Langkawi – Kiwis Do Fly

We Put The Turbo Boosters On And Found Our Wings

Published on January 15, 2025January 15, 2025 by kiwisdofly24 Comments

2024 – it’s a wrap!

Recently I made a reel of all our 2024 house-sits, it was awesome, it turned out so well. Trusted House-sitters prompted that reel as a competition and I was hoping we would win a go-pro haha – of course I thought our house-sits and our pets were the BEST, and was very surprised that we did not win the competition.

As I was going through the photos and making that reel, I realised that the house-sits for last year were only a part of what 2024 was for us. Since 2017, (excluding the COVID 1.5 years and 2018 when we tried time back in the real world and worked), House-sitting has been our top focus. We have traveled around the world several times. Like bees, we have moved from flower to flower and from country to country. We always have the next 6 months or more booked up. But last year was different, we tried to slow things down a bit – HA!

The years go by so fast, don’t they? We are already almost half way through January and If I wanted to wrap up last year, then I better get on with it because before we know it we will be half way through July!

So, 2024, what did that look like for us? 12 months from the beginning of December 2023 looked like this:-

Lumin and Rana, Engin Germany, the snow was outstanding!

December we were in Engin, Germany, doing a new (for us)house-sit. We fell in love with 2 beautiful Sight Hounds, were enchanted with the village, especially when it snowed, and made awesome new friends. Then off to Leros, Greece to do a sit we have done before, we feel so at home on Leros. That was house-sits 1 and 2.

A few nights in Athens being tourists then off to Paris. 3 nights in Thure, France, catching up with friends we made while house-sitting there in 2019, then up to The Netherlands. We never visit Europe without a visit to our friends in Holland, we always have the best time, even though it is often years between visits.

Château de La Barbelinière, Thure, France – She still looks stunning through the mid-winter fog (house-sit 2019)

We cannot be in this part of the world without a visit to Belgium – even if it is purely to drink beer! And that is exactly what we did. 3 nights in Brussels, 1^st time visiting this city. Now, across the channel, House-sit 3 and 4 in South England, Weymouth then Shoreham-by-Sea. Some more new pets to get to know and love, and awesome homeowners/new friends.

We want to head over to Puerto Rico, not to house-sit this time but purely to visit all the wonderful people we had met there during the 2 X 6 month sits we have done in the past. So, this time we jump on a ship and sail from Southampton to Miami. 11 days crossing the Atlantic – truly a bucket list item! On arrival we fly straight to Puerto Rico and then on to Vieques. Two weeks was not enough, but we must move on.

By now it is March and our next stop New Zealand. Now this is novel, haven’t had much time here in the last few years. We have a full immersion into our family and friends. It is awesome! Exhausting but fantastic. We make our way up and down and around the country and have a great old time. Chris spends 8 weeks here and I have 6. I opted to head over to Queensland, Australia for 2 weeks to spend a bit of time catching up with friends and family there.

Precious time with the family – all in the same country at once for a change!

It is now May and we each jump back on a plane. Chris flies from Auckland. I fly from Brisbane. We meet in Langkawi, Malaysia. Back to a house-sit we have done before; this is house sit-number 5. From Langkawi it is a quick 3-day visit to Kuala Lumpur to be tourists again. We just love Malaysia, the food, the people the warmth – everything! But now time for Thailand.

We have been to Hua Hin, Thailand several times now. While there, we have made great friends. We have 3 house-sits here over the next 2 months, all through word-of-mouth for friends. Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to Thailand without a sit for the 44+ dogs and our dear friend Cristina. We are so glad to be able to be there so she can get away for a break. That was house-sits 6, 7 and 8.

August we head to The Sunshine Coast, Australia. Maybe put our feet up for a bit? Fat chance! Chris stays for 4 weeks and heads back to Langkawi to do that sit again that we did in May. House-sit number 9. I chose to sit this one out and stayed put in Australia for about 2½ months. Meanwhile Chris finishes in Langkawi. He heads first to Kuala Lumpur then to Tioman Island, Malaysia to be tourist for a few weeks. He absolutely loves it – though he says it was not the same without me…..

I have 2 weeks in New Zealand again and by late October Chris arrives into New Zealand also. Only for a week though, November we head off to the most remote house-sit we have ever done. Uoleva, Tonga. House sit-number 10. And here we are, halfway through this 4 month sit. Lots of time to reminisce over the past 12 / 13 months. Wow we have been busy! I am feeling exhausted just thinking about it.

What a year!

10 house sits, 63 pets. 13 countries, we won’t count USA, we only transited, 12 international journeys together and 7 separately, that’s average 15½ each.

We travelled between places by ferry 3 times, bus 8 times, train 3 times, were driven by car twice and sailed on a ship once. I can’t remember how many domestic flights we took while in New Zealand. It was more than I can count on two hands!

During this year, we celebrated an awesome milestones. Our daughter Tayla and her partner Jesse got engaged! Huge congratulations to them both, we are so very proud. Such a privilege to have been there to celebrate with them! WOW, It has been quite a year.

So that is a year in the life of the house-sitters. How did we ever have time to work a 9 – 5?

We often get asked how do we do this? How do we step away from the conventional? My answer? what is normal? And often a comment comes back, oh I could never do that! but you know what? you can! All you need to do is put your mind to it and just take that first step. It’s just one foot in front of the other. I say just go for it, go on! give it a chance. Life is too short and you never know what you’re gonna find out there. There are so many wonderful people to meet and sights to see. Give it a go! you might just surprise yourself.

We have each and every one of these stories in detail with loads more cool photos. If you want to see more, check out the rest of our blog……https://kiwisdofly.blog/

Boarding the Ferry in Leros heading to Athens

A big year but nicely balanced, exhausting and exciting all at the same time.

Thank you for reading our story

Retimed To Langkawi

Published on June 24, 2024 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

We seem to be faced with many reschedules, cancellations and delays to journeys these days, it is becoming a bit of a worry. Is this a thing now or is it just me?

Flying over Mount Taranaki, North Island, New Zealand

Last year our flights to South East Asia were changed last minute, and we had a major re shuffle just days before flying. Now this year, similar things happened.

Chris had a flight booked, a through ticket, Auckland to Langkawi. We have had a couple of bad experiences with 3^rd party booking sites in the past, so now we always make sure to book with the airline itself. Not sure if this is recommended by all, but we feel it must be a little safer. On the long journeys we like to book afternoon flights, so they go through the night and with a “get to the airport 3 hours prior” we don’t have to get up at stupid-o’clock to get to the airport.

So, Chris is booked for Sunday night 1800 take off, Auckland to Langkawi. A few weeks before, he received an email – your flight has been retimed. What’s this new word we keep hearing – retimed?? Hmmmm, is that to make it not sound so problematic? Anyway, his flight is “retimed” to 0630 Monday morning. Really? That means getting to the airport at 0330!! NOT our favourite thing to be doing.

The flight has two stops, Perth and Kuala Lumpur. Remembering this is a Through-ticket, the first 2 flights have been retimed but the KL – Langkawi leg remains the same – that is, it is leaving KL before it arrives. Well, this wont work. A couple of emails later, they change that leg to work with the rest. Nice.

4 days before the flight, another email to say the flight has been retimed. And again, only the first half changed, which means, again, that he would arrive in KL after the flight to Langkawi has left. No mention of this in the email, it is as if they don’t notice it, or mention it, then it isn’t a problem. It is a problem for Chris though, how is he meant to get to Langkawi? There is not other flight until the next day. So he chooses, this time, for full cancellation and refund. Cutting it fine though, this is 4 days before he is due to be meeting me in Langkawi to start a house sit.

A new ticket is bought, leaving Sunday night (no stupid-o’clock get up) arriving in KL in plenty of time to get a flight up to Langkawi – but via China! Oh Well, at least he will get there, though be it, the long way round.

Meantime, I am flying from Brisbane to Langkawi, a through ticket, booked through the airline, via Denpasar and Kuala Lumpur. And I DID have an early get-up! I Checked-in online so line up to drop my bag. Where is your onward ticket from Malaysia, she asks? Eh? You cannot board the plane without an onward ticket from Malaysia, she said. Really? We have been to Malaysia several times, is this new? I really think that different airlines have different interpretations of the rules. Chris did not have to have a forwarding ticket. But you cannot argue, you cannot question, they have all the power in the world to stop you from boarding the plane at the end of the day. So over to a chair I go to book and pay for a flight out of Malaysia. Done.

Back into line. You have to pick up your bag in Kuala Lumpur, she says. Dam, but this is a through ticket! Why? Again, you cannot question. Ok, whatever you say.

My plane was 90 minutes late leaving Brisbane, we didn’t get off the plane in Denpasar, 1 hour on the ground. I won’t have much time in KL to get to my Langkawi flight.

On arrival at KL, I see on the board that my flight has been “retimed” yay I have an extra hour to get through. I go through immigration, (by the way, he didn’t want to know about my onward ticket!!) I make my way to the carousel; my bag is nowhere to be seen. I ask at the lost luggage desk, he says that as I am effectively in transit, then I should have gone to the transit desk air side and my bag would have been there. Oh? I say, dam, missed that memo.

Ok so I have to get back through. By now I am running out of time and feeling a bit panicked. I am talking to Chris on the phone, he is here at the airport too but at terminal 2, and about to board his plane to Langkawi.

I finally find the place to go through to domestic departures and show my boarding pass to be told that my plane has left! Eh? Did I miss read the board? I actually did question this this time and took the lady to the board to show her, I had also received an email about the retiming, so I was pretty confident that I was right. So yes, the flight had NOT gone, and she let me through.

I got to the gate and told the attendant that I didn’t know where my bag was, that I was told to pick it up and it might still be at the transit desk at international arrivals, but I didn’t know where that was. He was so very kind and said, Madam, take a seat and relax, it will be fine, you bag will be on the plane. So, I sit, and the plane is delayed again, so I have lots of time to unwind the tight coil of worry that has wound up around me. At least I was at the gate, and I had not missed the flight.

I arrived in Langkawi and there was Chris to meet me and, to my amazement, there is my bag!! Miracles do happen.

David, our home owner, picked us up and we went to Cocos bar and that first Tiger beer did not hit the sides and was delicious.

As the sun goes down on Langkawi, so good to be here!

We made it!

Thank you for reading our story!!

The First Half of the Second Half

Published on April 30, 2021April 30, 2021 by kiwisdofly2Leave a comment

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.

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.

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!

Tag: Langkawi