Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
Where Next? Travel with Kristen and Carol
New Zealand - Travel with Liz
In this episode we meet Liz, a free-spirited, world traveler who, along with her husband and two young children, once took a year-long journey to 33 countries on a shoestring budget of just $70 a day. They couch-surfed, homeschooled, and learned to navigate diverse cultures, cuisines, and accommodations.
She's originally from the U.K. but now is thrilled to live in New Zealand where her and her family have been for the past 14 years. Get a taste of the Kiwi life as Liz compares the culture and cost of living between the UK and New Zealand, diving into the scrumptious details of local fruits, vegetables, and meals and what it's like to live in this picturesque corner of the world filled with jaw-dropping landscapes.
Our heart-to-heart with Liz goes beyond travel and lifestyle. We also discovered her journey as a published writer and podcaster. Get to know about her initial apprehensions of her British humor-filled book being misunderstood by the US audience, and the pleasant surprise she received in response. Liz’s stories are not just about her nomadic lifestyle, but also about learning to appreciate local cultures wherever you are. So, gear up for a conversation that is as enlightening as it is thrilling!
Find Liz here:
https://itsadrama.com/
https://itsadrama.com/podcast/liz@itsadrama.com
https://www.instagram.com/itsadrama/
Map of New Zealand
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Hosts
Carol Springer: https://www.instagram.com/carol.work.life
Kristen: https://www.instagram.com/team_wake/
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Hi, welcome to our podcast, we're Next Travel with Kristin and Carol. I am Kristin and I am Carol, and we're two long-term friends with a passion for travel and adventure. In each episode, we interview people around the globe to help us decide where to go next. So welcome, liz. Thank you for joining us for we're Next podcast. You have so many adventures and we can't wait to hear about New Zealand and your trip around the world, so welcome.
Speaker 2:Oh, thank you for having me. I'm thrilled to be here. Thank you, yes.
Speaker 1:And so you have a book out. How exciting is that, yay.
Speaker 2:It's very exciting.
Speaker 1:yes, and so from Europe, from Great Britain originally, or the UK, what's the more proper?
Speaker 2:way to say it either. Yeah, well, yeah, yeah, from from from the UK, yeah, from. Born in England and came over from England 14 years ago.
Speaker 1:Oh, to New Zealand directly, or.
Speaker 2:To New Zealand?
Speaker 1:yes, yeah, and how does that work? You can just, can you just become a resident of New Zealand, or is there because I know there's some kind of connection Commonwealth or I don't know my history very much or my government?
Speaker 2:Well, no, you have to get a visa, you have to get visas.
Speaker 2:My husband. We came over here on my husband's plumbing license. So at the time and I think still they plumbers were needed in New Zealand. So it's called a. It's a very long, complicated story but it's called a shortlist, a greenless shortlist, and if your occupation is on that shortlist then you can apply for to work and come and live in New Zealand. And we were really lucky because he was a plumber and they needed plumbers. So we came over to New Zealand. Oh, nice.
Speaker 1:Do you think for other people outside of the UK that rule still applies? It's just really about the jobs. It doesn't matter where you go.
Speaker 2:I'm writing it down I have no idea.
Speaker 1:I have no idea. Okay, all right, so I wanted to touch upon also your book, which the what the travel bog. Is that right, yeah? And it's funny because, coming from a US, I you know bog. I was like, oh, but I remember I see you sitting down on a on the toilet, on the loo or whatever. Yeah, yeah, and. And so where is it called bog? Where's the toilet called bog?
Speaker 2:So the the word bog is. It's a term used in England, especially in the north of England where I come from and where I was born just for the loo, like you know. So you would say, oh, she needs to go to the bog, it was just it. That's what we grew up with, you know, it was just. I'm just going to the bog. I mean, it's horrible, isn't it? It's not very nice.
Speaker 1:But it was. I mean we called the bathroom anyway. Going to go to the bathroom, I know.
Speaker 2:And do you know what? Do you know what? It's been absolutely fantastic because the one thing I was really scared about when I released this book is the Americans reading it, because I thought there are so many British words in that book, including bog, and and I thought, oh, I hope they're going to get it and I hope the humor isn't going to be lost on them. And yet I have had such a wonderful response if not better from the UK, actually from the Americans who have read that book.
Speaker 2:I've been like oh yeah, and it's just. It's just really heartwarming because I just thought, oh well, done guys, you know you got it. Yeah, it was. It was great because I was a bit worried about that, so I underestimated what what Americans would actually you know what they would understand as humor and stuff, but it was just well humorous, for sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you always kind of look it up or Google it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's right and I really appreciate that. So, yeah, thank you, americans.
Speaker 1:Well, and what it's just talking, diving a little backwards, is that you said you traveled the world. I know we're going to talk about New Zealand, but you know how long have you traveled and you have two teenage kids and boys. Girls did you travel like? Did they do school remotely, or how did you just travel in summers, or what did you do? How did you set that?
Speaker 2:up. So we've always been travelers Me and my husband have always been travelers and hence, hence, coming over, moving over to New Zealand, we were going to go to Canada. We worked a long time in Canada. Brian's brother moved to Florida from the UK, so we always, you know, we spent quite a lot of time in America. So we were always travelers.
Speaker 2:And then, when we moved to New Zealand, we just completely started a new life and I began homeschooling my children they were five and eight at the time so spent 10 years homeschooling them in New Zealand. They got to be 16 and 13. And you know what it's like. You always talk about traveling with your kids, don't you? Oh, wouldn't it be great to travel the world with them one day. And we'd been saying this for years, I mean literally since they were born. We were, oh, yeah, one day we'll go around the world.
Speaker 2:And sunny, my son was 16 and we looked at each other and we just said when are we going to do this? Are we ever going to do it? Are we just going to talk about it or keep it to holidays, vacations? And we said, no, let's throw the towel in and just let's all go for it. And we sold my husband's plumbing business. I was homeschooling, so school wasn't a problem, and we took the proceeds of the sale and we backpacked 33 countries for a year together and we did it on like a teeny tiny budget, because we didn't the plumbing business wasn't that profitable. We had a. I think our budget turned out to be about 70 US dollars a day for four of us, and so we went around the world on this tiny budget and it was the best thing we ever did, and then when I came home, I wrote a book about it. So that, yeah, that was it.
Speaker 1:The 71. More information by the book. I know, yeah, definitely and just quick. So $70 per day, was that also hotel living, food, I'm assuming food?
Speaker 2:It was everything apart from flights and we didn't stay in many hotels. So we couch surfed a lot and we house set a lot. So like, for example, our time in Japan. We were in Japan for a month and we didn't pay for one night's accommodation. We stayed couch surfing with Japanese families the whole way around, which to us was brilliant, but to the kids was like, are you kidding me? Are we really going to sleep on? The strangest couches.
Speaker 1:Wait, what is couch surfing? You actually know these people. Oh really, it's a thing, it's a huge thing. I think you can Google it. I actually. Yeah, people travel all over the world and just sleep on other people's couches, and is it, do you? You don't have to pay the couch and they usually give you a meal and a shower and like hospitality right.
Speaker 2:You know what, when we, when we did it, there was no joining fee, nothing. They charge about a hundred dollars, which is still a complete and a to bargain. But yeah, it's just and it doesn't like. When you put it like that, that's how the kids heard it they were like so you turn up to a stranger's house, you sleep on their couch and they give you a meal. That was their idea of absolute hell. But actually it goes a lot deeper than that. For a start, we never slept on one couch you're giving it. You know, every place that we went to we had a guest bedroom. It was like an airbnb. The host are always travelers, so they're completely knowledgeable. That exciting, the wonderful people.
Speaker 1:They want to talk to you. Yeah, let me understand this so I could sign up. Or someone signs up to be a couch surfing host. What's the benefit to them of it? Just to meet other travelers? Yeah?
Speaker 2:that's it. Yes, that's exactly it so. No, you're helping people out when they come to your country. So you know, if I came to a country instead of carol, can I have? You know, we want to visit your city. We're from New Zealand. You're always welcome to stay with us. If you come to New Zealand and you're like, yeah, sure, list, I've got a spare room, and you know, yeah, I can't.
Speaker 1:I mean, so you can only do that, then your house had to be open also, or like, how does it make it even out? That's not even, not even an all. Either have a place, or you need a place. Where you have a place, you meet people and then you're like, oh yeah, I'll pin you when I head over there, or not. It's total like just free generosity, just generosity. Generosity yeah, my business brain is like well, where's the profit margin then? There it was. It's from the heart.
Speaker 2:It is from the heart and it was, it was. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience. Like I say, you know Sri Lanka, japan, india, all these countries that we went to. But I just got to tell you one funny story, just because, so that you don't. So you've got to see it from my kids point of view, because my daughter was thirteen at the time and we were.
Speaker 2:We wanted to travel to Florence and in Italy, and we would. You know, as you know, italy is very expensive. It was June at the time. We like well, this is, we were looking for a B&B's or hotels, and they were just way out of our price range. So we said look, you know, let's, let's, let's look for a couch surfing host. And we found this guy in the middle of Florence and his reviews were they were okay, but there was always four of us. So it's fine, you know. So if you're traveling on your own, then maybe you'd be a little bit more diligent, but there was four of us and it was all. It'll be okay, you know. I know a couple of people said that he was a bit weird, but that's fine, you know, it's going to be okay.
Speaker 2:And we applied for this couch surfing. You know to sit in the Florence house and normally when you couch surf like you have a little bit of interaction between the host and the guest but you know beforehand like I'll be here on that time or Be kept emailing me, emailing me all the time saying like you know when are you gonna be here and where have you been? And I just assumed, oh, he's just a friendly guy. And then, as the time got closer, he said I need to know your body measurements. And I was like, okay, I said to Brian. My husband was like why do you think you want to know that? And he said, oh, maybe just got a, because we knew it was a flat, it was an apartment. So he said maybe just tight on space. And he just wants to know you know how many people can fit around the table or whatever. I was okay, well, here's our body measurements. And then you seem particularly interested in tests.
Speaker 2:Are youngest daughter is 13 at the time. She's like how is, how tall is she anyway? Test is seeing all this going on, because obviously we share everything with the kids. I should all. Please, mommy, I don't want to go. He's just weird. Please, let's not go there. And when no, no, it'll be fine anyway.
Speaker 2:We turn up and he's standing on the balcony at the top of his apartment leaning over the railings with no shirt on. He looks like Einstein, but Italian says that is wild, and you know how Italians. They just throw their hands in the air when they're talking to you and it's like welcome, welcome family, welcome family and the kids. What? Oh, mommy, please, can we just stay in the car? I said no, come on out, you get that, we go. So we go to the flat. He was lovely sky, and he said Okay, listen, brian, here's your room. And we were in a spare room and it was great. Sunny, here's your room, he said, and he put him on one of those. It was in the hallway, sunny, on one of those. You know, one of those hospital Beds with those things around the bed that you know when you protect, you know like privacy things okay.
Speaker 2:And then he said and then, tessa, I want to show you where you're sleeping and it we walked through the flat and throw through his kitchen Out onto the balcony. And I was thinking, oh, you know, this is probably just a shortcut to get to the other bedroom. And on the balcony I kid you not, was a rabbit, I catch seven. It was a rabbit hut. It was like, if you imagine along, but it was like an oversized rabbit hut and inside the rabbit hut she put like a mattress, like he was a big rabbit, but it was a rabbit hut, a mattress and a little window with a curtain, and and he said, this is our outside accommodation for children. So that's why you wanted to know her size, to see if she would fit in this rabbit hut. And I, honestly, I think the highlight of that trip was just seeing her face, just as if, like, you've gone too far. You know I'm not going to sleep.
Speaker 2:I'm not sleeping with rabbits, so no, she came in studying with that. He was in our bed. But yeah, it was a funny story because she loves to tell everyone that story about couch surfing.
Speaker 1:But that is a good story, because I couldn't imagine being up and being like okay, you're sleeping outside in a rabbit hut Right yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I didn't think it was so normal.
Speaker 1:That is too funny, oh my goodness. No, but it's a great way, I mean in terms of saving money and meeting people who are generous, and really it's great. I mean it's almost like I go backpacking and everyone that I backpack with are so nice and friendly and you get to just share experiences and yeah, oh, that's fantastic. So you did it for one year.
Speaker 2:We did it for a year.
Speaker 2:yes, did you rent out your place and yeah yeah, we did, and that paid for, you know, like renting our house paid for, well, not only paid for our mortgage while we're away, which was perfect, but the ex paid for the flight. So you know, we only had to use the living cost was just what we had from our savings. So, oh, it was the best thing we ever ever did. I mean, we'll probably like look back one more about 90 and think why did we spend our inheritance? You know, why did we spend our retirement fund? But it was just, it was just wonderful, it was brilliant. Wouldn't change anything.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great. So when you went for the year, I guess what was your first? Your top three countries that you love the most, and I'm assuming New Zealand's in there, and then we can go to New Zealand.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, we left New Zealand because we live in New Zealand, but the top three countries that we visited, I would have to say Sri Lanka was just beautiful, people, just gorgeous. I really loved India and it's really difficult, but Croatia Croatia was another country that was just. This is just stunning, people are just wonderful. Yeah, just such lovely places.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were actually trying to get someone from Croatia Croatia on our podcast, and then I have a client who's from Sri Lanka and he was telling me it's even more beautiful. There's islands that are even more beautiful than Hawaii.
Speaker 2:Yeah, just the people are just so smiley, so open, so warm, so generous, just yeah, just beautiful. I think that makes a huge difference, doesn't it? When you're in a country where you know people are just so lovely and yeah absolutely so.
Speaker 1:No, so did you say you lived, or you, yeah, you did. You lived in New Zealand. For how long did you live there?
Speaker 2:We live in New. Zealand. We still in here. We're still in here, we're still in New Zealand. We moved here 14 years ago.
Speaker 1:So yeah, oh, my goodness so wait, 14 years ago, but when did you travel and do the year trip?
Speaker 2:This was five years ago that we did the trip, yeah, and then we came back to New Zealand and then carried on, began. We started a whole new business. So we came back from the trip and we're like, brian's not going to go back to plumbing, we're going to start businesses online. And and it took us five years until we started making money. And then we I suppose we can now call ourselves digital nomads we're like, you know, we can go wherever we want to work, so it's fantastic. So last year we spent six months going around Europe and it was fantastic. So, yeah, but it's taken a long time to get there.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, that's your question. I'm still in New Zealand.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's great. And what's your business? What did you guys choose? That gives you this lifestyle, which is awesome.
Speaker 2:We double. We tried a couple of things. Some things failed and some things just took off. So I've got a travel blog that is now monetized and and and earning us money. We have also got a that.
Speaker 2:We kind of fell on this by accident. You know how they say if you want to start a business, just be that, be the help you needed. We started making videos on YouTube and podcasts about moving to New Zealand because when we moved to New Zealand 14 years ago, the internet was rubbish, you know. There was no information, it was just, it was scary, it was lonely and it was a huge move to come from England to New Zealand and we always said, oh, wouldn't it be great if we could start this thing that the people who are moving to New Zealand, that support and that lots of information and they already knew hit people when they got here and it took us about three years.
Speaker 2:We started making YouTube videos about life in New Zealand like I said, the podcast and we slowly built a community of people who are moving to New Zealand I'm living in New Zealand now so they can help those who are the also going to move to New Zealand. And yeah, it's a paid for community and it's just, it's, it's fantastic. So that is another chunk of our business. And then we've also got a pet blog, which we have affiliates and an ad income and things like that. So we've got we've got three businesses that that bring in money.
Speaker 1:So that's fantastic. So you said paid for community for your, your travel blog. Is that what it is?
Speaker 2:For a New Zealand audience yeah, and what is that?
Speaker 1:what does that look like? I'm just very interested, so like if I like a monthly subscription and I want to spend, yes, then I would do that, which is be like people from New Zealand that would that maybe live there or traveling there, that just want a community to be a part of, and that's right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've got. We've got. We host it over on slack. I don't know if you're familiar with slack, but we host it on slack and they've got all those different channels, haven't they? So, you know, we've got an immigration channel, we've got a job finding channel, we've got food. We've. There's just lots. It's just one big home, it's just, it's very I know that sounds a little bit corny, but it that's how it feels. It just feels it feels very safe, it feels very warm and just like a huge family over there, you know. So just helping each other, and, yeah, that, that that's what. That's what we do. We just make videos and podcasts and just help as many people as we can to, so that when they get to New Zealand it's not oh, this is what I wasn't expecting. This or this is a massive shock to me, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm just googling it right now and I see what says kiwi crisis and it must be you and your husband's life in New Zealand, a typical week with Liz. And is it free, brian? Yes, okay, I see I says or something. And then, oh, is this also it's a drama? It is yes, yes, it's a life in New Zealand and other stuff that is really good. Yes, that's why I learned about how you made money and all your trials and errors. It's a really good episode. I think that is really good for people to hear, because a lot of people are like, oh, digital man, no man, these people, yeah, it's not so easy, right, but it's also not impossible. There's a lot of people like, oh, start a coaching class or whatever online businesses, and some are going to be better than others. And, yeah, if you can like feel a void out there, that's awesome. Do you guys edit everything and do it all yourself as well?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, my husband does that. I don't know how to edit I'm rubbish at technology but yeah, he does all that and he's brilliant. So, yes, he does all that side of it.
Speaker 1:So I'm like you, and then Carol is your husband for me.
Speaker 2:Oh, ok, you see the check you, gal.
Speaker 1:It's a big job.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, well done. That's fantastic, because it is. You always hear these people and I give it to my team and you think I'd love a team. You know why haven't we got a team?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm still with Carol, carol with Rick and some others too. Well, rick, thank you Rick for everything. He's been great too, and I think there's a few others, but, yeah, carol's a spearhead for that one. So what in terms of? So you came over there. What was the? It was because he could go and work. Brian could go and work there, is that? That's how it started.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we were always. We always had itchy feet. Like I say we always, we met, we we've always been travellers and we were always never settled in the UK. Annoyingly, because if we had a lovely house and we lived in a lovely place, we lived for bath in England and it was beautiful and there was. From the outside, it was, oh, why would you want to leave? You know your family's there, but you know what it's like as travellers yourself. You've just got that bug, haven't you that? Oh, yeah, but just want some adventure. And the kids were little and we just said let's just give it a go. Like I say, it was either going to be Canada or New Zealand and we just said let's give it a go, and if we don't like it we can always come home. And and we came, and we're still here 40 years later.
Speaker 1:So All right, so let's start diving in. So you said you're in the North Island of New Zealand. Is that correct? I am.
Speaker 2:And so that's where.
Speaker 1:Auckland is so Auckland, is that the capital?
Speaker 2:of New Zealand. No, wellington is the capital. So Wellington is down at the bottom. Auckland is at the top. If you sort of like looking at it on the on the map, it's towards the top and we are in the middle on the West Coast, so we're on the sticks out. It's a region called Tadnakke and we're in that region Kind of by New Plymouth then that's it yeah, we're 14 outside New Plymouth. Yes, ok, nice.
Speaker 1:And it's its own island off of Australia. Right, I'm a sewer, see, I'm just looking at the map here.
Speaker 2:It's its own island. Yeah, you've got the North Island and the South Island.
Speaker 1:There's two islands.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's about the closest. It's about a four hour flight to the closest place in Australia.
Speaker 1:And is there a difference between one of the islands versus the other? Are they connected at all? They're not connected.
Speaker 2:Oh, they're not connected. No, ok, the South Island is a lot more rugged and a lot more wild, isn't, as populated, very, very beautiful. I mean they're both beautiful islands. There's a lot of Maori culture in the North and the Northern Island where we live.
Speaker 1:I'm from a culture. Can you repeat that?
Speaker 2:Maori. What's that? That's the Indigenous people from New Zealand.
Speaker 1:OK, how do you spell that?
Speaker 2:M-A. Oh, no Carol, don't M-A-O-R-I oh.
Speaker 1:R-I.
Speaker 2:Are they?
Speaker 1:the ones who do that. Well, and I don't know, I see that, yeah, the hacker. Yes, yeah, that's it, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh yeah, they're both beautiful islands. The North Island tends to be a little bit warmer but in saying that, the South Island, you can go into the middle of the South Island in like towards Wanaka area, and it's very arid, very dry in the summer and then the mountainous cold in the winter. So yeah, it's beautiful, absolutely lovely.
Speaker 1:I'm assuming there's a lot of surf there too, huge surf. I feel like a lot of the Heroic people are there, for that for sure. Yeah, oh, my goodness. And so you said Auckland is the capital.
Speaker 2:Wellington is the capital. Yeah, Wellington, OK got it. Yeah, wellington is the capital. That's where my daughter is. She's just moved down there. Actually Six months ago she's gone down there to work and try and find job. Well, not try, because she's currently in a show down there, but she wants to be in an actress musical theatre and she's gone down there to work. So it's a beautiful city, it's. Have you been to San Francisco?
Speaker 1:I live right next to it. Oh, there you go, I'm in California. I'm about 40 minutes, 45 minutes away from San Francisco.
Speaker 2:OK, right, so I think it's like a little mini San Francisco. It's like you know, they've got those beautiful tall houses in San Francisco and the little, very steep streets. Well, wellington's very much like that.
Speaker 1:I know.
Speaker 2:That's how I always describe it to Americans, because it's like that. I think that's what it's like. It's beautiful. So your children are graduated from high school at this point. Yeah, my son is now 22 and Tess is hold on, she's 19. So they were both homeschooled. They stay homeschooled throughout. They did online exams and things and you know, got what they needed and then just went out into the world. Wow, fantastic, well that's fantastic.
Speaker 1:So what's life like in New Zealand? For, like you know, all of the stuff, all of the stuff.
Speaker 2:Life in New Zealand. I can only compare it to the UK. It's quieter, it's more space, it's. We love it, we absolutely love it. It's wild nature it's. You can get out into nature very easily. The people are lovely. Yeah, it's a positive country. I find that it's. That's what we love about New Zealand is it's always been a very yeah, you can do that. Whereas coming from where we came from in the UK, I don't want to, like you know, slag off the UK or anything, but where we came from it was very, oh no, that won't work. Oh no, I wouldn't try that. No, no, just stay what you're doing, you know, but Kiwi's are very, they're like the opposite of that. So it's refreshing, ok.
Speaker 1:And what kind of industry is there other than like sheep, skin rugs and slippers? You're totally doing everything. Of course they're like, like you said, many San Francisco. So there's like companies there, corporations and yes, there are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, tourism, the dairy industry is huge. You know, new Zealand dairy industry, the New Zealand lamb, the meat. Oh Carol, I wish you hadn't asked me. I wish Brian was on this podcast with me, because I'm absolutely I don't really know stuff like that, but it's OK.
Speaker 1:Because I went to New Zealand and that's why I brought home a sheepskin rug. And then I think it was a slippers. Yeah, there was this. It was really like everywhere you could buy that. Oh so it's like kind of their, their items. That going to go in tourists Actually just came from Texas and NASA was everywhere NASA shirts, nasa everything. So it got near Houston.
Speaker 2:The thing that I completely understand that question and that's why I'm annoyed at myself that I can't answer it better because I remember coming to New Zealand and thinking it's just going to be like Hawaii there's everyone's just going to be walking around in bare feet and grass skirts and it's just going to be like nothing and just selling sheepskin rugs and that's it. And it couldn't be more opposite. It's very, very forward thinking country, is a very developed country, is a very innovative innovative whatever that word is country.
Speaker 2:Yeah yeah, no, it's just it's, it's. It's the opposite of what I thought it was going to be.
Speaker 1:All right, and how's the cost of living compared to the UK? And you were in northern UK, so were you like similar to say in London, or much less expensive to London?
Speaker 2:We're from when we first moved to New Zealand, the house price is. That's why we were like we've built our own home, we've got, we've got a piece of land, we've got two acres of land, Beautiful. There's no way we could have afforded this in England, absolutely no way, not without a huge, huge mortgage. So when we first moved over 14 years ago, house prices were a lot cheaper and it was more reasonable and we noticed a huge difference. Our money went a lot further in saying that it's.
Speaker 2:It's now common knowledge that New Zealand is cost of living is going up, up, up, up up, and I don't know if that's because more people want to live here or house prices have gone up. You know it's no longer that place that you can't just come here and think, oh yeah, I'm going to get so much more for my money because I would say it's comparable to the UK. Now it's on the same level, yeah. And it's really funny because I always speak to my brother and he's back in England and he's like how much you paying for a pint of milk and how much you paying for a lettuce, how much you paying for a loaf of bread? So we're always comparing and just like, oh, I can't believe you can get a red pepper for 99p. You know the five dollars over here. So yeah, we're always. We play that game quite a lot.
Speaker 1:Oh, ok, and what are some of the? The? The local vegetables and fruits, the kiwi, I would assume, right, anything else, kiwi, the kumara, a lot of farming.
Speaker 2:The what the kumara, which is? It's a sweet, it's like a sweet potato. So, yeah, that's absolutely delicious, chopped up and just roasted, and is it? Well, it's like a sweet potato. So kumara fries are very big over here. If you go for a burger, they might serve them with kumara fries.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, so how much is the meal for? Like a burger fries and maybe just a soft drink at a casual place, and we need to convert it to dollars.
Speaker 2:Yeah, let's say if you were to go out and you were to have, like you say, a coca or a burger and fries and a dessert and you'd be paying about, I'm going to say thirty five dollars, New Zealand about twenty, Is it twenty two US?
Speaker 1:It's expensive, yeah, but no, yeah, it's really expensive. It's like twenty bucks for my son to get, or a little bit more than a burger and fries or something, maybe even more. I think it was like twenty five. I was like what, yeah, so that's about twenty one dollars, so that's. Yeah, that's kind of similar to Colorado too. Yeah, ok, definitely not cheap, so you guys have the dollar as well.
Speaker 2:We do. We have the New Zealand dollar. Yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, looking at the exchange rate, because I was curious if there's no interesting. So it sounds like wow. It says oh, okay, well, new Zealand dollar is 60 cents for us. Okay, so like for $30 or so, that's 1793. You're in the US or something Kind of about the same, so but yeah, I guess our dollar goes a little further yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I feel like in some countries you say oh, maybe, like the food is more expensive for this, but the labor's really cheap, so you can have a housekeeper, or you know grounds people is, you know, is that one of the benefits? Or not.
Speaker 2:You know the minimum wage in New Zealand and it's like you can't work without paying minimum wage. So is I think it's at the moment. I think it's at $25 or $27 an hour New Zealand dollars. Okay, so no, it's not. You don't come, you don't? You don't come over and be able to hire a cleaner or a housemaid or a gardener for $2 or something like that. That's not how it is. It's very much minimum wage.
Speaker 1:So our minimum wage is about? Because that, what? That's $27 New Zealand, it's $16, $13, $16 here in the US and I think my, my son's trying to get it to working at Baskin Robbins and we're trying to work out Nice cream hopefully, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:What city do you live?
Speaker 2:in. Well, we live just outside New Plymouth, so we live in almost like it, just outside a village called Oakura so, and that is 14 kilometers outside New Plymouth, so we live in the middle of the country. We, you know, we're rural. We bought a piece of land and built a house up here, so looks like there's the big Eggmont National Park near you.
Speaker 1:It's very circular, interesting.
Speaker 2:It is. It is because, yeah, they, they. It's right underneath the mountain Mount Taddanaki and around that is the protected National Park.
Speaker 1:Oh, yeah, there's a peak in the middle of it.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, they've used it in. Do you remember the film with Tom Cruise? Oh, I can't remember what it's called now. Oh, the last samurai. I don't know if you remember that film, and it was set in Japan, but they used they did all the filming here in Taddanaki because the mountain is similar to what is almost identical to Mount Fuji. So yeah, really good.
Speaker 1:And how is getting around in New Zealand? Do you have to rent a car? Is there trains, horseback, what?
Speaker 2:would you recommend? For a slow visitor.
Speaker 1:Carole With your sandals.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's public transport, there's no, I mean, there is a train. There's trains in Wellington and Auckland, but it's not a country that you like, the UK, where you can get on one train and just zoom down to the quickly down to anywhere around the country. The bus service is great. There are, if I like. If I wanted to go to Auckland now, I'd have to either drive or I would get on the bus, which would take me, I think, about five or six, six or six hours maybe. Great bus service, but no, I miss trains and you know, like I say, I know they're in Wellington and Auckland, but I you can't just get a train and go backpacking around on a, like you can in Europe or America, where you can just hop on and off the train. So it would be, it would be a car, a hire. A hire in a car which is same price as anywhere else in the world, you know, in the US or in the UK, and then all get in the bus Because they're surrounded by a lot of water.
Speaker 1:So is there like theory that go from town to town?
Speaker 2:Not so much town to town, but you get the ferry from, like in Auckland. There's lots of little islands off Auckland, you know Waikiki Island, and you can get the ferry over to Waikiki from Auckland. In the south, you get the ferry from the North Island to the South Island. Is it the most stunning ferry ride ever? It's just beautiful. It goes through all the fields and the scenery is beautiful.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's, if you want to go to the South Island, you either fly or that's the other thing I forgot to say as well internal flights are very, they're very reasonable in New Zealand. We were really really quite surprised by that. So if I want to fly down to Wellington, for example, which is a five hour drive, and I get if I book it well in advance, you know, like six weeks in advance I can pick up a ticket for $49 if I just want to take a carry-on bag. So that's super cheap, which really surprised me because certainly in the UK, if you want to fly from Bristol to London, you're going to be looking at, you know, 200 pounds or 150 pounds of things. So that difference was definitely cheaper.
Speaker 1:Sometimes we have those deals for South West here from San Francisco to LA. We'll get those deals as well, which is like a quick little instead of driving the five hours that you just get a quick flight, yeah yeah, and you said the fjords and I'm just first off. How long does it take out? Why is it a ship to go between North and South? And then I do see these breakup of all these islands of some sort kind of reminds me of Sweden.
Speaker 2:It's like a flame.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it does, from the South yeah.
Speaker 2:Are they?
Speaker 1:inhabitable or do people Some of?
Speaker 2:them are. Yes, yeah, some of them are. They're called the Marlborough Sounds and they're just. Yeah, I mean we went to stay there one summer and it was the most idyllic time we had. We drove for miles down this stony path and at the bottom was a beautiful Airbnb run by this guy with a boat and there was no Wi-Fi down there. I mean, obviously you had electricity and things like that, but you know Wi-Fi and we just spent the day just going out on his boat fishing, getting muscles and clams and, yeah, it was just divine, absolutely beautiful.
Speaker 2:But they're called the Marlborough Sounds and that's what you can see, those little things, you know, the little islands that are jutting out, and that's where the ferry goes past when it comes to the main port, when it gets depicted, when it comes over to the South Island. So the ferry ride is about. I think it's about seven hours, six or seven hours, I think. I can't remember because we've yeah, we've done I shouldn't know, because we've done it enough times, but some we've never gone overnight, we've always gone in the day. So I'm going to say about six or seven hours. I hope that's right. I really wish I had Brian with me because he was fine.
Speaker 1:Google, no worries, google, I'm just Googling down in that area too and it's just lush green. It looks like this tropical forest and the waters are all green. There's so many like rivers, yes, yeah.
Speaker 2:It's just inlets, yeah, and of the sea and just and also the water down there around that Marlborough Sounds area it's. I remember someone saying to me when you go swimming you will be able to see the bottom, and I was thinking, oh, I bet you won't. You know, people always say this, don't they? And then you get, and I got down there and it was just, oh, this is the clearest water I've ever swum in. It was absolutely beautiful, so stunning.
Speaker 1:It's so hot forever. All these little crevices to go exploring, Wow, Okay. What about when should people go? When's the best time to go for I guess nothing too extreme heat, you know, and maybe avoid the biggest crowds. Or is there a big tourist time of year, or is it just always busy?
Speaker 2:The busiest time in New Zealand is going to be January, February, because that's the height of our summer. January is when the kids are out of school, so Kiwis are doing a lot of touring themselves, you know, going camping and things like that. So I absolutely love the shoulder season. I love spring. So I love October, November time and I also love autumn because it's still super calm, lovely weather, and so what? At March, April, May, that sort of time? Well, maybe not May because May is going into. You know, you're coming into the winter now. But just that, those shoulder seasons are just lovely. There's less people because, like I said, they've gone back to work. The weather is still beautiful and yeah, I'm going to say anytime. Really, it's just, it's a gorgeous country you really have got to visit, it's just lovely.
Speaker 1:And if it never gets too, because it's surrounded by water, does it ever get too cold? What's the coldest it gets?
Speaker 2:Oh, down in the South Island it gets. You know, there is a ski resort down there, so it gets that coldest. Oh, that's the mosquitoes in the South.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, it's not degrees. Right, you do. Self-sufficiency yeah, we do.
Speaker 2:Like the hottest. It gets like if you go over to Gisborne on the east coast of the North Island. My sister lives over there and it gets in the 30s, so she'll say, oh, it's 35 today. So yeah, it gets super hot over there. And also, like I said, down on the South Island, in the central plateau, there around Christchurch and you know, then they're going down to Queenstown, wanaka.
Speaker 2:That area can get really, really dry, and in the middle of the North Island as well, topor, which is close to another ski resort. So it gets cold in the winter, enough to ski, and then very dry in the summer and warm. So I'm going to say it's not like, it's not blistering, it's not where you can't go out, but it's nice, I like it, I like it, it's perfect. So where is better to ski, in the North or the South? The South Island is the biggest ski resort. Oh, okay, they've got the bigger ski resorts. The North Island we went skiing there once and it was lovely. It was quite small but it was lovely, it was just. But if you're going to look for bigger runs and more variety, then head down the South and go down there.
Speaker 1:What would you say are the biggest? And do you know any ski resorts that you know like? You know, like Aspen, colorado is huge in the US and is there some sort of resort that's down in New Zealand that?
Speaker 2:people like to go. Well, if you've got the money, you can go down to Queenstown and ski around that area. It's very glitzy. Queenstown is just, it's beautiful, it's right on the water, it looks it's the closest I've ever seen to a European ski resort. You know just that city of that. You've got the big mountains going either side. It's got a lovely, lovely town center, nice restaurants and, yeah, you've got your ski fields around there and that's where. That's what. That's where people tend to head down there to, to go down there to the skiing.
Speaker 1:And the best time of year to go is it's so. It still trips me out because, of course, being born and raised here in California, always it's the opposite, right? So in June, when we're sweating it, you guys are getting snow. That's right. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And you would come in June or July, and even here I mean our mountain. I'm looking out right now to my window and it's covered in snow Mount Taddanaki. There is a ski run up there, but it's hardcore. There's no chairlift. It's one of these what are they called? You know, when you put it through your legs and pulls you up? One of those toggle things?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, and there's also like skins where you can put them on the bottom of your skis and just you just walk up the mountain like Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Ski down so that's what people say. If you live here, you can ski in the morning and surf, because we've also got the best surf Probably on the whole of the North Island.
Speaker 1:I'm going to say Well, and I was going to say what's this best surf place, is it? Well, and I'm sure Carol's going to ask this question, but maybe skip it and just say it now.
Speaker 2:I don't know if this is the same in California for you, but do you find that, like surface, they're really protective, aren't they? I mean, I'm not a surfer, I just I'm listening to other surfers, but they're like, oh no, no, my place is the best you know. My area is the best place in New Zealand to go surfing.
Speaker 1:So I think they don't want to tell people because they don't want people to come. I think that's noisy.
Speaker 2:So I'm going to tell you what my ex-brother-in-law he was a huge surfer. They moved to Gisborne on the east coast of the North Island and he swears the water was warmer over there. The surf is just brilliant. So anywhere on that east coast, gisborne yeah, if you just look up, that east coast of the North Island is supposed to be well, it is fantastic surf. But now me talking team Taddanaki, down here on the west coast, we've got lots more rugged, we've got wild. It's, it's, it's, apparently it's great surf, especially around where we live, this coast line where we live. It's fantastic surf. But the one thing that everyone says that seems to come up between surfers, compared to the rest of the world, is the fact that it's quiet and you can go out there and you've got it to yourself, and I think that's that's. That's what I'm picking up from surfers what they love about surf. It's not crowded.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's not overpopulated because, yeah, but here in California I spent San Francisco and the surf. Sometimes it's just body after body after body, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah.
Speaker 1:Kind of tight to surf and then talk about like food, like what's your favorite meals, Like what are kind of a normal meals breakfast, lunch, dinner, what people eat.
Speaker 2:Breakfast, lunch, dinner is. Is you know what? We were talking about this the other day? I was talking about it with my son because we're huge foodies and we're always talking about food around the world, and I remember when we went to India and we had that in the morning.
Speaker 2:The Maldi tradition if they have this thing called the honey and it's where they dig a pit in the ground this is this comes back right back from Maldi culture is they dig a pit in the ground, they get hot rocks, they, they light a fire and they make these hot rocks and they leave these hot rocks, you know, to get really hot. And then they, they take meat, so a piece of meat, pork or lamb, or it's usually pork or lamb, or sometimes chicken, and then they'll put it in a big silver tray and cover it with potatoes usually root veg, like the kumara the potatoes, the onions. They wrap it all up, they put it on the hot rocks and then they throw the earth back on it and leave it for, let's say, eight hours, seven or eight hours I hope I've got that right, but yeah, about that amount of time and then they dig it back up and they take it out, and that meal. I remember having that meal once when I came, when the first time I came to New Zealand, and someone was selling um hanging at the side of the road and it was the best I've ever tasted. The meat was just so tender and the vegetables well, you know, and they go all oily and juicy and it had been really slow cooked. It was divine and it was just wonderful.
Speaker 2:But for some reason, new Zealand this is what I was talking to my son about New Zealand doesn't? They don't promote that as their dish. You know it's like oh yeah, new Zealand does great, they do great fish and chips, or you know, we have great pies in New Zealand. But to me, if I was like the owner of New Zealand or, you know, the queen of New Zealand, I would like no, this is our national dish, this is what we're going to be known for throughout the world. This is what people are going to come to New Zealand to experience, so you can get that. So if you do come to New Zealand I really hope you do, yeah, and find out somewhere that does that.
Speaker 1:It's usually it's almost like a luau. That's what they do. Well, luau they put like the pig in the pit, kind of same idea. I don't know what vegetables are. That sounds amazing. Oh my goodness. It sounds like you have an episode that you need to do with your husband and broadcasting that meal.
Speaker 2:Just yeah, it's a drama, yeah that meal and then send it to New Zealand government or people and say this is what you need, or tourists.
Speaker 2:Tourist companies. Right, but like, but go in likes of breakfast Key was maybe we use a lot of eggs. There's a lot of eggs on our menu, so we do lots of eggs Benedict and you know, omelettes and eggs is very predominant on the menu when you come for breakfast and lunch. So let's say I'm going to go out and I would probably just have eggs Benedict. The other thing they do as well that I never knew about until I came to New Zealand I don't know if you have this in the States is mints on toast. Have you heard of that?
Speaker 1:Minced. I've heard toast. I haven't heard minced toast.
Speaker 2:I know, and when I heard it I thought, oh, that doesn't sound very nice. Why am I going to want to have mints on toast? But it is the best thing, is so delicious, wow, yeah that they serve that sometimes with an egg on top, so that's really lovely.
Speaker 1:It's like a lot of protein, right, because it's mints. What kind of meat is on top?
Speaker 2:Mints beef. Okay, got it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because I know, in Sweden they do a lot of caviar on toast with a lot of heavy cream on top. Just a lot of stuff.
Speaker 2:Right, okay, yeah, that's like minced meat.
Speaker 1:It's basically yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, mints on toast, and you can get it in almost any Kiwi cafe that you go into. But again, because there's lots of people who have emigrated here so they've brought their food over with them so you can get whatever food you want. We go down to a little French bakery and have a quesadon. You can have whatever food you want, and then in the evening you would eat. The Kiwis love their fish and chips. We're famous for our fish and chips, so fish and chips are great over here.
Speaker 1:Is there a specific fish that's really popular there?
Speaker 2:I love garnered. I mean there's lots. They have lemon fish. My favorite is garnered. You can smell that. I've never even heard of that before. So G-U-N-A-R-D and that's really lovely. And I'll tell you what. The night we had, what do we have? We had Kingfish. That was that was. We had four medallions of Kingfish and I fried it in some olive oil and some and then just put olive oil you know, oregano and lemon and olive oil on it. It was too hard to find, it was so lovely.
Speaker 1:So yeah, I'm really now talking. Yeah, it looks like he's on the ground. On the pictures I see like a bottom Peter bit. Then he's got real very pretty wings. I don't know. That's what I'm looking at. Oh, he's okay, it's a lot bigger. Someone's holding it, so now it looks like a foot long or so, something like I remember when we came to New Zealand, there was a guy on the beach.
Speaker 2:He was fishing. I don't do you call them kina, that we call them kina. Are they the same name over there? That it's, it's the. Oh my, my brain has gone.
Speaker 1:It's the blood.
Speaker 2:Kina is the spiky. It's like a. It's like a tennis ball that's full of black spikes. What's that called?
Speaker 1:Oh.
Speaker 2:You go to and then an enemy. Is that what it is? An enemy.
Speaker 1:Oh and then. Okay, but it has the spikies. That's it, yeah.
Speaker 2:I remember a guy when we first came to New Zealand so that's called kina in New Zealand and there was a guy and he was taking, they couldn't bring them out. And he said you want to try it and you know, when you first knew to a country and you don't want to be like, oh no, thank you, no, no, you're trying to be all cool and like to fit in, and I said, oh yeah, I'd love to. And he just literally got his knife and he split it in half and it was like a raw egg inside. It was the most gross thing you've ever seen. Yeah, he said you just knock it back, just put it down your throat and knock it back. And I was thinking, oh no, please don't retch, you know so I just I did and it was. It was the best taste. It was that you know you have a noisestere. It's like that taste of the sea and Fresh and lovely. But yeah, I'm assuming I don't run out to buy them or get them. I see them.
Speaker 1:Oh, wow, you, I would do it out as crowd of courtesy and yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'll participate here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that looks very interesting. But, yeah, the little spiky balls, the Enemies that you although there's some that you touch and they're not as spiky and then they like cruel in as well, but oh, that sounds great. What are kind of desserts? What are like for birthdays and kiwi?
Speaker 2:desserts are brilliant, they are absolutely lovely. So, of course, the famous kiwi dessert is the Pavlova, which they've got a bit of a thing going with Australia, because Australia always say, oh, no, we invented the Pavlova and the Kiwi say, no, no, we invented the Pavlova. So I don't know who invented the Pavlova, but all I know is it's good. So it's meringue and cream and strawberries and Kiwi, kiwi fruit, fruit sliced up and yeah, they, they're very. The ice cream in New Zealand is Do you know what? I'm actually gonna put my neck out and I'm gonna say it was better than Italy and I know the ice cream in New Zealand is lovely, it's really, really great and it's cheap. It's what you were just saying about your son doing the job in the, the, the ice cream parlor.
Speaker 1:Nice yeah, 31 flavors.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and New. Zealand. It's just brilliant.
Speaker 1:So it looks like it's like this, almost like. It looks like almost like a Lotus flower. It's like a egg, egg white. Is it like a bowl with Ice cream in the inside? Kiwis.
Speaker 2:Yeah, have you ever had eaten's mess?
Speaker 1:No, that sounds good Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, that's, that's, that's a British, that's a British thing is eatings mess. Same sort of thing. It's a meringue and and cream, whipped cream and you know all this fruits, and it's just lovely and sometimes they pour like a strawberry sauce on it. It's just, it's great really nice, I'm googling this.
Speaker 1:Okay, so eton M-e-s-s mess.
Speaker 2:Ethan, so eat in us in the school. Eat ETON.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yes, mess says strawberries, berries, meringue and whipped cream, and that's it. Well, it's a parfait, yeah, you turn mess Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm a.
Speaker 1:You know, people are foodies. I'm a dessert II, I guess.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, oh well, you love New Zealand, then you'd love New Zealand ice cream and their desserts and things like that. You'd love it. That sounds really good.
Speaker 1:Well, we are just about at an hour. Is there any for any questions are going to my rapid fire questions. I guess it sounds like I would say what are the sports and fun things? It sounds like super nature, hiking, backpacking, surfing, probably everything right. Rock Is you've got it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah skydiving, bungee jumping, skiing yeah, it's a common way that people get around. I know like you can do your real past through Europe is there, yeah, the people would just either get on the bus if you have your backpacking and you're really doing it cheap, just get on the bus. You can get those bus tickets for quite cheap. You can fly internally or just just hire a car. You know, it's very easy to drive here. It's not overly busy, it's, it's very cruisey, it's just, yeah, hire a car.
Speaker 1:I'm gonna say it sounds like the people are super friendly and hospitable and. Very that surf, couch, surf there, no problem.
Speaker 2:If they're all. Yeah, I wanted to right. Yeah, definitely yeah, you can come and count yourself with me. We'll couch, so we'll have you.
Speaker 1:It's great, All right. So some of the rapid fire questions. What is a popular holiday tradition there?
Speaker 2:A holiday tradition is to go camping is just, no one camps like the Kiwis camp. They take their fridge, they take their barbecue, they take their couch, they take it all in the trailer and then they go down to a campsite and they set up for a good five weeks and and they just they camp properly, the Kiwis camp properly. So I'm gonna say that's the tradition.
Speaker 1:Wow, that sounds fancy. Every summer and being almost yes, my goodness as well. Oh, that's great. What about popular religions?
Speaker 2:Popular religions. Oh, I don't, I don't know, and maybe I Christianity, christians, I don't know.
Speaker 1:I don't know. Yeah, I'm, I'm not religious?
Speaker 2:I can't answer that. I don't know, chris Is.
Speaker 1:Christmas pretty big.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, yes, okay, yeah, yeah, okay. Cool, and what did you have for?
Speaker 1:breakfast today I.
Speaker 2:Have, oh yeah, what will you?
Speaker 1:have for breakfast. What will I have breakfast? Well, will I have a breakfast.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna have eggs and feta and avocado on toast. Avocados in New Zealand are great, so I'm gonna have eggs and avocado and feta and feta.
Speaker 1:That sounds really good. Yeah what kind of toast?
Speaker 2:Well, my husband's gluten-free, so I'm on board with him there. So we just again if you're gluten-free and you come to New Zealand, you are gonna be in heaven, because it's one of the best countries that we've come across. That have you know. Okay, just for that. So we get a really nice gluten-free bread sourdough and put it on that. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I've heard some sourdough that have wheat in them. They're not. They're okay for gluten-free people because how it's processed or something, is that yeah fine, yeah, so cool yeah and I did look up the top three religions in New Zealand and it says no religion 46%.
Speaker 1:It's very like liberal and just independent. Yeah, and then Christianity is 37.3%. Then there's only at the next closest is Hinduism, which is 2%, 2.7%. Yeah, it's a very interesting yeah, yeah, wow, okay, okay, that's so cool. And any special kind of music to the local people, or you know, or just a blend, or Um, yeah, just a blend.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna say yeah, just a blend. I think just imported.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then closest place to surf, where you are like literally in your town, can you surf?
Speaker 2:About three minutes down the road down down on Okura Beach. So yeah, just just Three minutes in the car. Hop in the car and I'd be doing if I was a surfer?
Speaker 1:And what if you were, like a tourist surfer? You know it's not so great, but you know you're not gonna step on anyone's toes. Where would you recommend to go?
Speaker 2:When you said don't step on people's toes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because some people get a little ownership like, hey, we don't want strangers at our beach, possessive of their surfing To surf.
Speaker 2:Yeah, maybe they do. I don't know. I don't know because I'm not a surfer, but maybe they do. But you'd have your choice of anywhere on the world's beach. Yeah, there's no, it's just not crowded. No, it really isn't crowded. Are you surfers?
Speaker 1:Are you two surfers? Yeah, why boogie board? I don't get on that. Yeah, I surf, but actually I can ocean surf but I wake surf behind boats.
Speaker 2:Right, okay. Oh, there's a great lake to go water skiing because we've got a boat and when we came here we got a boat. I know that's a long story, but, yeah, great places to water ski in New Zealand as well.
Speaker 1:So, that's another big, lovely great sport to do what's the best lake there? Yeah, that's what I want to do, for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, okay, so if you come over and you go to the North Island, you must go to Lake Rotakerri, which is ROTKERE, I think that is. It's the biggest, I think the biggest dam in the North Island of New Zealand Damned Lake, and it's just honestly, it's like skiing in Jurassic Park, you know, like when you're going along there's no one but just these green palms and ferns and bush and fields and it's just, it's out of this world. It's absolutely brilliant and you're lucky, especially if you ski in the winter. You're lucky if you see one other person. In the summer you might see three or four other people going up and down. But yeah, it's just, it's great, really lovely.
Speaker 1:What the population is, since things are not so crowded.
Speaker 2:The population of New Zealand. I think is is it 4.2 million on both islands?
Speaker 1:Okay. So it's kind of like what I always say about Colorado, just like we just don't have that many people here. It's just easy to get around and I don't know, size-wise it might be. I think it's, I mean, bigger than Colorado.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the size of the North Island and the South Island is the same size as the UK.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Oh, ok, that gives you an idea of how big it is.
Speaker 1:Oh wait, and it almost looks like maybe like half the size of California, like it's tallest California, but it's not as wide and dense. So think of four million people in all of California. Kristen, oh, my goodness, that is not crowded. No, wow, it's amazing. Well, I'm in California, all right, and the money we already talked about is the New Zealand dollar.
Speaker 2:The New Zealand dollar. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yes, and so, for one thing we like to talk about sometimes is like so, if you're going to exchange money there, did you go to the bank? Or you know? Some people say it's actually better to exchange on the street or just always use a credit card. What's the best way to pay for, I think, if you travel?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think when we travel I don't know if you you're the same, but when we travel we always use that wise card. I mean, we swear by that wise card. At the moment I don't know if you can transfer your currency and it's called wise and you can transfer whatever you have like wallets. We used it when we go around Europe a lot. So you can you have wallets, like you know, for the euro and then tie bat and US dollar, and you say you have like five thousand dollars. You say, ok, I'm going to put five hundred into tie bat, I'm going to put five hundred into euro. And it works like that. You just keep topping it up and wherever you go, it's a visa card. So you just pay using your wise card and it comes out of whichever wallet you've designated it to come out of Interesting.
Speaker 1:Is it WISE or WY?
Speaker 2:It's WISE.
Speaker 1:yes, oh, I've never heard that before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but yeah, you just go to the bank. There's lots of banks everywhere in the middle of town there's many, many banks and you, just you can go if you want to do it that way. Really good to know, yeah.
Speaker 1:By the way I lived up. Population in California. Well, OK, I'll start with. Colorado is five point eight million, California is thirty nine point something. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:And that's the same. So is California the same size as New. Zealand.
Speaker 1:I don't know. It looks like it's about the size, but like not as thick and robust. Think of like New. Zealand's kind of like a skinny California. Yeah, but a lot of California is like mountains, where maybe people don't that gives you an idea of how populated it is.
Speaker 2:It is, it's very quiet, it's very lovely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it looks like California covers a bit more, making New Zealand about two thirds of the size. I've got a little smaller but yeah, we have almost 40 million residents and the internet and everything is just great for digital nomads to work there.
Speaker 2:It's fantastic. It's a fantastic. Yes, yeah, we've just signed up for that. Is it called Starlink? You know the thing that you stick on your? Yeah, we've got that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So it's incredible. And I'm only I'm more jazzed about it because I was in the middle taking Girl Scouts backpacking and we were doing astronomy rock in the middle of you know, it was like 9, 8, 9, 10 pm and one of the girls was like what's that? That long string of lights, what's coming in? And we were like, and we were really high elevation so it was like we could see the Milky Way and see all the stars and then watch that. It looked like, it looked surreal, it was really it and very interesting to see this line in going quickly across the sky and it's, it's big. And then I there's a Starlink, there's an app and I googled it and so I found I was hiking with the dog and it was after I was 912 and I looked and I looked it up and it said at 912, you'll see Starlink dimly. And I sat there and I was like it's coming, I don't know it came and you see this dimmer light, just this big. It's, it's surreal, it's the coolest thing we've ever seen.
Speaker 2:It is, and I agree with you. When we first thought, we thought, oh it's, it's an alien invasion. What's happening, you know?
Speaker 1:yeah, there are so many satellites around the earth. Now they said there's just like tons. It's kind of like confusing the constellation views. Well, you just watch and then you'll see like sometimes you think it's a plane, but then it doesn't blink and it's quiet. And then you just realized up no, that's so slow. And stars. But yeah, Starlink looks really cool, especially because of the why the internet and the Wi-Fi in a remote area. So I'm assuming with Starlink. I'm curious is it just seamless and great?
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah, yeah, we've. We've been on it for a few months now. Again, brian sort sort you know does all that, but he's like oh yeah, we've got a new internet. Now it's, we're on Starlink and it's. It's fantastic, absolutely brilliant, so Well and is it expensive? Oh, I don't know. I don't know, and I'm sorry I can't answer that question. I don't know. I think it works. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like ninety two hundred and twenty dollars an hour, I'm sorry, a month. That's good Roodle. And then it's it looks like it's five, ninety nine for the equipment. And then there's what Starlink business, starlink Rome, starlink mobility, and it goes way up in cost after that.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And something like that.
Speaker 2:So it must. It must be quite reasonable, otherwise we wouldn't have done it, so we it will have been parable to what we would have been paying before.
Speaker 1:And you can bring all that and your camping trips on the internet and you can be sure. So that's, yeah, that's five week trips, all right. Well, thank you so much, liz. So I'd be a little bit person, well, kind of, in person, but you know I got with you and, yeah, let's talk about your book, where people can find your book, where people can find you, how they can connect with you, listen to your podcast. All that good stuff.
Speaker 2:We've got a podcast called. It's a Drama that me and my husband host weekly. So it's a drama. That's the name of the podcast, and my book is called the Travel Bog Diaries and you can find that at the travelbogdiariescom. So if you go to the travelbogdiariescom, it's all the information is over there where you can buy it from Nice. And you'll have it on Amazon and Audible soon, but not quite audible, that's right, and we're just just Brian's just editing all the audiobooks, so it's over there on Amazon. Yes.
Speaker 1:Right, and your Instagram is what.
Speaker 2:It's a drama on Instagram. It's a drama. Yeah, I watch you on Instagram. I'm so impressed. I'm like, oh, I'm so I can't. I can't get my head around it. I try really hard and but I love it when I see your guys post, because it just makes me feel very inspired and you're doing so well.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's all, Carol. Thanks, carol, I love you.
Speaker 2:And then we talk about that.
Speaker 1:How about like Facebook?
Speaker 2:anywhere else or on Facebook. I have got it's a drama on Facebook is use my personal account. So Liz Deagle D-E-A-C-L-E.
Speaker 1:And then what about your website? So we'll put these on the show notes to your websites for the New Zealand transfer people. That, what's that? Yes, so that.
Speaker 2:Well, that's that's actually. You can actually find it from it'sadramacom. Ok, that's my, that's my travel blog, and you would be able to find all the New Zealand content over there. Ok, cool, we're also on YouTube. It's a drama on YouTube. So nice, I think it's a drama is probably the best place to.
Speaker 1:Ok, it's a drama, and we have stirrus everywhere else, ok, great.
Speaker 2:All right.
Speaker 1:Well, I have to make sure we stop by in New Zealand one day and see you guys. I know we we've traveling a little bit here and there. Kids are still at home, so not yet.
Speaker 2:But yeah, you're almost there. You're almost there, and so it's quite the whole.
Speaker 1:So when I go to New Zealand, when I go like for good, you know, 60 days.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, that's right, you've got to make sure.
Speaker 1:Yeah, all right.
Speaker 2:Wonderful. I love your episode and we were literally we were driving around New Zealand yesterday. We were driving around all the hills and we listened to your Thailand episode. Absolutely love what you're doing. You're just doing. I'm so jealous because I just like, oh, how amazing Just to do this podcast where you talk about places around the world and like, literally, you can just be carelessly, travel to them and you know just. I think you're doing a fantastic job.
Speaker 1:So just want to say oh, and then this coming coming soon. Well, there's our second anniversary issue, where we talk about everything that we've learned.
Speaker 2:Oh, brilliant, I can't wait.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much, so it's so it's so wonderful to hear Thank you so much just from someone who's listened. We love it, which is why we are. I can't believe we've done it for two. Oh, it'll be three years coming up.
Speaker 2:That's fantastic yeah.
Speaker 1:We really enjoy it. I love learning about the different places and then just meeting so many wonderful people and how they ended up where they're at and sharing those stories. It's just really so we feel lucky.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and we feel lucky to have you as well. So, like I say, thanks so much. It's great content, brilliant, absolutely.
Speaker 1:It sounds wonderful and I'll have to look at your. It's a drama, and more as well with life in New Zealand too.
Speaker 2:Oh thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Absolutely have a great day. I knew too. Yeah, bye, bye, bye. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed the podcast, can you please take a second and do a quick follow of the show and rate us in your podcast app, and, if you have a minute, we would really appreciate a review. Following and rating is the best way to support us. If you're on Instagram, let's connect. We're at where next podcast. Thanks again.
