate lots and lots of noodles!
Time to go though! House sit number 3 is now booked! We are off to Kuala Lumpur!
But first…A week in Langkawi. Leigh-Ann (our Daughter) decided last minute to come and join us for this part of the journey. How wonderful it was to see her! It all went by so fast but I got to cuddle my girl and catch up on her year. Langkawi was great! So good to be back at the ocean. The water was nowhere near the clarity we had gotten used to in Vieques, but we swam all the same. Cocktails on the beach and eating dinner with our toes in the sand – just wonderful. We did get rain though which as sad for Leigh-Ann as she only had a week.
Back to KL for the house sit number 3. This was a funny house sit, actually it wasn’t really a house sit, more like a pet-sit. The owners sister was still living in the house, but she had refused to look after the 5 Shiatsu dogs while her sister went on holiday. Do we hear alarm bells? Not to worry, we are up for the challenge LOL, we were only there for 5 days. We loved the place we were staying and with it being in the suburbs of KL was completely different to being in the city. We got to explore the area and loved getting on the O-Bikes (community hire bikes) and seeing how the real Kuala Lumper’s live. There was a market near by and we got our fill of our favourite Roti Chenai.
Its hard work riding those bikes!
1 more week to fill before house sit number 4 in Kampot. So, lets try another Malaysian Island, Pangkor this time. Both Pangkor and Langkawi are off the west coast of Malaysia. Pangkor was lovely too, not as big as Langkawi but still as Muslim. A bit harder to find a beer. Again the water was a bit dirty so the snorkeling gear again didn’t get wet. We stayed at a lovely place for $40NZD per night, right by the main strip and beach. It was very basic. We hired a scooter for a day and had a great laugh trying to double. Chris was a great driver, I was not such a great passenger! LOL but we got there in the end and decided this was an OK way to travel. We went right round the island twice in the one afternoon.
We have 2 more house sits to go in this section. We are sitting here in New Zealand, its April 2021, 1 year into this global pandemic called COVID19 and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. Our government and Australia have opened a travel bubble between New Zealand and Australia so that is a great start, but who knows when we will be able to travel further than that again. The world is in chaos right now but I am loving these trips down memory lane, wonderful memories! There are 100’s of photos to go through, I wish I could post them all. Where ever you are in the world reading this, I hope you are OK. We will all see each other again! I just know it! We just have to be patient!
Come back for the the rest of Asia, coming soon – House sit number 5 was looking after 16 dogs!! Yes its true!!
In April Chris and I took off on our House Sitting adventure of 2017. I resigned from my job at Coastguard and Chris took 1 year leave without pay from his position as Deputy Harbourmaster. We were not sure how it would all turn out. Over the years we have house-sat but not for extended periods of time, so going away for a whole year was all very new and exciting. We had been chosen to do 6 months house sitting on a little island called Vieques in Puerto Rico. WOW! Can you imagine! 6 months in the Caribbean? How wonderful!! So this was the start point, for what turned out to be and amazing year.
Its quite a long way from New Zealand!
We didn’t know exactly where Puerto Rico was, other than in the Caribbean. But this is one of the wonderful things about what we do, the geography lesson we are getting along the way. So we find out that Puerto Rico is, in fact, part of The States – well, who knew! But what this meant was, we, as New Zealand passport holders, would have to apply for a visa to enter the USA for more than 3 months. After researching online, we start the application process, wondering if we will be successful. We better be – we have a house sit booked!! Many many pages of questions – occupations, homes, children, spouses, have you been involved in human trafficking? Have you ever been involved in bomb manufacturing or weapons? Have you ever been involved in trading in body parts? Pages and pages! We get it all sent away and make an appointment for an interview at the US Embassy in Auckland. Not on the same day of course! So we each take a trip to the big smoke. I went first.
You have to go through a screening search for weapons, bags taken off you and searched, you could only hold your paperwork, nothing else, no wallet, no phone. I sat and watched what others were doing and could hear bits of some of the conversations. Not all VISA’s were granted that day. My turn. I step up to the window to a very tall man – it may have actually been higher on his side of the window, he was a bit intimidating, dressed in what looked like military uniform. He said to me “so why do you want to go to the Untied States?” In my slightly nervous state, I blurted out “I don’t want to, I want to go to Puerto Rico for 6 months” this raised an eyebrow and he asked me again, “why” so I told him I was going to be house sitting,
At friends?
No, I don’t know the people,
So they are strangers?
Yes,
So you are going to stay at someones house, in a foreign country, but you don’t know who they are?
Yes,
But how does that work?.
I explained about house sitting and the web sites you apply with and he thought it was a hell of a good idea!
YOUR VISA IS GRANTED!
Chris had his visa granted the next week – just as well!! We now both have 10 year, multiple entry visas. Yahoo – LETS GO!
So we pack up and rent out the house, put furniture into storage, boat onto a mooring, car to a friends farm and off we go. We stayed away from NZ for 10 months all together. We weren’t sure how it would all go, how long we would be away for, whether we would still be talking to each other after being together 24/7 for so long, if we would have enough money to survive, etc etc. We had the security of Chris’s job to go back to after 12 months, so lets just give it a go! Life is too short not to! We hear so many say they will do such and such once they retire, or once the mortgage is paid off, or just one more year of work to save that bit more money, and then something happens and it is too late. We decided to bite the bullet and go for it, while we are still able to.
Puerto Rico here we come. And what a wonderful place!
Our lovely home owners met us at the ferry of the small Island of Vieques just off the East coast of mainland Puerto Rico. We loved these two immediately! They showed us around and orientated us with their little piece of paradise. After 2 days they left us in charge.
This was not a very big island, 32km by 7km. In the time we were there I think we covered almost every part of the island that was accessible.
Still today, there are unexploded bombs
In 1941 the United States Navy seized two thirds of the island, evicting a lot of local sugar farmers in the process. After WWII the Navy continued their hold on the land and it was used for military exercises and as a firing range and testing ground for munitions. This went on for decades. The Vieques people didn’t like it of course and after protesting for what would have seemed like a life time for some, the Navy withdrew for good in 2003.
Feels like 46!!!
It was summer in Puerto Rico, so temperatures around 30 – 32 every day. This is not overly hot as far as temperatures go, but the humidity was 100% and all weather apps would tell you the “feels like” temp was in the 40’s. It was a heat that drained you the minute you got up in the morning. We wondered if out fitness had suffered with not working, but figured that it was the heat making our bodies feel heavy and sluggish.
But this didn’t stop us from cycling all over the island and finding all the amazing beaches. Picture a Caribbean Island – white sand, blue sky, palm trees, gentle breeze and turquoise water as clear as gin – that was it – THE perfect Caribbean Island, with beaches what WOW you with the wonder of their perfection. We would pinch ourselves to believe that this was real, how lucky we were to be here!!
Mango season. We would always take a bag with us on our walks, just in case we come across a mango tree which had dropped fruit on “our” side of the fence. You had to be quick though as they would rot quickly or the wild horses would get at them first. So many trees, loaded with mangos, but behind peoples fences. The smell of the ripe fruit lying on the ground was heady. We were on the middle of the island one day coming back from Esperanza and came across a great tree with a few fruit on the path. We stopped to collect a couple. Next minute, an old lady started shouting at us in Spanish. Oh crap! We quickly tried to remember what the Spanish word for “sorry” was and approached her, ready for a telling off. But she had more mangos in her hand and wanted to give them to us and offered us even more! So lovely. Instead of “sorry” we said “gracias” many times!
Puerto Ricans have a great social life. They really know how to party. At the beaches during the weekends they arrive in droves, carting Bar-B-Q’s, cooler boxes, tables, gazebos, hammocks, etc etc and set up for the day. Mothers fathers, babies and grandparents and everything in between, all there to spend the day together having fun. They have cooler boxes full of beer AND spirits, and lots of it! They put fires on in the fire pits and put slow cook meals on as well as traditional Bar-B-Q food. Get the music going and party on. The water is so warm, the adults would gather in the water in groups, chat and drink, call out to the kids to get them another beer. Music wafting over the ocean. Eat loads of food, have a sleep, do it all again! The atmosphere was so good, all just having a great time, enjoying being together in this wonderful place.
For my birthday, Chris took us in a hired golf cart to La Chiva Beach and we had a day at the beach “Puerto Rican style” The family situated quite close to us started sharing their food with us and we got chatting. The whole lot of them sang Happy Birthday, they were so friendly and welcoming. It was getting dark by the time we all packed up to go home – The most perfect day.
We had no pets to look after in this house sit so we volunteered at the Vieques Humane Society and walked some of the shelter Satos (dogs) every Friday. We also helped out at the VHS thrift shop each week. We met and got to know some beautiful dogs and are so glad to know they have been re-housed to forever homes. The VHS do a great job!
We loved Vieques! We had a bit of bad luck after 4 months on the island with Hurricane Irma and Maria and were evacuated to USA October 2017 – That is another story, check it out here…
But that hasn’t put us off, we would be back in a flash. We were booked to do this house sit again this year, 2020, but it was cancelled due to COVID 19. Vieques went into lockdown early March, so we were unable to get there. They have done really well to have kept the virus out, big congratulations to the island people for being strong and standing united.
So what now? 5 months gone and we are displaced in The States, Check out my next story – the second half of this year long house sitting adventure, coming soon………
Just in time! NZ – Total Lock Down from 2359, 25 March 2020
We woke in Breezy Point, New York, on the morning of 20 March to fog. I remember my offshore days when it came to your “get up and go” day and you wake to the sound of the fog horn! That meant that you would not be going anywhere that day, might as well just get up and go to work, and hope for the best for tomorrow. This morning was like that! My heart sank, no planes will fly in this I am thinking. But we better try. Diane came to pick us up and we made our way to JFK. The fog is not lifting, lets just hope they do fly. We have factored in some time between flights, our flight from LAX – AKL is not until 10pm, we have some time up our sleeve.
So many flights cancelled, this is just 1 terminal at JFK
The flight board has many flights cancelled – but our flight looks like its still on! The man at the check in was so lovely. He knew that LA would not be our final destination today ( he guessed we were Australian – we wont hold that against him!) and assured us that our flight to LAX would go – “lets get you guys home” He said – almost brought tears to our eyes!
The flight did in fact fly and right on time. Taking off through the fog was so scary! The pilot must have great faith in his instruments, and we are very thankful for that! Its lunch time and New York is still totally blanketed in fog.
We arrived in LA with 7 hours until we take off to Auckland, so we start to relax. The young woman at check in was also very nice. You can see that everyone is feeling a bit of the pressure with whats going on. She visibly relaxed when she saw our NZ passport. We are checking in at the Air NZ counter but the NZ boarders have closed to all but NZ citizens. This flight will continue to Australia so there are a few non-NZ passport holders on the flight. She was saying that for any other passport there has to be a phone call to immigration and it seemed to be very stressful for everyone. A few raised voices at the counter beside us.
Noone pushing and shoving
So Quiet – JFK
Equally as quiet – LAX
SO we are the lucky ones, no problem, straight through. It is so quiet here, JFK was as well, very few people, most of the shops closed, most of the bars closed. I love airports, there is always something to see, so many people coming and going, it’s a great place to people watch and guess what their story is. People are generally happy and excited, today it feels very different. We see some sights! One girl in a white disposable chemical suit, a couple in diving masks. We too have our masks and gloves.
When its only a couple of hours to go we decide to get a glass of wine at the bar near our gate. One of the few still open. Its always expensive to eat/drink at an airport but it is part of the fun and you always do it anyway. I think this has to be the most expensive glass of wine we have ever had at USD$14+tax each! We sat down and within 10 minutes they started packing up the bar. They had just been told they need to close – NOW! So we sat all alone, drinking this (have to admit) delicious wine, I guess we wont be having a second!
Air New Zealand – a welcome sight
The flight was great! all 12 hours 55 minutes of it! The plane was only about half full and we were right at the back. We managed to get the four seats in the middle and were able to get some sleep. The crew were awesome. They are in one of the most vulnerable places for transmission of the virus, they are very brave and we are so thankful that they are still coming to work which is allowing people like us to get home. We have never boarded and disembarked a plane so easily, no scrum like tactics as everyone tries to stand up first to get off the plane first, great flight.
Landing in Auckland we were asked a couple of questions – Have you had a cough? Have you been feeling unwell? We were given a sheet on how to self isolate and that was that – through – home!
Information given at AKL
Tayla picked us up and we were very restrained with no hugging – just an elbow bump in way of hello. This is so strange. So wonderful to see her, we have been away for a year and it feels nice to be home.
We will be isolating at Guy and Melanie’s holiday home in Whakatane. This is a beautiful spot, right on the river. We will be able to go for walks but no visiting anyone and no visitors. This is how we started off, then within days of us being home NZ has escalated through level 3 to level 4 – total lock down for 4 weeks. The prime minister has declared a state of emergency which turns us into a country under Marshall Law. They will use police and military to enforce the rules if needed. OH Boy! It is still so hard to believe that any of this is happening.
Whakatane River
So now the rest of the country have joined us in isolation, our 14 days will be up in 10 days time and then we just fall into place with the rest of the country, which will be no different to what we will have been doing. I feel it will be a long 4 weeks for a lot of people. Both our girls have been put off work. We will all have to get creative and find ways to spend time together without actually being together, thanks goodness for the internet eh!
Even the kids playgrounds are off limits
Quite bizarre for us to be back in NZ but unable to see family and friends. We are treating this part as another house sit, landed in a town where we don’t know anyone, contacting friends and family back home via Messenger or WhatsApp, exploring a new place on foot. The only difference is that we are not meeting new people, and that is a bit sad, but this whole situation is a bit sad.
This is our story and it is not an unusual one. There are so many people who are affected by this crisis and we know we are not alone. We also know we are lucky to have a roof over our heads and food in our cupboards, our families and friends are safe, we are truly thankful for this. We just hope, as everyone does, that this is over soon with the least loss of life possible.
Things are changing so quickly! 2 days ago we were coming home in 10 days, today, we are coming tomorrow! After advisories yesterday from NZ government saying for “All Kiwis – please fly home” we came to an agonising decision to leave our house/pet sit and change our flights to this Friday, a week early. 10 days is a long time in this rapidly changing environment. New York are threatening a “shelter in place” order, San Francisco has already implemented this. If this comes in then there will be no public transport. It is so hard to imagine a city as big and vibrant as New York coming to a grinding halt.
This morning we wake up to the news that NZ has completely closed her borders to everyone except for citizens. First time in history this has happened. So now we just hope that our flight which is still a day and a half away, will still fly. The good thing is is that we booked with Air New Zealand, of all the airlines, this should be the one which will still get through. What times we are in! You could never imagine this could be a thing, but it is. We have booked a separate ticket to LA from New York, We have given ourselves an extra 7 hours for the connection and hope this is going to be enough.
So now not only are the cafes and restaurants closed but the shopping malls and many shops. Our lovely friends in Thure keep on smiling, though we know it must be hitting them so hard. These ladies are the life blood of that community, how will they survive this? All the small businesses out there who don’t have multi million dollar back up, where will this leave them. So many people are going to be out of work, it will take time, when this is all over, for small businesses to recover. It really is a nightmare of the biggest proportions. We made great friends with 2 café owners in Leros, both of them, along with the rest of the island, have had to close their doors also. I don’t think there is 1 person in this whole world who is not being touched by this virus in some way or another. They might not be getting sick, in fact, very few will, but they will be totally knocked to the ground with it.
We have met a wonderful lady here in Breezy Point, Diane. She has offered to take us to the airport in the morning, and take over feeding the lovely Mac and Jack. We feel so blessed and humbled to have met so many amazing people during our travels. I have said this many times during these wee stories, that it is the people that make the place, it is the people that we meet that endears us most to a country/town/city and I cannot express enough of the love and friendship we have received, its hard to find the words. Thank you. Thank you for being part of our life, which is so much richer for your presence in it xx
We arrive back in NZ on Sunday morning 0700. My wonderful daughter Tayla will be there to pick us up and take us to our isolation spot. It is a relief to be going home!
Every day new information comes out, new advice, new alerts. What to do, what not to do. We have had a very exhausting few days with all these questions and not so many answers. Since my last story – only 2 days ago, seems like weeks!! We have come to a decision and we have booked our tickets home! So we fly to NZ in 10 days time, when our lovely home owners come home. We feel some relief at this, here is an answer.
Just looking at how things are changing and how quickly, we are wondering what things will look like in 10 days. Will more borders be closed? Will NZ have closed the door completely? Will our home owners be able to return as planned? We just have to do what we can with the information we have at the time. At this stage most airlines are still flying with a few disruptions and restrictions. We have a commitment and we intend to fulfil that obligation.
It’s the most crazy thing. Would you ever believe that we would live through a situation like this? There is no other topic of conversation at the moment, facebook, TV news, people on the street, we are all talking about it. Some taking it more seriously than others, some panicking, some don’t care. I don’t mind admitting that I have had the full range of feelings about this. But we have to keep our heads and as I said, do the best we can with the information we have at the time. We have booked our tickets home, that’s the best we can do, if things change, well, we just re assess at the time and work it out.
We spoke with all our up-coming home owners and the consensus is that we have made the right decision. Puerto Rico is under Curfew now. They have to stay in their homes and are not even allowed to go to the beach, this is both Vieques and the Big Island. I am so heartened by the things I read on the Vieques community page and the way that lovely community comes together in these hard times. We have some very dear friends there and we are very sad that we are not going to be able to get there this time.
In the lead up to a house sit, we generally have many email conversations. We form a relationship with the home owners and when we meet, we often feel like we already know each other. This is true for the house sits which were coming up and it is really sad to realise that we are not going to get there and meet these people, that, even though we haven’t actually met, we would call friends. Everyone has been so wonderful and understanding. They have had to cancel their holidays as well, they have had to endure restrictions on everyday life too.
So here in New York, in our little corner of Long Island, all restaurants and cafes are closed, NYC is like a ghost town, we feel we are already in “Self Isolation” As far as I know the public transport is still running. Some supermarket shelves are still empty, or they empty as soon as they are stocked, either way, there is still food there, just some lines are going very fast. This is America! Surely food will keep coming…….
9/11 memorial at Breezy Point
So we are going home, this part of our adventure is coming to a pre-mature ending. Well we didn’t see that coming!
New Zealand – That way!!
We will have to “Self Isolate” when we get back. We have been doing research on what this actually entails. We can get a family member or public transport or a taxi to our final destination, but once there we have to stay there. We will have to get someone to bring groceries, but no visitors. That is going to be very tough! We have been away for a year, we are going to want to see people! We can go for walks or bike rides or even go for a drive as long as we stay away from everyone else. We have been offered several places to go for the isolation period, Our friends and family are wonderful, we DON’T have “nowhere” to go! So amazing how people pull together.
But you know what? We are not the only ones in this situation and I know that we are so much better off than some. My heart goes out to all who are having to lose their jobs, the ones who are sick, the ones isolated from their families and CANT get to them. This is a shit situation for the whole world and this story is just a tiny tiny paragraph of this massive novel.
So here we are, sitting in New York, hearing every day more and more the issues around the world about COVID-19 – Coronavirus. We were not so worried at the start, we are healthy and not too old yet (HA!) we are not going to die, so lets just carry on and continue with this adventure. But as the days go by, more and more travel restrictions are being put in place. Ok so now, what does this mean for us?
We have 2 weeks left of this house sit in New York then we have 3 more sits lined up almost back to back. Our current home owners got away to BVI days before they shut the borders, but will they be able to come back? I believe that US citizens can return so that’s good. Ok next up – Charleston and Fajardo, both home owners traveling to UK and Ireland – not going to happen – travel cancelled. Ok, What do we do now? Both of these wonderful home owners have asked us to still come, they will go on a local holiday instead. Great news, we will continue on with plans.
BUT, we have flights to Charleston with Delta, they announced the other day that they are cancelling 40% of their flights, will we be flying? Can we get to Puerto Rico? – will we, as tourists, be able to enter Puerto Rico? We are already worried about getting from there to Vieques as they have stopped all non-resident people from coming onto the island. Even if we can get to the island, will our home owners want to go back to the states where the virus is more threatening? So many questions and not so many answers!
Ok so plan B, we go back to NZ when the current home owners return. Not as easy as it sounds, flights are hard to find! Oh crap, and we will be in 14 day self isolation when we get back. More crap – We don’t have a home to go to to self isolate and we have been away for a year, does isolation mean we cant see anyone? It will be a case of so close yet so far! And, dear I say it – arriving to the start of winter!! We have had a year of winter LOL, we so need the sun!
Our current home owners have offered for us to stay on here when they get back, so its not like we have Nowhere to go, its just the big question – where can we go from here, what should we do? So for now we just watch each day and see what happens.
Breezy Point, New York
This mornings news is they are closing all restaurants, cafes, cinemas and nightclubs in France. This is going to cripple the small community of Thure where we house sat for 3 months. The local Cafe, which will have to close, have come up with a wonderful initiative. They will do deliveries of groceries from their store, with volunteers doing the deliveries. It is times like this that you see some amazing humility, people helping people is so heart-warming.
The ferries have stopped running to Leros from Athens, not sure about the planes but what does this mean for food and fuel supplies, we are thinking of all the wonderful people we met while there and what this means for them.
Vieques, the small community which is only just recovering from Irma and Maria, dependent on tourism, are having to close their doors, what will this do to an already stressed economy?
Here in New York, schools are closed, towns are being closed off, Broadway is shut down, sporting, ceremonial events and parades are being cancelled. I went to the supermarket of Friday, so many shelves empty, no bread, no milk, eggs, meat, rice and pasta – all gone. There was the most awful feeling in the store, an energy which made me feel panicky! People are panicking, people are worried. There is so much on the news here, it really does sound bad.
We were not so worried at the start, but are starting to be a bit more concerned. We don’t feel threatened by the virus, as I said, we are healthy and feel that if we did contract the virus then we would be able to fight it. But it is the whole knock on effect that we are starting to worry about. How long will it be? When will this end? If we do go back to NZ, can we afford to come back out again? Oh boy, so many questions!
Meantime we are safe and well here in this lovely home, with two beautiful cats who need us! We have lots of food and plenty of wine! We will sit this out for now and see what happens……….
Our time in Europe is almost at a close. We have been here for 5 months now and hopefully the authorities wont be too angry with us for enjoying an extra 2 months to what we are supposed to be intitled to.
The Schengen area is made up of 26 countries in Europe and as New Zealand passport holders we are allowed to stay in the Schengen area for three months only. An interesting fact though is that a few of these countries have a bilateral agreement with New Zealand which states that they will allow you to stay in their country for three months even if you have already had your three months in another country. Greece is one of these places. But with the open borders across Europe, we have no proof (passport stamps) of entry into Greece. With that knowledge under our belts we approach our exit from Europe next week with a few nerves, might be a time for fast talking! I will keep you posted on that one!
Tuscany, Italy
Europe has been wonderful. France was an absolute fairy tale, we have loved our time here so much! This is where we spent the first 2 ½ months and have now come back for our final 2 weeks. We are back at our house sit at the Castle. Our owners have gone on holiday and we are here to welcome the new house sitters. It is great to be back, we feel very at home here. But it is not the same without or lovely hosts! We are so honoured to have had this experience and to have met this wonderful family.
Stunning countryside of Umbria, Italy
After our week in Crete we flew to Rome. There we picked up a rental car and drove the 3 hours north to Umbertide. Did I say 3 hours? Well google said 3 hours – hmmmm why did it take us 5? It was nearly midnight by the time we got there and we were very relieved, it was a pretty tough drive in the dark, not really knowing where we were going. But we got there safe and sound. We were staying for a week in the countryside right on the Tuscany/Umbria border. Our wonderful home owner in Greece has a home in Italy and offered for us to stay. Such beautiful countryside, not a tourist to be seen, magic!
Cortona, Italy
We explored all around the region and found some wonderful villages and so many castles. I was amazed at how different Italy was to France. There were the same ancient buildings and narrow roads but the style of the homes were very different, some were huge!. So many hill-top villages, looking down through beautiful valleys. Cortona, Gubbio, Preggio were a few we found.
Gubbio, Italy
We had lovely weather while we were there, no rain, frosty mornings down to -3 first thing with beautiful blue skies following.
The drive back to Rome was better being in the daylight, then off to The Netherlands. A quick trip to Holland to catch up with friends. It is always so great when you see friends who you haven’t seen for years and it feels like it was yesterday! Holland is a favourite and though we were there for such a short time, we still squeezed in some of the favourite food we remember from previous trips. Chocolate covered bread for breakfast! Stroopwafels and pancakes, so many sweet things!! Yumm. Great cheeses, we are finding each country has its own variety/styles of cheeses, all pretty good too!! Cold meats and wonderful bread.
Amersfoort, The Netherlands
Sad to say goodbye to Eugene, Dennis, Nova and Vida, but we have a train to catch to Bruges, Oh how we love Bruges! It is winter in Europe, not many tourists in Greece, or Italy it seemed, but Bruges! I don’t think this city sleeps – ever! It was really busy, I was surprised. We spent 2 whole days wandering around this wonderful city. We saw things we hadn’t noticed last time we were there. The Belgium Beer popularity seems to have escalated since our last visit. It still amazes me how each type of beer will have its own special glass which is designed to get the best out of that particular brew. There are tourist shops now dedicated to beer, and of course there are still the Chocolate shops! Chocolate in every possible design you could think of – true artists who create these masterpieces!
Chocolate and Beer! Arrrrr Burges!
Hot chocolate – get a paper cup, fill it to the line with what ever flavour of chocolate buttons you like, mix it up to make your own flavour, caramel, raspberry, mango, dark, milk, white 70%coco, 90%coco etc etc, fill with hot frothy milk, stir and voila! Steaming hot chocolate! It was cold in Bruges, so this was very welcome!
Did you know that French Fries are actually from Belgium?!
Beautiful Bruges
So next is the bus, 8 hours back to Chatellerault, France. 5th country in about 3 weeks.
It still find it so strange that you can drive between countries. New Zealand is an Island nation and the nearest place to go is Australia and even that is a 3 hour jumbo jet ride. Even though you can drive from one country to the next, they are on the same continent, they have the same money and they all belong to the Schengen group, they are all still very different. From what I saw, the countries have been able to retain their own identity, the language is different, the buildings look different, the food is different, there seems to be a difference in cost of living from one to the other, yet they are united by no borders. It’s a fascinating place. We have loved being here and learning more. We do intend to be back – if they let us! But perhaps in the summertime next time!
Our plans from here? We are off to USA next week for a house sits on Long Island, followed by Charleston, South Carolina then Fajardo, Puerto Rico then back to the beautiful island of Vieques. This will take us up to about October……
Kiwis Do Fly 