I am a great fan of Slow Travel, staying in a different country for many weeks at a time, living like a local. Up until recently, I always associated Slow Travel with trips to a foreign country, where we have to cope with a different language, and all the interesting things that turn up as a result.
However, my view has now changed a bit. Slow Travel now also enables us to spend time close to our family who live in New Zealand, where our younger son and his family live. We are spending more and more time there, so it has become a different version of Slow Travel for us. We stay for several months at a time, we rent a small cottage near where our family lives. (2 months with the ‘in-laws’ living with you would be a tad much for our family! We all get on well but both sides need a bit of space). The cottage is set in the most lovely gardens, which we are free to use as much as we like.
Going back to the same place has a big advantage, you know where everything is, the shops, where the petrol is cheap, local cafes, where to take the dogs for a walk. (Two lovely Golden Retrievers!),… There is a lovely forest walk just 10 minutes drive away.
We now have our ‘own’ car in Christchurch, rather than an expensive rental. We bought it, but our son insures it and it lives at our son’s house when we aren’t around. It has become a ‘spare’ car for our extended family. Being a wee hybrid, it is also very fuel efficient!
New Zealand is also an ‘Easy Drive’ place. The speed limit is 100kph/60mph, the roads are mostly quiet except up around Auckland. There are relatively few Dual Carriageway roads, but they often have passing lanes. People are generally very good to draw in and let you go by.
It’s perhaps not as ‘exciting’ as being somewhere where there is something different to see and do every day, but we are really enjoying it. We have an opportunity to get to know our grandsons when they are young enough to enjoy ‘hanging out’ with us…. We can also help with their care. ‘Can you collect the boys from pre-school?’ – of course no problem. We also contribute to family life – make meals, do some shopping, a bit of cleaning etc. This year we hired a DIY carpet cleaner, so once the children went to day care, all the furniture from the main lounge & living areas was carried outside, and we all took turns vacuuming, cleaning etc. It wasn’t that the 2 younger generation couldn’t do it themselves, having 4 adults to shift stuff made such a difference!
As a family of 6, we all went off for a few days together (To Greymouth – on the West Coast – it rained, lots! Very lush vegetation – why? – they get so much rain, quite often too much!!) The young ones went camping for a week – we declined that opportunity! This has been our 8th trip, so we have visited most parts of New Zealand (As my many NZ posts show!) We still haven’t ventured south of Dunedin though, maybe next time.
We also took the opportunity to meet up with friends from Edinburgh, in Christchurch. Despite us living in the same city, between us travelling a lot, and them travelling a lot, the stars aligned and we enjoyed some food together, on a lovely sunny day in NZ! They were setting off for a 2wk walking trip in Japan. From 30c to -10c all within a few days, they were going to suffer a bit!
This year we have had the bonus of 4 summers! NZ summer (Feb/March 2023, then our own summer in UK, a late summer in Seville in October (warmer than summer in UK!), then yet another summer Dec/Jan in NZ. What luxury! At least our Vitamin D levels should be great!
So far the only drawback is that our house insurance only allows us to leave our home in Edinburgh empty for 60 days, or we’d stay longer! Our travel insurance limits us to 3 months. Our UK passports allow us to stay for 6 months in any 12, so we have a bit of scope to extend it, if someone stays in our house for a week or two! One to consider for next year.
Long may we be fit and able to travel and enjoy it! We’ve already booked up for January / February 2025! Yeah. We’re also debating where our next European Slow Travel trip will be. Watch this space.