Home Exchange New Zealand

Rita and Don
House Exchange New Zealand

From New Zealand to Canada and the USA

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We stayed two nights in Vancouver before boarding our ship, SERINADE OF THE SEAS which was our home for the next 7 nights. The cruise was just magic and so relaxing, that I’d certainly like do it again, and I know Rita would not need much encouraging either, but we have so many more places to explore, see and do in the rest of the world.
 
We spent a week with a hire car in Vancouver after the cruise, taking the car ferry across to Vancouver Island where we spent several days doing the touristy things, staying at bed and breakfast establishments as we went, then back to Vancouver and up to Whistler again staying in bed and breakfasts and back to Vancouver. What a beautiful city Vancouver is. It has over 600 parks, and although we did not have the time to seek them all out, we spent as much time as we could walking a couple of them and discovering the fabulous food markets around the city.

Rocky Mountaineer train

We boarded the Rocky Mountaineer in Vancouver, and I must say definitely, that it must be one of the most spectacular train rides in the world.
 
Huge snow topped granite mountains, reaching for the sky, roaring rivers, forests of pine and all sorts of wildlife. The Rockies are just out of this world. The rail system that was carved out in the 1800s with only shovels and pick axes is so awe-inspiring.

Our Paul Lake exchange.
Our home in the distance.

The neighbor of our home exchangee picked us up from the train hotel where we spent the night in Kamloops. Our first ever home exchange was at Paul Lake, a beautiful crisp clear lake full with trout and wild life, surrounded by tall pine and cedar trees, and as we took walks through those trees, wild berries and bears, magnificent huge black bears that you had to be so wary of. The radio station played modern country music.