Tag: housesitting

Touch Down In Sydney

Published on by Donna2 Comments

So much frustration for most of the year trying to get to Australia, but I did it! I got here in the end, and looking back it was rather easy.

See ya later Mount Maunganui

Before I left there were so many questions, the most important of course was, will the plane fly?  Putting that question aside, there are also many other questions to think about. I spent hours trolling the Australian government web sites and Government State websites for information on what was expected before departure and on arrival. I had already come to the conclusion that I would have to fly into New South Wales instead of Queensland as the QLD border was still shut. The information I was getting was very conflicting at times, I felt I was going in circles. Omicron is showing herself everywhere now and border controls are changing daily. I was questioned daily by friends and family, do you think you will get to go? Do you have to isolate? I really don’t know! I was getting totally confused and didn’t know whether I was coming or going. At this point I had left my job and had tenants coming into my house in a few weeks, so really, I HAD to go.

In the end this is how is worked:

I got a COVID test 3 days before take off at the local Pathology Lab at a cost of $200. The result was in my in box within 36 hours.-tick

I registered with the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. I had to give them full details of my immunisations. They wanted to know the dates for each shot and the brand of the drug. They also needed my Australian address and phone number, and was I going to travel inter-state once I arrived.  As I understood things, I was able to land in New South Wales quarantine free as I was a NZ passport holder reuniting with immediate family who normally reside in Australia. On arrival I was to self isolate until I had a negative covid test which need to be taken within 24 hours of arrival. tick

So off I go to Tauranga airport with copies of my vaccination certificate, Australian Department of Home Affairs acceptance and proof of my negative covid test. How hard can this be. Checked in, bags checked all the way to Sydney – surely they cant stop me now!!  A very sad good bye to Leigh-Ann, I found it hard to let go of that last hug and they called – “would the remaining passenger Donna Bennett, please board your aircraft at gate 4” Oh crap! Don’t go without me!

Auckland International Airport – where is everyone?

Into Auckland no problem, 5 hour wait for my flight to Sydney. Tauranga airport was fairly busy but Auckland International Airport was so quiet. Only 9 flights for the whole day. Therefore limited shops open, only 1 place to get a coffee and only cabinet food, no kitchens open. Even McDonalds was closed.

We get called to board, this could really be happening! With all the changes to my flights and credits on and off throughout the year, this flight ended up being premium economy. Now this is the way to travel! The seats were huge, so much space and a 3 course meal, a proper pillow and the BEST pour of Sav in a beautiful stemless wine glass LOL. I was wishing the flight was longer than the 3 hours! My section had 35 seats, there were 5 of us, and I was the only one on the port side so I felt I was already isolating.

Arriving in Sydney. The announcement on the plane was for arriving passengers to take a Rapid Antigen Test on arrival and isolate until a negative result. Really? Don’t those tests give a result in 15 minutes? And how do these tests get monitored? How would they know I have done it and done it right? Do I just go to a chemist and buy one? OK, that’s not what I expected. Chris had researched and had found that there was a PCR (nose swab) testing station at the airport for arriving passengers, so with this announcement and the signs at the baggage carousel, I was feeling a bit confused – again! I felt I should get a full PCR test as advised by the government web site, so I rock up to the car park-come-testing station and ask the question …… YES, they said, get a test here, now – ok will do. So I registered there and got my test. I am now self-isolating.

hmmmmm

I found Chris and am just so overwhelmed to see him!! It has been a long 6 months! We are now isolating together. This is New Years Eve, last day of this retched 2021. I received message from Service NSW at 0130 1/1/22, your results are NEGATIVE!  

So let the adventures begin!!  We did it!!

Funny thing is though, there were no questions on arrival, no checks and balances, automatic passport control, I spoke to no one except for one person who was taking statistics of how many vaccinations I had had, he didn’t even ask my name, I was a tick in the column for 3 vaccinations. I could have walked right out of that airport, full of COVID, right into the community………………

And here we are – AT LAST

The First Half of the Second Half

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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

A Trip Back In Time – The Hurricane Story – The Finale

What are we going to do now?

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!!

Thanks for reading our story!

Life Is Too Short Not To!

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Vieques, Puerto Rico

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…

https://kiwisdofly.blog/2019/10/04/a-trip-back-in-time-the-hurricane-story-part-1/

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………

Made it Back to NZ

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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.

Take care everyone! Try to keep smiling! XXX

So Many Questions

Published on by Donna4 Comments

Coronavirus

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……….

Mac the cat, so beautiful!
Breezy Point

Greece Is The Word

Published on by Donna5 Comments

Sitting here at Athens airport waiting on the flight to Rome, I am filled with conflicting emotion. We have really fallen for Greece, both the islands of Leros and Crete, our two wonderful islands in the sun with the most friendly people. But we can’t be too sad because we are off to another adventure, with new people, food and paces to explore.

Crete has been a lot of fun! We have to remember that it is winter here so it can be a bit slower than it is in the summer months, though the weather is still very agreeable. We had sunshine most days and the island looked so wonderful and bright, temps got up to 19° C so very pleasant indeed.

We flew into Chania and stayed for 5 nights. We had a room right on the water-front, the location was amazing with a little deck looking out to sea. The evenings were a bit cool to sit out there for long, but we did our best!

Chania has an old Venetian port and a walled city. The old town was so cute with its narrow streets and wonky buildings. But the most amazing thing we found was the mountains behind. We met a lovely lady in Leros who said, don’t forget to look behind you when you are in Chania, the mountains are amazing. She didn’t tell us that they would be covered in snow and be quite so spectacular, she wanted that to be a surprise, and a surprise it was! You could be forgiven to think you were somewhere like Switzerland, the sight caught our breath every time we looked behind us! You felt like you could almost reach out and touch them!

Chania

We did a lot of walking in Chania, but that is easy, everything is in walking distance. And if it is not then the bus system is very efficient. Though we did always seem to be the last people on the bus! Again, a lot of English is spoken so that makes a huge difference.

We took a bus out to Souda Bay one afternoon and then walked the 2 km to the war graves cemetery. During the battle of Crete in 1941, 1000’s of brave New Zealand, Australian and British soldiers were killed. It was a very emotional place, we both felt bewildered when we saw the shear number of silver fern gravestones. Of the 1527 graves, 446 were New Zealanders, that is almost a third. This is the biggest war cemetery we have seen. We were there until twilight, it was very moving.

Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery

Leaving the cemetery we found a small local restaurant, not so much English here! We were shown the food which had been cooked and chose what we wanted, delicious beef with tomato sauce. Such friendly, hospitable people. That is a big part of what we love about Greece, the people!! Just amazing.


We took a trip out to Maleme which was the location of a huge battle during the war. The air strip there was a target to control and the battle went for days. We walked through the olive groves and came to the German war cemetery, we were glad to pay respect to these fallen soldiers too, they also had heavy losses.

German War Graves Cemetery

A trip out to Galatas, Where New Zealand soldiers made a stand and held the Germans off while the Allies could escape. So well the kiwis were thought of, that the locals named a street after them! We have read so many stories of bravery by our boys. It is so important to remember the sacrifices these family’s made for us to live in the world we live today.

Street in Galatas

One particular story really touched me, of a soldier from the Maori Battalion. After 7 days of fighting near Souda Bay, they were exhausted and hungry, the Germans were approaching from the west. As they made contact, Private Aupouri ran out from his defence position wielding a Bren gun like a Taiaha (Traditional Maori spear) And did the Haka! (Traditional Maori war dance) at this they all rose up, NZ and Australian, yelling defiantly and charged as one. The Germans fled, overwhelmed by the ferocity of the attack! For 1000m they pushed them back through the olive grove to open ground then withdrew back to their defence position at “42nd street” This temporarily delayed the advance and allowed 1000’s of Allies more time to get across the White mountain range to the evacuation point on the south of the island. Very sad to note that Aupouri survived the charge but was later killed in Egypt.

I am certain there are many many more stories of tremendous bravery, on all sides, stories that will never be told, very sad.

Did you know …. The Greeks have been Mariners for around 6000 years! Unbelievable!

Heraklion was a great surprise, what a lovely city! Big modern city but very much still village like. Many narrow streets with cobble paths but also lots of open spaces, squares and parks. There is a great atmosphere, so many cafes and restaurants and lots of people socialising, and believe it or not, usually drinking coffee day and night! They love iced coffee or frappe as they call it. Heraklion also has a Venetian harbour with a harbour wall which stretches out 2.5kms, which we did walk one afternoon. There are many monuments and historical buildings.

There doesn’t seem to be as many buildings in bad repair as in Chania, maybe just more re-building done. There are a lot of derelict buildings in Chania. We also noticed that in Leros and read that a lot of the houses that were destroyed during the war were never re-built.

The archaeological museum in Heraklion and the Knossos palace are worth a visit. The Minoan people of around 2500 – 1600BC were believed to be the first great civilisation of Europe, a really advanced race and it is not really known what happened to them. They have found so much evidence of their existence which is fascinating. Mythology and history do overlap a bit and in the museum there is a family tree of the God Zeus. The ruins of Knossos Palace is incredible, the work that has been done from the late 1800’s through to today, to uncover all the artifices and foundations of this amazing settlement is incredible. There is a theory that around 1600BC, a massive earthquake shook the island of Santorini which caused a tsunami which was large enough to wipe out all the Minoan cities throughout the region, but this is not proven. It is even suggested that this civilisation was in fact Plato’s Atlantis……

227 of the 6000 Greek islands are inhabited! Google says “a truly unique phenomenon!”
We have been to two!


We found Greece to be The land of wonderful clear air, beautiful friendly people and deliciously fresh food! We look forward to coming back!

This is our Island in the Sun

Published on by Donna4 Comments

Well not quite! This is Leros Island in the Dodecanese group of Greece Islands and it is winter! January and the temperatures are around 11-15 daytime dropping to the lowest so far of 7 at night, so not really too bad. A lot of rain though and very windy. We watch from our house the 7 wind turbines as they turn and think of all the electricity they are producing for this tiny island. 54 km/sq, 15 km long and only 1.5 km across at the narrowest point with only 8000 permanent residents. It is about a third of the size of Vieques, where we house sat for 5 months in 2017. We seem to be attracted to islands! This is our 4th island housesit!

Like sitting on top of the world! My beautiful daughter Leigh-Ann came to visit

The terrain is very hilly, though if you Google Leros you will be told that it is a relatively flat island perfect for cycling and walking! Hmmm, we get a different view, but, the highest point is only 320m. I am thinking that because it is so small, makes it very steep to get up to those high points. 

The island is steeped in history, from the ruins of the temple of the Goddess Artemis, which dates back to 3rd-4th c BC to WWII bunkers and war remnants everywhere we go. We are very lucky to have a car so have taken full advantage to orientate ourselves with the island and are now getting out on foot to explore even more. I am so taken with the little chapels everywhere, they are immaculately kept and are all open and inviting. There is an opportunity to light a candle which brings a lovely feeling of peace. Quite often we are finding that at each site of these lovely chapels, there are also some WWII bunkers or tunnels.  Even just along some of the roads we see evidence of the second most bombed Greek island after Crete.

Tiny Chapels that pop up everywhere
Oxalis

So hiking around the many peaks of Leros is really interesting. Something to see on every corner. And the scenery is stunning. Though it is winter and we have had a few hearty storms and overcast days, we have also had a few days of stunning blue sky and Leros just comes alive! It is very green in places, but we find this is from the weed Oxalis which is everywhere, and very barren in others. Some of the hills look like they are from the moon or the desert, so rocky and very harsh. Perfect for the 1000’s of goats, each with a bell!, I love hearing the goats everywhere, to me its the sound of Greece. From most of the peaks you can see every corner of the island, 360° views, therefore, seeing all coasts at the same time.

You can see the whole island from some points
Guarding the island

The stunning Castle of Panagia in the East, seems to overlook the whole island. At night she is lit up and almost looks to be floating above Platanos. I believe it is not clear when the castle was first built but there are indications that she existed in 1087. You can walk the 365 steps through the winding streets and onto the hill to get to her. On the way you pass the lovely Prophet Elias Church. The vista is breath taking!  The castle was used by the Italians as barracks and a lookout post during WWII.  We have been up a couple of times, the view from the top is quite incredible, but unfortunately with it being winter, it is closed to go inside.

Prophet Elias Church
Castle of Panagia and traditional windmills

Right opposite the castle are the traditional windmills. They are so picturesque and you will find them on a lot of google searches of Leros and also souvenirs. Many around the island have been restored and some are now guest houses, but were used primarily to grind grain. It is hard to find information on some of these things, its as if it is just here…. No explanation or reason….it just is.

The Church Agios Isidoros is another Leros icon. She is pretty special! She has her own island and you have to get your timing right to get out to her. The path is very slippery and the waves crash over it most of the time. Again, so picturesque! And especially stunning when the sun comes out. We can see her from our “home” in Gourna Bay.

There are a few museums on the island which we would love to see but again they are closed as it is winter. This is a common theme on the Greek Islands. This goes with the many restaurants as well, a lot will only be open in summer.

Leronians are so friendly! We are so lucky that most people speak a good amount of English, we did think we were in for a tough time with Greek as the local language, but not so. Everyone here has a Hello or “Kalimera” and big smiles, nothing is too much trouble. We are slowly getting used to the “Mediterranean” thing when eating out, being fed more and more food, extra food besides what you have ordered if you have ordered any, that you don’t have to pay for! Its incredible, we can go to the café at the bottom of the drive and buy a beer and get a platter of food, then get a couple of wines and get another platter of food, then finish with an oyzo and get more food, without paying for one bite. We go in for a sundowner and come out fully stuffed thinking “well that was dinner” We feel a little embarrassed but on talking to others, it is just the way of things in Greece. The people are just so hospitable. And you always get a cake or biscuit with a coffee, it is so lovely.

So many goats

Such a lovely place! Great people, great food, we kinda like this little island in the sun!

Λέρος, ευχαριστούμε που μας έχεις

Leros, thank you for having us

We are off to Greece!

Published on by Donna2 Comments
View from our house sit

We are off to our next house sit location – Island of Leros, Greece. It will be very sad saying goodbye to France and our wonderful hosts Marie-Laure and Arnaud. Our time in France has been an incredible experience, we have been exposed to so many new things and learnt so much, and best of all, made wonderful new friends. We will definitely be back!

So off to Greece! We fly out of Charles De Gaulle so booked a train with enough time for check in etc but the French rail workers have decided to go on strike right at this moment. This strike is looking like it wont be resolved any time soon. The train is too much of a risk so we cancel that and book a private bus. On the day of travel (Wednesday), the strike is still in full force and it is causing havoc on the roads in and around Paris. This was one report …

On the roads in and around the city traffic is likely to be bad again, recent days have seen traffic jams of up to 600 km at rush hour in the greater Paris area.

And anyone driving in France is advised to be aware that blockades are continuing at seven of France’s eight oil depots, meaning that many petrol stations are running dry.

In the air things have improved with fewer cancellations and most services running, however there is likely to be some knock-on effects after 20 percent of services were cancelled on Tuesday. Passengers are advised to check with their airline.

Reported night before travel

This will be an interesting and a bit stressful trip. We have 3.5 hours from arrival on the bus to take off, so even if we get held up for 2 hours we should still have time.

As we travel, we watch the GPS closely and things are going good. We get to 7 km from CDG and have not been held up, so we know that even if the worst happens, we can walk from here and still make the flight! But we didn’t need to worry, we count the kilometres down. We had no hold ups and got to the airport exactly on time! So early in fact, that we couldn’t check in our bags! Oh well, better this than the alternative. What a relief!

Hanging out at Athens airport – all a bit tired!

We get to Athens at midnight and meet up with the two Mexican girls we had met in France. Vale and Laura have been at the airport since 6 this evening. We couldn’t believe it when we met 2 months ago that we would be at Athens airport on the same night, so this meeting was pre-arranged. It was so good to catch up with these two lovely girls!

By about 3am we were feeling exhausted so went to find a place to sleep. Athens airport is not the best for overnighting in. There are almost no seats without arms in the middle. There were plenty of people staying all night though so quite noisy too. We said goodbye to the girls (they were flying back to Mexico at 0600) and found a place a bit out of the way and tried to sleep. By 0500 we gave up and found coffee and a pie! Yes a pie – though be it spinach and cheese rather than mince and cheese – a pie no less, haven’t had one of those for months!

We get to Leros at 11am and were met by Michael, our next house owner. He takes us for a “tiki tour” of the island and introduces us to a few people, a couple of cafes and the laundromat etc. This place looks amazing, I think we are going to like it here! We get home and are introduced to our temporary furry family and our home for the next 6 weeks.

Out for dinner for a typical Greek meal and a trial of the local wine, Retsina, oh yes, this is going to be good! Grab a few groceries and home to bed. Its been a big day!

Panteli, Leros

Big adventures to come as we get out to explore this beautiful island.

My Favourite Travel Picture Challenge

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I was nominated by a lovely lady, Rachael, to post on facebook, 1 of my favourite travel photos every day for 10 days. A photo which has had an impact on me, post it with no explanation and nominate another person for the challenge. It was great fun going through my photos and trying to pick the favourites. As I am traveling still, I dont have many years of photos with me, but I was creative with my searches and came up with these, with explanations!

Day 1.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

We house sat in Phnom Penh for 1 month November 2017. Cambodian men dont seem to mind peeing anywhere! Usually it is up against a wall, so this was a bit out of the ordinary, but a common occurrence this all the same. I chose this as a bit of a cheeky shot for Jacqui who we met there. She noticed it too and said she would make it a game each day and count how many she saw in a day! Not sure what the most in 1 day was, but given what I saw, it would have been many – Jacqui was my first nomination. Check out her blog Jacq The Tripper http://www.jacquirawson.org/

Day 2

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

A holiday in Vietnam August 2016. This is an incredibly vibrant city. Venture out on the city streets and its BOOM! Sensory overload! There is noise, colour, smells. There are motorbikes everywhere fully overloaded, zooming in and out of the traffic, total organised chaos! I loved these two, taking time out from their busy day in amongst the chaos. Always amazes me how much they can fit onboard, awesome!

Day 3

Cadouin, France

This is a new shot, only taken in November 2019 while house sitting in France. I spent a day with a dear friend from long ago, Tricia, and she took me to this stunning village. This could be my favourite photo of France, I fell in love with the Dordogne, the pretty villages and friendly people and this reminds me of a wonderful day, I feel peaceful when I look at it

Day 4

Ghent, Belgium

A holiday in Belgium July 2013. I have to confess I did not take this photo, Chris did. He had a trip to Belgium on a Kiwi Fruit boat and convinced me to come out and meet him. He sent me this photo to show how nice it was, so I went with 3 days notice. He took me back to this very spot a week later, we sat in the same chairs, under the same castle and drank Goliath, that was the beginning of a fantastic holiday!

Day 5

Old San Juan, Puerto Rico

We house sat for 5 months in Puerto Rico during 2017. Friends were traveling through Puerto Rico from Cuba onto a cruise ship. We left our island of Vieques and met them for 2 nights. We were so taken with Old San Juan. It is a beautiful old town. The people are super friendly, beautiful buildings, cobble streets, ceramic tiles, wonderful colours, GREAT music! Fantastic mini break!

Day 6

Rabbit Island, Cambodia

Chris and I house sat in Kampot, Cambodia for a month in December 2017. My dear friend Karen came to join us for Christmas. We left Chris looking after the pets and had 3 days on Rabbit Island. We stayed in a hut on the beach, it was freezing! We couldn’t believe how cold it was. These two cuties lived on the island, they were adorable, sharing a pair of jandals, too cute not to take a photo. We left the island a day early and booked into a good hotel in Kep, great fun!

Day 7

Waterford, Maine, USA

October 2017, after house sitting in Puerto Rico we ended up in Maine, almost by accident – we are so glad we did! Maine in the fall! STUNNING, the colours of the tree fall was out of this world. We spent 10 days with our wonderful Vieques Home Owners, Bob and Lou. We never expected to go to the States at all, and this part of our adventures has become a favourite and we are looking forward to going back one day. We met and got to know some wonderful people through this part of our journey, great memories!

Day 8

Lost, Scotland

OMG I dug this one out of the archives, yes there is a place called Lost in Scotland! I lived in Scotland for 8 years from 1990. My old school friend Sheryl came to visit in, around, 1992 or 93, she was staying in London at the time. I think we found this totally by chance. No GPS or cell phones in those days! Great fun and wonderful lifetime friendship which goes back to primary school. This photo screams to me – 90’s Kiwi OE! LOVE IT!

Day 9

Ha’apai, Tonga

And there has to be a sunset! We have seen some stunning sunsets in different parts of the world, but this one is up there with the best! Chris sailed up to Tonga from NZ in May 2010. I met him off the boat in the Ha’apai island group for a weeks holiday. We were having a drink at the bar when someone said “man you should see the sunset!” We all rushed out and this is what we saw. I promise there is no filter or adjustment to this shot, this is exactly what it was like. Stunning!

Day 10

Hahei, New Zealand

Cant have travel photos without a photo of travel at home. New Zealand is a wonderful country and when we came back after a year of travel in 2018, we saw our own country with fresh eyes. We may not have the history of Europe or the speed of Asia, but New Zealand has the most wonderful people, stunning scenery and our own very special history, not so very ancient, but very special all the same, all wrapped up in a time package a long way from anywhere else. I am so proud to be a Kiwi. This photo is my home – it says “home” to me

Mont Saint-Michel

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Mont Saint-Michel

0600 the alarm goes off. We are staying at Saint Malo which is 50 minute drive to Mont Saint-Michel. High tide is at 0833 and the advice is to get there 2 hours before high tide so that you can see the tide rushing in. I am so fascinated by the 15 metre tidal range.  They say the water comes in at 30km per hour, as fast as a racehorse. We are at the end of the spring tides so we want to go today to see it as high as we can.  So we choose the morning tide as, being winter, the afternoon highs are in the dark. We intend to get there about an hour before high tide and see what we can see.

Just getting light, quite mystical

Navigating with Google Maps again, we find our way out of Saint Malo, and get to St Michel about 0730. Oh woops……. Its still dark – like really dark! We came to a barrier arm which needed a code or credit card to go through, its pitch dark and we don’t really know what to do. We reverse back out and find there are many many car parks. Only 2 other cars, not many other silly buggers here in the dark! We didn’t realise that the whole of the town/village was actually out on the “Mount” we really thought there was a village on the mainland before the access to the mount. But NO, there is a hotel and a restaurant and this car park – this HUGE car park, numbered 1 – 14. Google says it is still 3.5 km to our destination of the tourist office. We start walking and can see the majestic Mount lit up in the distance, but we are actually heading the wrong way, we are just heading to the far end of the furthest car park! We re assess and follow some lights to the road and make our way. We do get to the causeway and by now it is getting light, we make it onto the bridge right on high tide, so we don’t get to see the racehorse rushing in. We never would have though as we mis-calculated the darkness.

Yesterday the water was meeting in the middle
Here comes the sun

She is a beautiful site! We have had rain this morning and it is overcast, hence so dark so late, but still……WOW!!  The end of the causeway was closed yesterday so we really are seeing her at her highest. A construction worker shows us the way in up a ramp, as the entrance was blocked by water, this is so cool! Legend says that the archangel Michael appeared to Aubert of Avranches in 708 and instructed him to build a church here. 1300 years ago! Then she was seized by Vikings, then, in the 10th century, the Benedictine Monks settled here and expanded the church. The English tried to capture her during the 100 years war and the abbey was closed in the 17th century and used as a prison until 1863, she has seen so much! But now she can rest as she has been declared a Historic Monument, since 1874.

We stayed on the Mount for about 2 hours, wandered around all the streets, went up and down many stairs, took many many photos but I feel they do not do her justice! This is a spectacular place and we are so thankful we got here!

40 minutes after high tide
1 1/2 hours after high tide

We may not have seen the tide racing in, but in the 2 hours we were there we saw the evidence of the tide receding, it is quite a site to see

2 hours after high tide