House Exchange New Zealand

Rita and Don
Home Exchange New Zealand

From New Zealand to Canada and the USA

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With the home exchange concept, you also exchange vehicles, and so we were able to travel and overnight in more bed & breakfasts when we wished. We spent a couple of days in the Kelowna district about 150 km from the USA border. It has many vineyards and is a great fruit growing and tourism area. The average cost of bed & breakfast for the 2 of us on our travels was $100.00. Hotels would set you back $220.00 plus this plus that.
 
We spent a fabulous two weeks at the lake, then it was time to head back into Kamloops, overnight in the trains hotel again and leave in the early morning for Calgary. More spectacular scenery and wild life during the second part of our train ride throughout the Rockies, then gently descending and being greeted by the wide open flat plains of green grass that was Alberta.

Lake Louise in the Rockies

Our Calgary exchangee picked us up from the Calgary train station and took us to our home for the next 12 days.
 
We decided to head back up into the Rockies and explore the areas of Banff and Lake Louise, then attended the huge opening parade of the Calgary Stampede which wound its way through the streets of downtown Calgary.

Calgary stampede and part of the huge parade.

Then the next few days saw us at the Rodeo where we saw the Bull Riding (those Cowboys are absolutely crazy) Bronco events, Steer wrestling and the Barrel racing as well as the Chuck wagon races and much more. We were eventually all Yahooed out. An estimated 200,000 plus visitors come into Calgary for the Stampede each year for the 13 day event. And winners of an event can walk away, (if they still could walk) with an extra million dollars in their bank account.
 
We left Calgary before the Stampede was over and landed in San Francisco. We were picked up and taken up to Windsor. We spent two weeks enjoying the warm weather, the sights, the great little towns and definitely the local wines.

Sonoma County north of San Francisco.

The whole area is vineyard after vineyard. Where all the wine goes has got us bamboozled. We definitely know where several ended up.
 
Wine was available in the stores at US$1.97 per bottle.
 
We had a fantastic time for the two months we were away, we met so many wonderful people and made so many friends. And what do WE THINK of this home exchange idea? Super !!
 
We are already planning for our next home exchange adventure.