Before leaving NZ, we were advised to join Heritage NZ, which would give us reciprocal member access to the National Trust properties in the UK. We stumped up our NZ$50 for a dual (senior) membership and wondered if it was worth it. It definitely was… most NT properties charged between £12-16 each for entry and often a further £6 for parking, so every property we saw, we were saving at least NZ$50, and we reckon we saw approximately 28 properties over the 3 months we were travelling. We often deliberately looked for NT properties to visit on our driving days, as someitmes we couldn’t check in to our lodgings until later in the afternoon, and wandering an historic building or gardens as well as a cafe and toilets was a great way to fill our time. We were amazed at how full almost every car parking area was, no matter how remote or seemingly insignificant the property. Most had very good cafes with a range of food and relatively good coffee as well. We hit upon some real gems, found only because they were “on the way”. Below is the list in order of properties visited over our 3 months (I’ve added a link you can click on each name to find out more if you wish) many of these have been referred to and photos posted in previous posts.
- Kedleston Hall
- Hidcote
- Chedworth Roman Villa
- Dyrham Park
- Trerice
- Wheal Coates
- Cape Cornwall
- St Michael’s Mount
- Waddeston Manor
- Basildon Park
- The Needles (Isle of Wight)
- Petworth
- Greenway
- Packwood
- Powis Castle (Wales)
- Little Moreton Hall
- Treasurer’s House, York
- Nunnington Hall
- Durham Coast, Seaham
- Seaton Delavel Hall
- Cragside
- Dustanburgh Castle
- Lindisfarne Castle
- Allan Bank (Grasmere)
- Wray Castle
- Hill Top
- Rufford Old Hall
- Sizergh Castle
Being away for so long, we have to watch our pennies, and they seem to disappear pretty fast when eating out and buying petrol. NZer’s often bemoan the cost of fuel but prices everywhere are similar, with or without government taxes. In England, a litre of unleaded E10(up to 10% renewable ethanol) cost us between £1.50-£1.80/L unfortunately the £1.80 we were desperate and had to call into a motorway rest stop!) that equates to NZ$3.15-$3.75, so stop complaining NZ!
We did find supermarket prices very good, we were amazed how cheaply we could do a shop to feed us for a week or so while at our housesits. I would estimate probably up to 50% cheaper in some cases (purely my own opinion, I don’t have official comparisons). Eating out I thought was comparable to most mid-range NZ restaurants – we don’t go posh, but we do enjoy more than takeaways. Local pub food offered us a good range of prices. Some cities and towns cost more depending on if it was a tourist area. Brits we spoke to were surprised, as they feel costs are rising for them, but they’re still much lower than NZ. Coffees however ranged from £3.50-£4.50 so in NZ prices, that wasn’t cheap (NZ$7.30-8.30 ouch!). There was so much irregularity in how they were made too, I ended up asking for flat whites due to the awfulness of many of my original attempts to get a good cappuccino.
Our rental cars meant we could get around easily – in the planning stage I costed this out and found the best deal was a lease agreement with Hertz – they offered a 28+ deal, where you hire the car at a fixed rate (cheaper than airport counters or online regular option) for a minimum of 28 days, and then it rolled over at the same daily rate. the only proviso was you had to pay for the first 28 days no matter what, onwards was pro-rata, and there was a limit of 2000 miles per 28 days. It still ended up taking a big chunk of our budget, but to be independent and able to wander at will was worth it. We had two separate 28+ hires (one of 37 days and one of 44), either side of our detour to Spain and France mid-way through. We were well within the mileage limit for the first hire, and only just scraped in for our second hire, as we crossed the country a lot more.
We were very thankful to have had 47 days housesitting (out of 80 in UK) to save on accommodation and eating out costs. it’s a wonderful way to see parts of the country we never would have, meet new people and have wonderful adventures with dogs and cats, and even hens! Click here if you want more info and tips about housesitting from me.
Kiwis on Adventure 