by kiwisonadventure

Mexico uncovered

We often hear bad press about Mexico which can cause some misconceptions and unfounded anxiety about visiting this vibrant country. Just like any country in the world, there are good and bad parts, things you are amazed at, sights that make you glad and very sad, and places to avoid. Our brief experience of Mexico… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Expectations and reality

As we adjust back to life in our home country of New Zealand after our year-long adventure, a couple of people have asked me how or if our expectations were met? I asked Chris this and we had a very interesting discussion about expectations and how each of us had quite different views on what… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Off to jolly (c)old England

What should we do with 10 days between sits in the middle of winter? We’ve seen almost all of Spain so we decided to hop over to see the “motherland”. I have never been to London (or much of England at all) and Chris was aged 3 when he visited London, so we researched our… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

We’ll be going round the mountain(s)

Another road trip beckoned with a week-long gap before our next housesit. This would be our final trip of the year and, with winter approaching, we decided to explore some of the small towns and villages of Murcia, Castille-La Mancha and Jaen provinces. We had just finished a short four-day house sit in Freila, another… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Last gasp in the South of Spain

It was my birthday, and we were travelling back towards Sotogrande for a return sit with our friends Toots and Tiger Lily and their furry feline companions. Sad as it was to farewell the lovely Lucy and her parents Jim and Janette in the cave house, we were happy to return to another beautiful location… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Petsitting Pooches and Puppies

Once again (for the third time!) before arriving at our housesit, we were asked if we would mind if there was an extra pet to care for. We had met Jill while housesitting just up the road a couple of months before and been introduced to her lovely laid-back ladies, Maggie and Canela. Now Jill… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Pilgrims, Picasso and Palaces

We had attempted to see the north of Spain once before but had to change plans with an opportunity for a housesit presenting itself, but now we had an extra ten days from our return to Madrid, so planned to explore places we couldn’t find housesits. We picked up our very cheap car rental (costing… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Russian adventure in St Petersburg

I have to admit that this was the ultimate destination for our cruise – whenever else were we going to have the opportunity to visit Russia? We decided to book a two-day tour separately from the shipboard offerings, saving ourselves over US$200 in the process, deciding on TJ Travel (recommended by my brother who had… Read More

by kiwisonadventure

Delightful surprises – unknown Spain

We continue to be delighted and surprised as we discover the “off the beaten track” Spain. On our way out of Portugal, we stopped for a night in the tiny town of Trigueros – a truly Spanish settlement that (luckily for us) had a decent small hotel and a couple of restaurants. Often these places… Read More