by Liz Deacle | Housesitting, New Zealand Travel
Housesitting in New Zealand. I honestly can’t think of a better way to see the country.
Regular followers of my newsletter and podcast will know that we (my husband, Brian and our kids, Sonny and Tessa) are no strangers to housesitting.
As well as trotting around New Zealand, staying in beautiful kiwi houses, we have spent months housesitting around Europe when we travelled the world with the kids for a year.
In the last seven years, Brian and I have clocked up twenty-seven house-sits worldwide.
It’s official.
We are now professional house-sitters. At last. An accolade.

At last, Bri! Something to brag about!!
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by Liz Deacle | New Zealand Travel, Podcasts
It was my birthday, so I booked a surprise trip for me and Bri.
I googled New Zealand cheap accommodation. Best places to stay in New Zealand. Real New Zealand adventures.
Then I put in my whopping budget: $99 a night.
This is what we got. This is where we stayed.
Sit back, relax and listen to our experience of this insanely cheap Kiwi getaway.
And our fondue fiddles.
x
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by Liz Deacle | New Zealand Travel, Travel
What side of the road does New Zealand drive on?
Today, we’re talking about driving in New Zealand. Before you rent a car and tour NZ, there are some CRUCIAL things you need to know so that YOU can travel New Zealand safely!
PS: (It’s the left, by the way!)
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by Liz Deacle | Moving to New Zealand, New Zealand Travel, Travel
Sixteen years ago, fresh off the plane from the UK, I first set foot in Taranaki, New Zealand.
And I was gutted.
Grey, cloudy and miserable.
Not at all what I signed up for on the immigration website and not a bloody hobbit in sight.
My husband had been offered a plumbing job in New Plymouth Taranaki, and to fulfil our visa requirements, Taranaki was to be our home for the foreseeable future.
I told myself we’d give it six months, and then we’d be out of there. Off to find greener pastures where milk flowed from rivers and the sheep pooed honey.
Sixteen years later, we’re still here. We never left Taranaki.
Here’s why…
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by Liz Deacle | New Zealand Travel, Podcasts, Travel
You can now JOIN our Secret Patreon Community! https://patreon.com/itsadrama
It’s been quite a year for us.
If you have followed the podcast for a while, you will know that we have suffered two big losses. Both Liz’s mum and dad passed within 6 months of each other.
And before you know it, it’s Christmas time. Which is always the hardest.
Determined to celebrate Christmas in a way that we have never done before, in a country the four of us love, we have decided to leave New Zealand to spend a month-long-once-in-a-lifetime family break in…?
Did you know we now have a SECRET podcast? Behind The Drama is a fabulous member-only podcast where Brian and I take you deeper into the more personal stories about life as a married, entrepreneurial couple.
A couple who juggle travel, family, business, mental health and marriage.
A couple who have two adult kids that still live at home.
But that’s okay.
Because they don’t mind being slaves.
Honest.
If you are of a certain age who dreams of throwing conventional life into the air and swapping it for optimism, yes-ness, adventure, and a ton of much-needed knicker-wetting humour, then this is the podcast for you – It is real, it is honest, it is tough, and it is JUST what you need.
Trust me, you LOVE this! Find out more by going to https://patreon.com/itsadrama
Thank you for listening; you are fabulous, and we love you.
Liz and Brian x
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by Liz Deacle | New Zealand Travel, Podcasts
Liz and Brian are back in New Zealand. They flew from Chiang Mai via Bangkok and China and, thirty hours later, were home in Taranaki, New Zealand. Tucked up in bed.
But flying home to NZ didn’t go smoothly. In fact, it was a sodding fiasco.
What started as a dream-come-true-flight ended with wet knickers and tears.
And not only that, the food on the plane was sh*t.
Sit back and listen to the story of the return flight
Enjoy!
Liz and Brian x
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