TRAVEL
The prelude to a full home exchange often comes in the form of a simple hosting or inexpensive homestay – both ideal ways to forge new friendships and for both parties to discreetly check out the people they might eventually trust their homes to. Carol Campbell reports.
Reunion Island, the jewel of the Indian Ocean, is pretty much an unknown destination to the average Australian, unless you are either a vulcanologist or an avid surfer.
An active volcano, rainforest walks and a magnificent surf beach, touted to be one of the world’s best, are some of the better known attributes of La Reunion, as it is generally known throughout the world.
The pretty little island, population 710,000, lies 200km west of its larger fellow French colony Mauritius, and 700km east of Madagascar.
All of the above facts we learnt, indirectly, through home exchange – hosting some delightful visitors from Reunion in recent weeks.
Justine and her engaging two-year-old son Corentin, who spoke no English other than a very cute “G’day mate”, spent a week with us as part of a very well thought-out 10-week trip to Australia – and all through the one home-exchange site that offers home-stay, hosting, home exchange and holiday home rentals around the world.
First stop was Fremantle, where Justine had a home stay for a week with a single mother and her two young children. Home-stay properties are usually family homes with a spare room or two set aside for paying guests.
And at under $200 per week, with all meals provided – and with the benefit of having someone to point you to the best tourist spots, public transport tips, etc – it is a bargain deal for the budget traveller.
Next on Justine;s schedule was Melbourne, where she and Corentin were hosted by a friendly couple living in one of the city’s outer suburbs. A week seeing the sights of the Victorian capital and its surrounds, with the help of her host family, meant Justine saw more than the average tourist.
Melbourne was followed by a five-week home exchange in Foster, on the mid-north coast of NSW. Justine and Corentin were met at the airport by her exchangers, a couple in their mid-50s with a grown-up family. They had a week to settle in and meet other members of the family before Justine drove the couple, in their own car, to the airport.
Four weeks later, after a month of exchanging not only house and cars but also family and friends at both destinations, Justine was there to collect them at the airport and hear all about their holiday in her home and stories about her friends and family on Reunion.
Justine and Corentin then continued their Aussie trek north by train and coach to us at Brunswick Heads in the Northern Rivers.
They were the perfect guests. We took in the sights of Byron Bay, the Mullumbimby markets, the Gold Coast beaches, Brisbane and Springbrook, and we even had a beer at Billinudgel, a fair-dinkum, old Aussie pub.
Justine was great company, although Corentin was the star attraction. Not only did he win our hearts but those of everyone he met, whether in restaurants, shopping or dancing to the band at the Brunnie on Sunday arvo. His friendly smile and engaging manner meant he was everyone’s friend – a great young ambassador for Reunion Island.
Justine insisted on contributing her share, taking us out for dinner, paying for petrol, and cooking us a fabulous spicy Creole meal – although she didn’t have to kill and pluck the chicken as she sometimes does at home. And she proved to be a dishwasher extraordinaire. My pots and pans have never been so clean.
We dropped Justine and Corentin at Coolangatta Airport, ready for their final stop in Australia – McMahons Point in Sydney, where they were being hosted for eight days before they made the long flight to Reunion.
Justine and Corentin are back home now, reflecting on their holiday of a lifetime. I’ve since heard from Justine, who says she is extremely grateful for the warm welcome she received everywhere. Now she is looking forward to repaying the favour and meeting all those Australians again on Reunion.
In her words, after a stopover on her way home at poverty-stricken Mauritius: “I realise once more how lucky we are and I am, to live the lives we live and to be able to choose our way of living.
“But that’s the way it goes. Or maybe I simply saw things like that because my mind was full of beautiful memories from Australia, who knows.
“Well, I hope you will still come this part of earth in 2010. We’re waiting for you, we’ll be very happy to welcome you as you welcomed both of us in your home and lives.
“I’m very happy to have met all of you – you are so lovely people.”
This is home exchange at its best. Now if only all our world leaders could embrace the same philosophies.
www.exchangezones.com• Home stay: accommodation in family homes, with meals (from $180pw)
• Hosting: reciprocal visits, if timing is unsuitable to exchange (no costs)
• Home exchange: simultaneous or at mutually agreed times (no costs, can include use of car)
• Holiday rental: payment made direct to owners of properties
