Motueka, New Zealand

Couch surfing has been our absolute saviour in NZ, without the absolute kindness of Barry & Tomomi, Marco & Ursala and Susan our initial journey through NZ would have been a much more stressful and expensive affair. There is no getting away from the fact that Couch surfing saves money which us why so many backpackers just try to bounce from host to host abusing their hospitality and leaving the hosts feeling used and complacent about whether to continue hosting. With Blondini we are self-sufficient and whilst we do enjoy a night in a real bed with a real bathroom we can get by without, we use couch surfing to meet locals, get advice and really immerse ourself in the local way of life, not just the tourist life that you lead in hostels, hotels and even on campsites.

Tim found Pieter and Raewyn who had over 100 couch surf reviews and explained in their profile how they had travelled all through South America a few years ago. It was too good an opportunity to pass up on to meet them and hear about their travels. We sent them a message and they were overjoyed to finally receive a message from couch surfers who had actually read their profile and sent a personalised message that they welcomed us with open arms.

Pieter and Raewyn were just awesome, such kind people who not only gave us a bed for two nights, a tour of the area, 2 amazing dinners that they refused to let us contribute to, they also sat and showed us all their pictures of their journey through South America to help us plan our routes and destinations.

These guys are not just kind and generous when it comes to taking in couch surfers, the local animal shelter also has them on speed dial as they know that they can never say no to helping an animal in need. As a result they have a field of sheep, coups full of chickens, a garden full of ducks, rosie the goat in the garden and I am pretty sure that I counted 4 cats, the last of which was a foster cat who arrived at their door with newborn kittens who they nurtured and rehomed and couldn’t resist but keep the mum.

One of our afternoons with Pieter he told us that he had some people coming to collect some ducks, he had put an advert on Trade me (seriously I don’t think that there is anything that you can’t buy sell or give away on this site) for free ducks and had got two takers for 6 each and we were just hopeful that they were going to a nice new pond home and were not going to be dinner!!

So here started our duck wrangling career. We shut the garage door and got in some kind of formation to lead the ducks to the garage, this didn’t quite go to plan the first time as I was not entirely sure what my role in the escapade was so the ducks just ran round me and back into the garden. Eventually we rounded them up and had them safe and confined in the garage.

When the new duck owners turned up to collect their new feathered friends this is where it all got a bit more hands on than I had planned for. With cat boxes and cardboard boxes flying around and ducks squawking and trying to escape, Pieter with 2 ducks in his hands just thrust one at me to take hold of. Arrggghhh, I’m holding a duck. Tim was less than useless in this situation, however he did manage to take a photo of me mid freakout with my duck. What a laugh. Eventually the ducks were boxed and caged and sent off to their new homes. With 12 less ducks the garden was definitely a bit less quiet, however a few days after we left 12 new baby ducks hatched giving Pieter and Raewyn a rather unwelcome surprise!

We had a great couple of days with these guys and finally managed to get some pretty awesome goat selfies with the adorable Rosie the Goat.

Next stop Richmond Rodeo.

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