Tag: Malaysia

We Put The Turbo Boosters On And Found Our Wings

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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!

December 2023, Germany -10 deg
December 2024, Tonga 33 deg

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!
Leros, Greece

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)
Our Dutch family
Of Course!! Brussels, Belgium

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, 1st 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.

Bonnie in Weymouth
Boofie in Shorham-by-Sea
Crossing the Atlantic

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!
Tauranga, New Zealand
Sunshine Coast, Australia

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…..

Vieques, Puerto Rico
Dicky Beach, Australia
NZ

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.

Flying again – to Uoleva, Tonga

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

House Sitting in Southeast Asia: A Rustic Paradise

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House sitting in Southeast Asia, we just keep coming back!

It was an interesting journey to get here this time, but once on the ground, everything just slotted back into place.

We love Malaysia, and Langkawi is a fabulous island. It is not super busy or highly modern, in fact, some might say it is very rustic. And this is what we love. It is nice to become part of the village, part of the place. Malaysian people are so caring and giving and very accepting of everyone. No matter what your religion or nationality, they never judge or disapprove; beautiful people.

We commence a very pleasant five weeks. We reacquaint ourselves with our favourite foods and reconnect with dear friends we made on the last trip. Lots of walks on the beach, plunging in the pool and duty free beer! We quickly remember the feeling of being in a constant state of sweatiness and mosquito bites! The time flies by, how can these weeks go so fast? It is true what they say – time flies when you are having fun!

We have been to this house sit before, one year ago. So we know the drill, and the dogs, HobNob and BD know us. This is the most magical spot. The house is open so there is a constant breeze coming through. We share the space with all manner of beasties including snakes and the resident Tokay Gecko. The Gecko hangs out upstairs and hides behind the picture frames and talks to us every night. We dont see the snakes but the snake skins are around, which tells us they are there somewhere! We saw centipedes, flying termites and of course mosquitos, we all learn to live together in relative harmony.

There are monkeys in the trees out the back but they don’t try to come in because of the dogs. There is so much bird life here, it is like being in David Attenborough documentary. A pack of Hornbills live on the property, they are always flying around or hopping around the base of the palm trees with their white baggy pants on. A couple of pairs of Greater Racket-tailed Drongs are nesting in the coconut palm, we see them foraging on the tree trunk, eating bugs with their flag-like tail feathers swishing around. It is so amazing, so much nature all around us.

Open air house, perfect spot of yoga – HobNob joining in
Racket-tailed Drongo (Google)
Tokay Gecko (Google)

This time in Langkawi we get to go up the SkyCab gondola to the SkyBridge. Our friend from NZ had called into Langkawi on her way to Thailand so this was the perfect opportunity to play tourist. If you ever get to Langkawi this is a must see!  At 125 metres, the SkyBridge is the longest free span and curved bridge in the world. The bridge deck is 600 metres above sea level and as we are on a small island, that makes it a long way straight up! It is an incredible engineering feat and well worth the visit to see it up close. We had the best day for it too. The bridge is closed if the wind is too high and often the bridge and the mountain peaks around it are shrouded in cloud, so we timed it perfectly.

We are here again in the rainy season, but again, there is not much rain. The rainy season is April to November but it is the worst in September/October. We had forgotten the intensity of the humidity here, consistently being in a “sweaty mess”

We went up to the 7 Wells waterfall and was so surprised at the lack of water, it was a sure tell-tale of how dry the island has been. Drag the arrow to see the difference.

July 23 V May 24
No wonder we are in a constant sweaty mess!
HobNob and BD
The Tiga Pulau – means Three Islands – right in front of our house, that is Thailand at the back!

From Langkawi we make our way by train to Kuala Lumpur. We love travelling by train and it is a nice change. We were not in a hurry to get anywhere so this was the perfect option. Air travel within Southeast Asia is so cheap and you can fly from Langkawi to KL for about the same as the train. It is always so surprising when converting into New Zealand dollars, just how cheap some things are over this part of the world. $42NZD one way flight, KL – LK, crazy!

Our room in the East wing of the Berjaya Times Square

We have 4 nights in KL, really just to fill in time as we cannot enter Thailand until 11 June as we need the full 60 days in Thailand to complete the 2 house sits we have booked there. The Thai government has announced that the tourist visa-on-arrival has changed from 30 days to 60 days, as of 1 June. This is great news as it means we won’t have to get an extension when we get there – but wait one caller!!  On arrival at Bangkok airport, we only get 30 days. We very politely questioned this and were told “oh no, 60 days on arrival is only a concept” OK so we will have to go get an extension.

It is funny how things work out. This is the third year in a row that we have come to Thailand, to this area near Hua Hin. We didn’t actually plan it this way, it just happened! The first 2 years we were here to house sit for Cristina at Paws and Tails. Check out those stories by the links below! 44 dogs is not for the faint hearted! We met some awesome people through Cristina while we were here during those times, and now we are back and sitting for them. We hardly use the housesitting web sites now, we are either doing repeat sits or being requested through word of mouth. So we have two sits ahead, both for friends. In between these sits we will have a few days looking after the dogs at Paws and Tails.

Pantai Kuala Muda

What is it that keep taking us back to Southeast Asia? Malaysia? Thailand, the land of smiles?. Well, it is the food, that’s for sure, the warmth of course and mostly it’s the people! The friendships we make along the way are what it is all about!

Stories of Paws and Tails

The Tale Of Paws And Tails
Another Tale Of Paws And Tails
As the sun sets on Langkawi…… just me and my dog
See you in Thailand, our next adventure has just begun!

Thank you for reading our story

“Time Flies” Metaphore. Time appears to pass more quickly when engaged in something you enjoy

Retimed To Langkawi

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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 3rd 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.  

Whitianga, New Zealand

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.

Papamoa, New Zealand

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.

Sunshine Coast, Australia

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!!

Papamoa, New Zealand

Almost Forgot George Town

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Chew Jetty, George Town, Penang, Malaysia

I was sitting on a bus in New Zealand, travelling from Tauranga to Auckland writing my story about our trip to Thailand when I realised I had forgotten all about our trip to George Town.

How could I forget George Town?? I reminisce about this beautiful town on the island of Penang, Malaysia as I go through my 1000’s of photos.

We came to Penang from Langkawi to spend a night with Chris’s brother and nephew as they were holidaying here. It was wonderful to see them and share a meal and a few Tigers.

  • Bernard and Ashley

We love Penang, almost as much at Langkawi! And George Town is a very photogenic town, with its famous street art, little surprises around every corner. I love the Chinese shop-houses, the more run down the better! The chipping paint and miss matching shutters are fascinating. We thoroughly enjoyed our 2 nights there. It was like putting on an old favourite comfy jumper, going to the same old places we have loved, seeing things again with fresh eyes but the same awe and appreciation.

George Town is recognised as having a unique architectural and cultural townscape without parallel anywhere else in Southeast Asia and contains one of the largest collections of pre-war buildings in S.E.A. George Town became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2008 and is the second largest city in Malaysia.

I hope you enjoy this photo journey through George Town and it reminds you of the time you were here, or it inspires you to make the trip to Malaysia.

Penang is definitely worth a trip! If you are in Malaysia, don’t miss it out! And of course the FOOD IS FABULOUS!

And a bonus – We got to watch the All Blacks beat South Africa.

Thank you for reading our very small story

Tiga Pulau – Three Islands

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Langkawi, Malaysia

Tiga Pilau, this is the name of the place we are staying here on Langkawi Island, Malaysia. We only found out the other day the significance of the name, we couldn’t work out the reason for the reference to tigers. It turns out that Tiga is Malay for Three and when you look out from the beach right Infront if us there are three islands, it really is quite beautiful. They are three of 99 islands which make up Langkawi. Beyond those three islands, you can see more land, it is a magnificent backdrop and it is actually Thailand that you can see.

Langkawi is approx.. 478km2, 29km long by 16km wide, 99,000 population. Only 4 of the 99 islands are inhabited. Fun fact – Langkawi is an amalgamation of the Malay vocabulary “helang” (eagle) and “kawi” Sanskrit for the bird’s reddish-brown tone.

It is a very easy and cheap flight from Kuala Lumpur, less that $40NZD each. Our lovely home owners were at the airport when we arrived. This is a really popular place for Malaysians to come for vacation as it is only an hour flight from KL and you are transported into another world. A lot slower world. The term “island time” springs to mind.

BD – short for Brown Dog
HobNob

We have 4 days with our owners. Doing the usual familiarisation of the house, pets, and surrounding community. We find that there is everything you could ever need right here in this village. Then it is our turn for a trip to the airport to see them off on their 8 week trip to Europe and Canada.

We have 2 dogs here to look after and a separate little house which is used as an Air BnB, which has guests for the first week. The property is huge with loads of trees and lots of grass to mow. There is a jungle area out the back as well, complete with monkeys! And lets hope – no snakes!

Tiga Pulau

The house is amazing, it has been built to blend into its surroundings. it is completely open throughout the main areas which allows the breeze to come straight through. The pool is right in the middle of the house which has an air-conditioner effect of keeping the place cool.

We have settled into a nice routine with walking the dogs on the beach morning and night, doing a bit of garden maintenance in the mornings, picking up fallen branches, leaf raking, mowing and trimming, then we head off to explore in the afternoons. We are so lucky to have been left a couple of Ebikes, kayaks and a car.

Being right on the beach means we, almost always, have a breeze. It is so hot here. We thought that Vieques, Puerto Rico was our hottest location so far with its high humidity, but we think this tipped the scale. So having the sea right there is a Godsend! It is a sandy beach but from the mid-tide water line there are lot of rocks so it is not the best for swimming, but we only have to go 2-300m down the beach and are able to get in for a dip. We have found that just a 15 minute bike ride from here is Tanjung Rhu beach. What a beautiful spot! Wide white sand beach with water a bit clearer than our beach, lots of shade trees AND a restaurant! We spend a bit of time here, reading our books under a tree and dipping into the water to cool off – the sea temperature is hardy cooling though at 30°C (86°F), it is like a bath and you depend on the breeze after you get out to do the “cooling”. The water generally on this side of Malaysia is not the crystal, gin clear water that we have seen in other places, but still pretty good.

  • Tanjung Rhu Beach
  • Locals will light little fires right there, under the trees, to cook their lunch

Langkawi is a duty-free island! Yes that is a fact! It was awarded duty-free status in 1987, to make tourism more affordable for Malaysian tourists, since then, international tourism has also increased. So the beer and spirits are very cheap. The wine is about what you would pay at home – but it is duty-free, so doesn’t really make sense. A bottle of New Zealand Mud House Sav is 55MYR, but a litre bottle of Stoli Vodka is 34MYR ($11 NZD) and a 24 case of Tiger is 60MYR. But you must admit, there is nothing nicer than an ice-cold beer on a hot day! And at those prices, we are not holding back!

1.80MYR = $0.65NZD

The food here in Malaysia is wonderful and Langkawi is no exception. Here in our little village we have many restaurants and food stalls. You would never go hungry in this place. And everything is so reasonably priced too! There are also dry goods supermarkets, fruit stalls and veg shops. Sweets stands, ice-cream, fried bananas – everything for Breakfast lunch or dinner and everything in between. Thai food, Malay food, western food, fried food, steamed food, noodles, rice, chicken, fish, anything you could ever desire. It is always a bit of a lottery as to what will be open and when. Breakfast goes until about 1pm and lunch is still considered lunch at 4 in the afternoon. I think you just eat when you are hungry and eat whatever you feel like at that time. It is not unusual to have curry for breakfast and it is quite palatable especially if it is at 11am. Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai are usually eaten in the first half of the day.

Roti Canai
Nasi Lemak
  • Nasi Campur – rice with smorgasbord of many dishes
  • one of our regular Nasi Campur restaurants
  • The burger stall

We have the best night market of the island. There is a Night market every single night somewhere on the island. Our Market is on a Friday night and it really is fantastic! There are so many stalls, all the stall holders are so friendly. We just cannot help ourselves and always come home with enough food for two days! Fried Chriken, Koew Teow, sweet corn pancakes, Nasi Goering, Vegitable Baji etc etc etc….   a lot of it is “deep fried goodness” as my gorgeous friend Karen would say – but oh so delicious! Each dish will usually have some sort of sauce in a small plastic bag tied up with a rubber band to go with it, yumm, Friday is our favourite day of the week.

Friday Night Market

Our village is called Ayer Hangat, we are on the North side of the island. With the geography of the island we are actually facing West and we get the most beautiful sunsets. We are a bit away from Pantai Cenang, which is the really touristy part of Langkawi. We are also on the opposite side to the main town of Kuah (which, by-the-way, means “gravy”!) This part of the island is very traditional, not so many tourists over here. It is so funny when you see a car over this side with a big red “M” sticker on the windshield, to get a free drink going through the McDonalds drive-through. It seems so crazy to think that only 20 km away is a McDonalds, KFC, Shell Gas, cappuccino’s and latte’s, when we’re out here in this very traditional village, with food on the street and a cash only society.

We love cycling through the Kampongs, the little villages in behind the main roads. The roads are so narrow, one car width, sometimes gravel, sometimes tarmac. It’s absolutely beautiful and so peaceful. There is a variety of traditional houses and really huge modern homes. There are always kids running around, playing on the streets. They always have a big wave and “Hello”. As you look up you can see the mountains behind, so rugged and lush covered in jungle. Cycling alongside a little stream almost reminds me of the towpaths and Holland except when you look around you see banana trees, coconut palms, the odd little grove of sugar cane, it’s all very green and lush and very much Asia. The water in the stream is pretty milky looking but there are still Lily pads and Lily flowers. Then you come to the rice paddy fields and the roads criss cross the paddy fields. Bright green rice fields, with cows seeming to be roaming free. One of our favourite places to go.

We are loving being part of the community here, we are being recognised by shop and restaurant owners and have made some lovely friends.

Thank you for reading our story!!

There is more to come of this awesome place, see you soon xx

Back In The Land Of Roti

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Indonesia and Malaysia

After almost 7 months on a house sit in the Caribbean, it is time for catching up with friends and having a holiday. We had a fabulous week in Boston, now lets head to South East Asia.

We are going to Jakarta to visit with a friend we met 5 years ago, while in between house sits, on Pangkor Island, Malaysia.  Pangkor is predominantly Muslim, and we were finding it difficult to find beer. The strip of restaurants had entrances on the roadside but they also had entrances from straight from the beach, they went right through. You could sit at the tables on the sand out the back, very cool. We had just walked into this one place, to find, yet again – no beer. We pretended to look at the beach and then, as we turned to leave, a voice came out of the shadows, “hey bro, you can get beer at the shop over there” What? Who was that? And how did he know what we were looking for? We had a good laugh about this and arranged to meet him later at the beach for a few beers (bought from that 1 shop). We ended up having dinner together and Chris and Nitin have remained good friends ever since. We have tried a few times in the last five years to catch up again but one thing and another got in the way – COVID was one rather large thing. But here we are flying 14.5 hours from Boston to Tokyo, change planes and another 8 hours to Jakarta. Arriving at midnight, Nitin was there, bouncing with excitement, and so were we! So good to be here!

We had a wonderful week catching up on the last five years… We ate so much wonderful food – oh how we have missed Asian food! AND we didn’t have any problems finding beer! Nitin looked after us so well, took us to amazing restaurants, we met his parents and girlfriend and felt like part of the family. Nitin’s Mum taught us how to make Chapati and I showed her how to make the bread like I had learnt on Vieques. We followed this “sharing of knowledge” with a wonderful family meal. We had six days of great laughs and loads of fun!

We are very sad to leave but so thankful, yet again, for these wonderful people coming into our lives in the most unexpected ways!

Now up to Penang, Malaysia for a week of rest.

We are staying in a little place called the Rassa Motel, at Batu Ferringhi Beach. Very basic but at $30NZD a night we cannot complain. One street back from the beach. We have stayed here before and know the location is perfect. AND, it is just around the corner from the best Roti restaurant in Malaysia – according to the “Donna and Chris research group”. So, every morning we would walk around the corner and see the Roti maker and enjoy our favourite breakfast with thick dark coffee with a splash of condensed milk – match made in heaven!.

We went for a walk up to a waterfall one morning after our Roti. The track got smaller and smaller, but we were confident that we would find our way and maybe even join up with a walk along the aqueduct, which we did last time we were in Penang. Well it did, but not until we passed through a hole in a padlocked gate. What could possibly go wrong? It was a lovely walk, and we end up in the area that we recognise. Cute buildings periodically along the trail. An Aqueduct will move water by gravity flow alone and this one is still channelling raw water to a treatment plant in Tanjung Bungah.

But we were not meant to be there-apparently! So that was what the lock on the gate meant…. A car of 4 guards drove by and stopped and asked where we were from……..

New Zealand!

No, where have you come from, you shouldn’t be here!

Oh OK.

Leave now!

Yes sir!

We reached the entrance after 17000 steps to be met by a police officer who gestured for us to go back, go back the way you came! Really? Sending us back into a restricted area for another hour and a half? You cannot come out this way! He relented in the end and let us out, whoops! Our host at the hotel said that it has been closed since COVID. We really did think there for a minute that we were going to have to walk another 17000 steps, but thankfully that was not the case – it was a great walk!

After 6 nights at Batu Ferringhi we took the hair raising bus trip to Georgetown for 1 night before we take the ferry to the mainland to get the overnight train to Thailand. A walk around the old town of Georgetown is a must not miss! The street art and old buildings are fantastic. Great markets and food halls and very safe.

As we check out we bump into a man from Pakistan. He was checking out too. He said “are you going to Langkawi?” we said no, we are going to Thailand. He said “oh, we want to go to Thailand, we will follow you!” Then him and is 3 friends did indeed, follow us to the ferry. It was all a bit confusing about where they were trying to get to, but they liked the idea of Krabi (Thailand) – but they kept saying they were going to Langkawi (Malaysia) Oh well, they were big boys. They were so funny and casual about where they were going to end up. They came on the ferry with us and then, after a 4 hour wait at the train station, came on the Komuter train to the Thai border, that is where we lost them. I would love to know where they ended up. Chris asked them if they liked beer – if they were going to Langkawi, it is a dutyfree town. Oh no, we don’t drink! Then one of the guys sidled up to Chris and whispered….. “I like alcohol” he said he had half a bottle of vodka in his suitcase, would he be able to take it with him across the border? Poor man! Oh we laughed at this for days.

The Malaysia – Thailand border at Padang Besar is interesting. You line up and go through passport control to exit Malaysia, then walk around the back of the offices and line up again to go through another passport control, in the opposite direction, back into the same hall, to enter Thailand. There is a fence between that you cannot get through, but it is right there, it’s all in the same space. The guy who stamped our passport leaving Malaysia had forgotten to change the date on his stamp so had us leaving the day before. We got escorted, bags and all, back around the offices, back to the immigration officer for a correction in our passport. Meanwhile, the train was sitting there ready to leave and the conductors were being told there are 2 more passengers, don’t go without them! This has been the most bazar trip!

Finally on our way to Thailand!

We are on our own now, no family or friends with us and we spend a lot of time talking and thinking of all the wonderful people in our lives. We are grateful to the friends we are making during this adventure, and the friends we can reconnect with while travelling. We also take the time to think about and feel so thankful for the ones at home. Our wonderful friends up and down New Zealand and Australia, our families who love and support us in these, sometime crazy adventures. We miss you so much and so appreciate your love and understanding that we are not in your lives day to day. Some of our friends and family are struggling with illness, loss and other things that life sometimes throws at you. We don’t forget this and hope that we can help out, as best we can, when or if the time is right. The world has become a smaller place with the ease of communication, and although we keep in touch via messages, facebook, emails and calls, we understand that it is not the same as being there. xxxx

Thank you for reading our story!

The First Half of the Second Half

Published on 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.

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!