'AUSSIE HOUSE SWAP'
has so far been seen, heard or featured on:
Sunrise - (Channel 7 morning show)
A Current Affair (Channel 9 'Travel on a Budget')
Virgin Blue In-flight Magazine
New Idea - (Kochies Page 'Tips on Saving Money')
Women's Weekly - ('How to Save Money for Christmas')
Courier Mail - (Queensland daily newspaper)
Sun Herald - (NSW Sunday newspaper 'Travel' Section)
Sun Herald - ('Life' magazine)
Sun Telegraph - (NSW Sunday newspaper 'Body & Soul' section)
New Zealand Herald - (Weekend newspaper)
The Age - (Victorian daily newspaper)
4BC - (Brisbane radio)
ABC Radio (Western Australia)
Sun Herald - (NSW Sunday newspaper 'Real estate' section)
2UE - (Sydney radio 'Home & Garden' show)
5AA - (Adelaide radio)
The Advertiser - (Adelaide daily newspaper)
2CC - (Canberra radio)
Real Living - (Australian lifestyle magazine)
Sun Herald - ('How To Travel For Free' - travel article)
Australian Woman's Weekly - ('Saving Money Around The Home' article)
Sun Hearld - ('Holiday on the Cheap' - travel article)
Sunday Tasmanian - ('Holiday Home From Home' - article)
A Current Affair - (Channel 9 'House Swap Holidays')
The Retiree - (Magazine for retirees - '5 star accommodation on a budget' article)
:-)
This is my second year with aussiehouseswap and I have nothing but praise; you provide us with a great, original option to save on hotels while travelling everywhere... and I meet new friends, wonderful people. I have only positive experiences and look forward to more travel this year.
Cheerio
Danijela
Hi Nick and the Team, I just want to tell you about our overseas house-swapping experiences. Last year we swapped with a young couple in Amsterdam. They have now migrated to Melbourne and live not far from us so we are able to maintain our friendship. We also swapped with a German couple in a village in Bavaria and spent an all-too-short time in that beautiful part of Germany. Earlier this year, we received an email from the German couple asking if we would like to return to Germany to house-sit for them. This we did, spending six weeks in Bavaria and enjoying trips to nearby countries such as Italy, Switzerland and the Czech Republic. We also facilitated some English conversation classes in our village where we made many friends. So a big " thank you" to you all.
Carole and Bill (Port Melbourne)
Hello, Just to say a huge thank you for your valuable website. We have just returned from a three week amazing trip of a lifetime to Italy where we housed swapped with a lovely couple. Our villa in a small
town was fabulous and we had such a great time. When we arrived back our home was looked after very well. We would like to say how much we appreciate belonging to your website we have now enjoyed two lovely house swaps and looking forward to many more!! Cheers
Fran and Mike (Port Macquarie, NSW)
Dear Aussie House Swap folks, I wanted to thank you for creating such a wonderful opportunity for people to have an affordable holiday experience. Our family have just completed our first house swap, travelling to WA from the Far North Coast of NSW for our daughters wedding. We chose a home that was similar in standard to our own, and found this is key to having a positive experience. Of course there are so many new and wonderful things to discover in going to a different location and we had such peace of mind knowing that we could use the money we saved by houseswapping, to get around and see so many new and exciting places. We worked out that if we had payed for basic caravan park accommodation as well as hiring a car, it would have coast about $2000-this was spending money for our trip instead!
Right now we are planning the next adventure, so thank you, it's a great system and I would highly recommend it to all open-minded and adventurous people. Our philosophy is this: if you hold a place of trust within yourself, you will find that reflected in the people you create to house swap with. Good luck!!
Love,
Elizabeth (Tweed Coast, NSW)
Thanks Nick. We belonged to another swapping organization and in 10 years didnt find the help, advice and great communication we have in 1 month with you. Thanks for all your hard work
Chris (Mittagong, NSW)
Just as an aside, weve completed 2 very successful swaps via your site, and have received multiple offers from others which, for one reason or another, weve been unable to accept. Were swapping again in January, this time with relatives of friends, but would have done so via your website if we hadnt made alternative arrangements.
Keith (Noosa Heads, Qld)
My family and I are about to jet off to the London for our third house swap, our first was to Hobart at a magical house over looking the Derwent and the second to a wonderful beach house at South Golden Beach near Byron Bay. We had just the best holidays and cant recommend Aussie House Swap enough. We will certainly be arranging more house swaps in the coming months as it is just the best way to travel, the money saved on hire cars and accommodation means you can have longer and better holidays. I would say though that organising an international swap was much harder than the same in Australia, then end result will be the same but the getting there was harder than I thought it would be. Thank you Nick, keep up the good work and we look forward to many more swaps in the future.
Mandy, Chris, Grace and Phoebe (Mossman near Port Douglas, Nth Qld)
Hi Nick and team, We are Aussie house swap members from Newcastle, NSW. We are a family of 4 (2 gorgeous little boys aged 3 and 5) and we have just returned from the most amazing house swap experience. We have enjoyed a month living in Vancouver, Canada all thanks to your complimentary membership to the international house swap site. Our exchange house was beautiful - spacious, trampoline, treehouse and a garden full of ripe raspberries. We swapped car, guide books, travel advice, kitchen pantries and kept in regular contact while we were away. An amazing experience and one we hope to do again. Very happy customers !!
Heidi H (Newcastle NSW)
We had our first house-swap during the past year and it worked out a treat. Although not having met the family, we have kept in touch, especially regarding our respective pets and in times of concern.. ie.flooding, etc. We found we had much in common and do hope to meet one day!
Aussie House Swap is a fantastic system and i look forward to rejoining in the not-too-distant future.
With thanx & kind regards,
Lisa (Yackandandah, VIC)
Dear Nick, Aussie House Swap has been a fantastic success for us. We are going to swap for 3 months from 1st Sept in Sydney and then next year we are arranging a 6 week swap in Brisbane from mid April. Many thanks for this opportunity,
Patrick (Chorleywood, England)
I would like to say how much I appreciate being given another free 12 months membership as I have not been successful in getting a swap since joining. This is such a generous gesture and great business ethics. The costs of the yearly subscription is very reasonably priced - why would anyone be using a different provider? Thanks Nick.
Robin
Have to say, we have so far had a marvellous time with our swaps and are doing a big one to the south of France at Christmas. Yay, thanks Aussie House Swap!
suzie (Newtown, Sydney)
Congratulations Aussie House Swaps for providing the opportunity for my wife and I, from Wollongong, to be able to arrange a very successful home swap with a couple from Tewantin near Noosa. The finer details of the swap were arranged through a number of emails and phone calls, and all went according to plan.
On arrival, we were greeted with Milk, Bread, and some delightful energy dense chocolates and wine! The house was immaculately presented and the capacity it provided for us to share some quality time with our family (daughter and 2 grandchildren) was much appreciated. Likewise, on our return, our house was well cared for, neat, and very tidy.
Your checklist worked a treat, and I wholeheartedly recommend Aussie House Swaps for people wishing to experience staying in another part of the world, using information provided by knowledgeable locals, supported by friendly neighbours. Obviously, it also provides an opportunity to increase your circle of friends.
Owen and Sue (Wollongong)
Thank you Aussie House Swap we had a lovely swap to North Island NZ last Christmas!
Liz (Bayside, Brisbane)
Great website, we had one short house swap in August last year with a great family in Tamworth. Will be swapping again, maybe even overseas as we have the travel bug after being in Europe for 4 weeks recently.
Ben (Sunnybank Hills, Brisbane)
Hello. Not sure where I can leave feedback on the website, but just wanted to say what a fantastic first house swap my partner and I had with Helen & John from Mandurah in WA. We spent 2 wonderful weeks staying in their lovely home on the canal it was just like a home away from home, with everything provided and we were very comfortable staying there. It was a bit of a leap of faith, trusting these complete strangers in our home and using our car, and the same for them. It all worked out incredibly well, and we believe we have made some new friends in Helen & John, as there has been much communication leading up to our swap. I am now confident to try another house swap in a different State, but totally fell in love with Mandurah and the easy, laidback lifestyle that exists there. Definitely happy I found this website and have highly recommended it to my friends and family. Kind regards
Susan (Tasmania)
"I would highly recommend Aussie House Swap. We had the use of a nice flat, suitable for our family, and a car for 3 weeks in Sydney all for free! It's amazing how much we saved. The family who we swapped with (Dave and Desne) couldn't have been nicer or more helpful and I would particularly recommend them to anyone thinking of swapping with them. All in all it was a great experience!"
Rory (London, UK)
We've had 2 great houseswaps this year. An interstate one which also included a car swap. We had a great time experiencing two new places and returned to a beautiful clean house! I love the concept, keep up the great work.
Leonie (Torquay, VIC)
Hi Nick, I live in the UK and would like to thank you so much for my swap listing. It took a while but I have been able to set up 2 swaps and will be coming over to Oz in 6 weeks time for 3 months. Im sure Ill love it and will swap again in the future, and Ill be sure to list on your site. Many thanks
Marje (Newcastle, England)
Hi there. We had two really good House Swap experiences. We had a try out with a great family from Cooroy, only a couple of hours up the road from where we live. We also had a more complex and more exciting exchange with an Aussie family who live in Hanoi. We spent our Christmas holidays there and is was a great chance for us to visit an amazing country and it was a chance for the other family to have a Christmas at home with their family. In both cases we found our house just as good as we left it. We didnt have any troubles and it was very easy to organize. Because we have a large family (we have 5 kids) we find that the feature that tells you the size of the party very important. We looked for large families rather than places to visit! Keep up the good work! PS: I just renewed my membership for another 12 months and we already have a another exchange on the pipeline!
Jorge
Dear Aussie House Swap, my husband is 'over the moon' with our first (non-synchronised) house swap finally negotiated! We have a stunning view over a beach on NSW's sth coast, a beautifully maintained and attractive home and everything went smoothly. So thank you for making this wonderful idea possible.
Noelene & John (Perth, WA)
Hi Nick and the team. Happy New Year! I just wanted to say a big 'Thank You' for setting up and running Aussie House Swap so well - it offers such a great service. We have just completed our first swap and went on holiday to the South Coast of NSW. We had a great time relaxing and exploring the coast and our swap partner really enjoyed being in Sydney for a week - she went to a heap of museums, galleries and markets. I'm so pleased with all the money we saved by doing a swap....we're getting married in March so every cent counts! I definitely hope to carry on swapping in the future. Thanks again for everything and I'm telling all my friends about you,
Claire (Randwick, Sydney)
We would like to thank the Aussie House Swap team for making it possible for us to have had seven wonderful holidays in three states of Australia, with swaps in Holland, Germany and the Bahamas coming up.
All our swaps have been completely successful; the added bonus being that we have become good friends with our swappers and have done repeat swaps.
Our friends are quite envious and have asked us for the name of the site. We are not surprised that your membership is growing so quickly.
All the best for the festive and holiday season and we look forward to rejoining asap.
Carole and Bill
Hello
We have just come back from 10 days on a house swap in inner city Sydney. It was fantastic! I really like that moment when you open the door to your swap partner's house and surprise!
We found we were perfectly matched for house standard, level of cleanliness, even linen and brand of kitchen appliances.
We really felt at home there, and it was good to know our swap partner was in our home at the same time hopefully feeling welcome too.
Our days of hotels are over. Spending accommodation $ on great food and adventures instead is a lot more enjoyable.
One of the best parts of house swapping is coming home to a clean, tidy house with fresh flowers and a thank you note on the table : D
Tracey
Hi. Just wanted to let other people know of the fantastic benefits of Aussie House Swap. As a family we swapped the ocean for the snow. We stayed on a sheep farm near Mt. Selwyn. Our family experienced not only a great skiing holiday, but life on a working farm. Our hosts were very accommodating & made us feel very welcome. Now their family are looking forward to a holiday by the sea in March 2011. Aussie House Swap is really good concept, not only do you save money, but you get to meet other like minded people.
Helen (Port Stephens, NSW)
We are about to embark on our first international houseswap to Seattle Washington. We fly out in 2 weeks today for 7 weeks in the US. Will probably experience our first white Christmas as it is already snowing over there. Have had many requests for local swaps over Christmas but have had to turn them down until next year. Will let you know how it goes on our return. Regards
Sue and Mick (Coffs Harbour, NSW)
Thank you. Just had another great houseswap in sydney and driving home my children asked when the next one is? So thank you - it's the best thing ever!
Rebecca
Hi Guys, we have just got back from our first house swap, What can I say it has been the best experience we have had in years.
we are from Wodonga and we swapped with people from Tintenbar. Everything went perfect, There home was just great. And they loved ours just as much. The money we saved on accommodation gave us the chance to go to Movie World and eat out more.The kids just loved the holiday we had which was for two weeks. The other people were so easy to get along with nothing was a problem to them, we even bought our dog along. We have our next swap already to go, we are off to Port Stephens next school holidays.
Thanks Aussie House Swap for making holidays happen. Regards,
Andrew
We did our first (and only) house swap in December 2009/January 2010 with a lovely family from Melbourne. We found that travelling with a 3 and 2 year old having a house was just so much better than being cooped up in a hotel. We stayed on a property that was semi-rural and our children loved the pet sheep and looking after the guinea pigs and pet cat. Also there were horses in the paddock next door so we would feed them apples and carrots daily. We had the best family holiday yet and the children still talk about the guinea pig house and would actually like to live there. The family we swapped with were lovely and they left my house in immaculate order - the lady actually sorted out my linen cupboard for me. It was a wonderful experience and we are absolutely keen to do it again.
Petra and Stephen (TAS)
We did a house swap in January this year. It was a great experience and we would love to do it again. The kids loved playing with all the toys, everyone loved the pool, and the local knowledge and tips were great. We went to Sydney and our house swap family came to Brisbane.
Esa
Nick and team, just finished my first houseswap at the easter school holidays in brisbane and it was huge success. Thank you so much for this great site that has shown me how to have more holidays! keep up the great work!
Rebecca
We listed our motorhome for a swap and had a great holiday. We had 10 days in QLD in August & the swap people come to NZ to use our van in November. It is a wonderful idea. We've had several other inquiries.
We will certainly use this site again in the future. Regards
Sue
I finally convinced my husband Terry to do a house swap, he was not at all keen. We researched various house swap sites on the Internet and finally settled on Aussie House Swap, as we wanted to stay close to home. Being a family of 5 it would never have been possible for us to have a three week holiday at Christmas /New Years without doing a house swap. We saved so much money, which made our holiday so much better. We swapped with a lovely family from Christchurch NZ, we exchanged lots of emails and a few weeks before the swap talked on the phone. We were very nervous and didnt know quiet what to expect, but thankfully everything worked out very well. Our house, cat and car were all looked after, the house was left exactly how we had left it, neat, clean and tidy. Having a car at the airport waiting for us was such a bonus. We are currently making plans for our second house swap and cannot wait!
Lorraine
I had such a wonderful time in Australia, my house swap was amazing, everything went according too plan no problems what so ever, I would recommend everyone who can too try it, great website, great people, very helpful. Thanks!
Mick (Dorset U.K.)
I had yet again another successful house swap/exchange. This time 3 weeks in Bicton, Perth, 10 minutes from colourful Freemantle. Wow! What a Buzz coming from a country coastal town of Narooma, NSW. I mingled most days amongst 1,000s of people and loved the multicultural environment. Great. I would recommend Aussie House swap to all people interested in this innovative idea. The Bicton couple were just great.
Val
We have had 12 months on Aussie House swap and had a total of 3 swaps. two were weekend breaks in Sydney with just the 2 of us and another was a 2 week vacation to Victoria with our whole family. In Victoria we stayed within walking distance to the beach with the Great Ocean rd scenic sites an easy drive away. We have had success each time and really enjoyed the excitement of staying somewhere different to the normal hotel.
The best part has been the savings in accom costs, we worked out that for the same size house and the 6 of us in January we probably saved $5000 -$6000 in rental costs for a similiar holiday house in the same location. This is what makes it worthwhile, I think house swapping is a fabulous idea and would recommend it to anyone wanting to travel. Regards,
Claire and Mark
The House swap site was a great success for us. We had many offers and the 2 we chose were just wonderful. Best holidays we have ever had and we discovered what fantastic people are involved in house swapping. We certainly will be doing it again. I was also impressed with the administrative side of the House Swap site. There are helpful tips, a regular newsletter, ongoing efforts to improve the site and members are kept informed of changes and invited to offer opinions which I really appreciate.
Best wishes to all those at Aussie House Swap and happy holidaying in 2010. Regards,
Margaret
We have just completed our 4th swap and had a great time at Newlands Arm on the Gippsland lakes. A great spot very quiet which is what we are used to. We are selling our property and down sizing so will not be swapping until all is complete. This is the best thing we ever did in signing up on your site it is so easy to arrange a hoilday.
Thank you.
Geoff & Beverley
We have just completed a house swap with a lovely couple from Murpy's Creek near Toowoomba QLD. The house was a wonderful bushland retreat and still close to amenities. There is plenty to see an do in the area but my favourite was a visit to the Laidley Valley and Mulgowie Pub. Will be rejoining for another year as it looks like we have a house swap organised for sept/oct in SA.
Rhonda and Max
We recently swapped with a family in Brisbane and stayed in their beautiful Queenslander. We had a great time exploring the sights and the beaches, and our kids loved the Wii. It was great having all the conveniences of a house available and being able to relax in nice surroundings at night. It certainly beats boring hotel rooms or units and all that for free! We also enjoyed looking after our guest family's pets and knowing that our own pet was well cared for. We swapped cars as well which made it even more convenient. We also appreciated the insider's tips for shops, restaurants and things to do that our host family left for us. We are hooked and have already organised our next swap for January. Go house swapping!
Gaby
Have had lots of enquiries from New Zealand for our apartment at Mooloolaba - more than we can handle! Last October we did a 3 week house swap with a couple at Lake Taupo- it went very well. Very pleased with Aussie House Swap.
Geoff
Thank you very much. We already had a response from Italy, how exciting! Cheers,
Simone
Hi, I had a good house swap myself. I thought as an openly gay-lesbian I might have to contact 'Pink Sofa' to do an all lesbian house swap but no, there are tolerant people out there. So I successfully swapped with a non gay couple from Brunswick, Melbourne. Their house was well presented, like mine & they left my house as they found it - very clean & cozy & I left their house as they had left it also - very successful. Its nice to know there are tolerant people in Aussie House Swap who do not dislike lesbians. Thanks to that young, professional working couple.
Val Threlfall
We have had four successful house-swaps. We think that the concept is great and that the site is very user-friendly and attractive. Cheers,
Carole P.
We have just returned from our first house exchange. We live in Newcastle and have 2 young children and swapped with a lovely family in Brisbane who also had 2 kids. Our exchange involved cots, highchairs, swapping prams and even cars. It was utter bliss. After having kids we have found taking a holiday to be so much hassle and staying in family motel rooms very claustrophobic. House swapping was the perfect answer. Our kids loved the space. Everyone had their own bedroom and the backyard had a great trampoline and sandpit for hours of entertainment. I have total praise for house exchanges and cant wait to do it again.
Rhys and Heidi
You can add us to the list of members who have had very successful swaps. So far we have completed 2 swaps with a repeat swap coming up in December. Both situations worked out really well for both parties with no hick ups. Certainly have recommend the website to our family and friends (also the house sitters site as well) and plan to be members for some time to come.
Mike & Lynda
Just to let you know we had 2 great house swaps over the year since becoming a member a year ago. One was close to home and the other was in New Zealand. They both were excellent we came back to our house just the way we had left it. There is no way with a family of 5 we could have afforded a trip to New Zealand to snow ski, sight seeing and eating out if we had to pay for accomadation on top of everything else. It was also nice to come home after a long day and be able to relax in a family home instead of a small hotel/motel room and cook our own meals and even do a load of washing. We are looking forward to a few more house swaps so we can do some more exploring with our children.
Karen
January this year we exchanged with a family in Albany WA. We feel that we have made life long friends as a result. On our car trips home we suggested we meet up half way during the journey. We were amazed to discover that we had been chatting for 3 hours non-stop! We both have two girls each and they wandered off, bought ice-creams and struck up a friendship as well. I think you form a special bond with people when you share homes. The whole experience adds another dimension to holidaying.
Sue
We have completed a month long house swap in Tasmania. The swap was in Sandy Bay, Hobart, and went very well. They were happy with a beach holiday in Queensland, and we escaped the heatwave for a pleasant time investigating old haunts in Tassie. No problems with either house, and a great time had by all. Regards
Rod
We would love to renew our membership. We organised a house swap last year. We swapped with a family in Ponsonby, Auckland New Zealand. It was fantastic. They had chidren the same age and we all had a great time. We actually met before hand and did a car swap as well.
We would highly recommend it to other members who maybe are thinking about it, but are not quite sure whether how it works. We had no problems at all and arrived home to a beautiful tidy clean house. We kept in touch while on holiday by phone and text and would do it again for sure.
Doug and Helen
We had a very enjoyable and worthwhile house swap with a family who owned a beach house at Whale Beach in Sydney. It was a fantastic opportunity to stay in a place that is usually reserved for the very wealthy!
Louise
We enjoyed our three weeks in Southern Tasmania during August 2008 so much that we have arranged another swap for four weeks in Northern Tasmania for August this year. On this occasion we sent numerous emails back and forth with the house owners, and then spoke to them by telephone. We also met them a few weeks ago when they arrived in Queensland and spent hours chatting like we had been old friends. We met them again last week when we welcomed them into our house at Coolum Beach for their four week house swap. They are currently in our Coolum Beach holiday house now and we are looking forward to spending four weeks in their house in Tasmania in August.
House swapping certainly does take a lot of the financial burden away from your holiday budget. Thanks again,
Noel & Jenny.
We had a fantastic swap over Easter. Was really lovely. Houseswapping is a marvellous idea. Well done.
We love house swapping because it adds another dimension to our holidays. Instead of going to a "bland" hotel room, we stay in homes filled with interesting things - books, toys, food, plants etc. We gain a real insight each time we swap, into the way other people live their lives. It adds a real "depth" to our holiday which we love.
Kylie
Just letting you know of our very successful house swap with other swap members at Mooroolbark in Melbourne. Everything went very smoothly and we found this couple to be very nice people who left our house in perfect condition you wouldn't have known that someone had stayed in our home. We had a lovely stay in their home very central to our daughter and two lots of friends we have at Yarra Glen and Kinglake. Our friends at Kinglake escaped the fire their property was fine so we were very pleased. We have found house swapping to be good - this was our 3rd house swap and it went very smoothly we recommend it to everyone. Looking forward to our next swap.
Geoff and Beverley
We are great advocates for your house swap system and have introduced others to your service. Kevin and I have had about 8 swaps since we began last year and every one of them successful and a friendship forming from our last one.
Caroline & Kevin
I am very happy with your service. We did a House swap with another member from Pirongia in New Zealand last year and this was a great success. Lovely area and my place was left spotless. Thanks,
Judy
We have done one great swap and are doing another one to Melbourne in June. Thank you!
Lauren
We are enjoying house swapping! We have had 3 so far and all have been very successful. I like the new sight. We have told a lot of people about your sight and house swapping keep up the good work. Regards,
G B
Weve done a very successful house swap and have another one organised. Also we are getting plenty of offer so we are happy. Thanks very much,
Ruth & Don
I would be happy to vouch for Aussie House Swap. We did our first family swap with a family of 4 from the Gold Coast last June. Then in the middle of January we did a swap with Melbournians and we have another one booked with a family from Christchurch this July. That is 3 swaps in 13 months so we are very happy with the facility. After we left the swap home in Melbourne we toured to Adelaide and 7 nights accommodation cost us $1,000. Money that could have been spent on tours, dinners or kept in the bank. Thanks for this service. I LOVE trawling the site for beautiful places that I want to stay at some day.
Margaret
How good is Aussie House Swap!! On the last couple of days of our 3rd swap. This one is to Newcastle, staying in a nice house close to the beach. The great thing is that you dont have to bring everything with you. Just pack your personal stuff. There are books and magazines to read, place to go, a secure comfortable house, not just a room with your car at the door like most motels. The money we saved makes doing things and seeing things less of a drain on finances.
Adrain
Thanks to your site we have 2 house sits to take us up to the end of June. Kindest regards,
June
We recently completed a house swap with a family in Bunbury WA. The secret to a good swap was effective communication as we required many emails and phone calls to establish an effective swap. During the stay it was like having a holiday at home as we were not used to holidaying in a house. The amount of room we had was great as we were not cramped into a tiny unit, cabin or motel room (which is what usually occurs on our holidays when we 'pay' for accommodation). Our house swappers were generous enough to allow us to use their car to visit other places in SW Western Australia after we left their house. At our home our house swappers left our house in immaculate condition. Overall a very pleasant experience and a smooth house swap. I would definitely endorse the house swap process after this experience. Can't wait for the next house swap to occur. Regards,
Ian and Narelle
We did a house swap over Christmas with a family in Cooma. May 2008 we swapped with a family in Darlinghurst, Sydney. Both were awesome. Regards,
Kylie
Just to let you know I think your site is great. We have already had 2 swaps, this will be our 3rd and we get heaps of enquiries. A couple of people have even said that they specifically joined the site because of our house. We love it so it's nice to hear others think it is great also. Kind regards,
Nora
I had a successful house swap in November with an Australian family and I'm interested in swapping in the future. Many thanks!
Heather (NZ)
We live in Alstonville and swapped with people from Geelong-Victoria in the January holidays just gone. Met the people on the road on our return trips. All went extremely well. Would do it again anytime, just not sure where to!
Donelle
Hi, I would like to say what great success we have had with 3 swaps since Jan 08! 2 to Sydney for 10 days each & 1 for a long weekend on the Gold Coast. All swaps were
friendly and, like us to their homes, our house was left spotless with a kind note & a thankyou bottle of wine and once flowers. I have just renewed membership because we"ll be doing the same in the coming year too. Regards,
Claire & Stephen
We will be requiring your site for further holidays and we are very pleased with the response we got and the quality of the sitters you have. Regards,
Colin
We had a very successful houseswap, over New Year last year with a family in Buderim, on the Sunshine Coast. It was a gorgeous house, and would probably have cost around $2000 (if not more), to have rented it over the new year period. I know they really enjoyed staying in our house in Sydney also. We shall definitely do a house swap again, hopefully quite soon.
Fran
We had a fantastic house swap with a really nice couple in Redlynch, Cairns. We all had the holiday of a lifetime and really enjoyed the experience. Our house swapping couple were lovely and we got to meet up in Melbourne as we were both travelling back. Many thanks - a great way to holiday and a real bargain!
kate and tony
We did a swap in Jan 08, which went really well. We flew out on Boxing Day from Adelaide to Sydney & met the other family at Sydney Airport where we swapped keys etc. We were exchanging houses, car & dog. They had three kids the same as us, but they were a bit younger.
The house & car was excellent. They had a pool, Xbox & all the stuff you could want for a nice break. We went to Manly, Luna Park. New Years Eve on the Harbor, Watson's Bay, Bondi, Coogee, Wollongong, Darling Harbor etc.
Accom & car hire would have cost us about $250 a day. We were there for ten days!!!
I thoroughly recommend house swapping to everyone that I talk to now. Keep Safe,
Mike
We have had two succesfull swaps. The first to Gold coast over christmas, great experience. Lovely family, had a great time. Our second swap was to the victorian alps Mt Beauty we combined this trip with a visit to Melbourne. We saw parts of Australia that we never new existed. The children experienced snow. Both swaps went very smoothly,alot of people we speak to feel skeptical about house swapping. We think its great we love being home from home rather than in a hotel room. At the end of the day you need to trust your house swapper as much as they trust you. I think we are even more aware of looking after each others property because of the trust. Thankyou!
Lesley & Shane
We have just completed our second house swap, this one to Melbourne to attend our two grand daughters birthday party. As we had no where to stay we advertised on your site for a house somewhere near our daughters house. We where lucky enough to do a swap with John & Lisa and their two small children. It was only a 25 minute drive on the freeway to our daughters home. John & Lisa enjoyed their stay on our semi rural property which is very quiet but close to town and the beach. Maybe in the future we might swap again with them. We are slowly convincing our friends this the way to have a holiday!
Geoff
In July ,2008, my husband & I did a house swap with a wonderful family from Christchurch, New Zealand. Prior to leaving home we had corresponded on numerous occassions & felt almost like old friends,even though we hadn't really met yet.
As we were arriving the night before our host family were flying out, we arranged that the Badger family would meet us at our hotel in Christchurch on their way to the airport. My husband rode with them to the airport, dropped them off then returned with their car to pick up me, & my brother & sister-in-law. We had been able to meet in person,swap house & car keys & get local tips before our adventure began. It was terrific to actually meet & chatter together in person.
We had deliberately visited NZ in winter as we had never seen snow ( we live in sunny Queensland). We were not dissappointed- it snowed on our drive to the host's home-only about a 20 minute drive!!! We were ecstatic. We arrived to see their home blanketed in snow and looking like a picture post card. The "Badgers" had given us instructions for using their fire place & we were soon cosy & warm & delighting in watching the snow fall. This was the magnificent start to the perfect holiday, for us.
Over the next 2 weeks we explored Christchurch & local areas from the comfortable base of our swap home and returned to it from travels further afield that required over night or multiple night absences. Each time ,it felt like "coming home". We visited Dunedin, Invercargil, Queenstown, Lake tekapo & Hamner Springs, just to name a few, staying in hotels & motels. All of these were nice but it was always great to return to the comforts of a family home. Between trips, we returned to our swap home in Christchurch to rest, wash our clothes and repack for the next adventure. It was very convenient not to have to carry all our gear with us everywhere. Afterall, we didn't need swimmers when we were going to Invercargil or Queenstown- just our snow gear. However, a visit to Hamner Springs required both swim wear & snow gear if you are going to fully enjoy the area.
We had a wonderful time. We also saved a small fortune by using a swap home as our base and not having to hire a vehicle. We cooked a lot of our own meals when actually in Christchurch-replacing any items that we used from the Badger's pantry. We left our host home as clean & tidy as we found it. As arranged, we left our host's car at the airport for them to pickup on their arrival back in Christchurch. How covenient for us both!!!!
Our car was waiting ,as arranged, at Brisbane airport for us to simply drive home again. Hassle free & convenient. When we arrived home, we found the Badger Family had left our home immaculate too. You would never have known that anyone had been in our home whilst we were gone. I only hope that our swap family had as wonderful an experience & holiday as we did.
This was our second successful swap & we are certainly keen to swap again soon-perhaps further overseas this time. Thank you Badger family from Christchurch & thank you Aussie Home Swap. Regards,
Roslyn & Bill
We had a successful house swap earlier in the year. We stayed for seven weeks in a house at Merrylands in Sydney which was good for us as we were able to spend plenty of time with our son and his family who live in Sydney. Our house swappers were a young couple contemplating a move to WA so it was also a good opportunity for them to check out the local scene in Perth. The husband was working in a mine near Kalgoorlie and was commuting on a regular basis from Sydney to Perth. They have since sold up in Sydney and have moved to Perth and now live only about 1k from us. We now see them on a regular basis and we have become friends. We are very grateful that Aussie House Swap enabled all this to happen. Regards,
John and Chris
Last year we did a non simultaneous exchange with a lady who sounded desperate to get away. She came the next day, we met, we cooked for her, we took her all over the city ,welcomed her into our home for two nights and showed her how to see her particular interests.then we drove her to our beachouse. We loaned her an old car and
took her shopping. We introduced her to people living close by and made sure she was safe, secure comfortable and happy. She cannot offer the same in return, as in her house to our selves, but we know we are welcome in her lovely home anytime
and we have forged a great friendship. We felt good about giving to another person... So to all who worry about home exchange, what more could a single person have asked for. Her holiday cost the airfare only....
I cannot say enough nice things about your website which gives all kinds of people from all walks of life the opportunity to explore, escape, grow forward in richness..seek an adventure and most important of all live just like the locals..and stay safe, cosy
comfortable....for the cost of an airfare.........
Kind regards,
Robyn and Soren
We have used Aussie House Swap twice in the past year. One an "owe you one" swap which we will be using our part of for a visit to Maroochydore in November (lovely people as we met them when they used our place while we stayed with family) and another a straight swap with a smashing family from S.E Queensland. Nothing but good experiences for us to date.
Keith and Vee (Canterbury, NZ)
Just to let you know that I finally struck gold - swapped with a young couple and a baby in Coffs harbour - they had a great time here in Armidale and are keen to do it again.
So I wanted to thank you for your service, for giving me another year free when I had no luck in the first year, and for providing a valuable service for people with adventurous natures and/or low incomes. Cheers,
Barb.
Our house swap was a huge success. All communication beforehand was done by e-mail and a couple of phone calls. It is all based on trust, so there is mutual respect for each other's property and belongings. As a family of 5 it was an inexpensive way to enjoy the sights of Sydney by day, whilst relaxing in a leafy suburb in the evenings. No worries about having to take bedding, toys and entertainment with us-it was all there. We also agreed on a car swap, which worked perfectly, and meant no taxis, or rental cars for either family. We would definitely recommend it and have already arranged another house swap for this year!
Pauline (NZ)
We hace just completed our first house swap and it was just sensational everything went so smoothly.
We thank Garry and Pat for allowing us into their home in Cairns and the use of their car. They also made arrangements for their freinds to pick us up and deliver us back to the airport which was certainly appreciated by us as our arrival flight was at 9pm. They also enjoyed their stay at our home even though the weather is a lot different than in the tropics. We used the handy house swap form which worked really well to explain the workings of our house and to leave details of the area.
House swapping is going to be part of our life from now on. Thank you for a wonderful site as we look forward to our next swap.
Geoff & Beverley
In the last 12 months we've had two holidays, both house swaps and both unexpected destinations. Once we let our minds wonder at the possibilities that these two destinations could offer, we agreed and exchanged details. Our first exchange to Sydney was with experienced houseswappers, they'd done 15! Mary had some great ideas and was so relaxed, she helped boost our confidence. The second exchange was to Nelson, on the South Island in New Zealand. What a wonderful relaxed, change of pace that holiday was. We totally chilled out, helped by a large comfortable house with lots of games, toys , trampoline and pool for the kids. We highly recommend house swapping, our home was well cared for, we experienced a little bit of other peoples lives and saved an enormous amount of money.
Liz & Graham
We undertook one house swap with a Queensland family (we are based in Hobart) which was very successful. We would thoroughly recommend it to others. Thanks again for the opportunity, it enabled us to spend Christmas with our family - at low cost and very comfortably. Kind regards,
Ray and Marian
Since joining Aussie House Swap we have enjoyed a number of exchanges in various locations including Brisbane and Sydney. Through this network we have been able to provide our place for couple and their overseas visitors as a holiday venue whilst we were visiting family elsewhere. Similarly we were able to stay in another members home, even though they did not require a swap as they had other holiday plans. We have currently arranged a swap for the coming July holidays and are planning more swaps throughout the year. What a great way to holiday and get a feel for the community/area you are staying in. Each time we have managed to build a great rapport with the people we have swapped with and everything has run smoothly - not one hiccup at all Not only is it an economical, relaxing and comfortable way to holiday, there is a bit of serendipity involved when contact is made, I like that, as it can be an opportunity to holiday in places you may not have thought of. You can say "Why not - lets go there" or "No thanks, it dosent suit us this time" there is no obligation the chioce is yours. I'm just wondering why it took us so long to discover the beauty of holidaying via house swap, however, we don't intend to let the grass grow under our feet as we venture off to lots of holiday destinations and enjoy many more home exchanges.
Kind regards,
Nettie & Grahame
We house swapped with Roslyn and Bill at Forest Lake in Queensland and enjoyed our stay. The family and us kept in touch well before our swap which made us feel as if you new them. Their daughter met us at the house and also took us to the nearest railway station the day we left and was very friendly, helpful and made us welcome. As this is a suburb close to Brisbane you needed a car which was supplied by them so we could drive around and have a good look. Thanks a lot Roslyn and Bill for your very clean house and we would recommend it to all who want to visit that area. As this was our first house swap we look forward to many more.
Sid and Barbara
Recently I experienced my first home swap with a couple in Dodgers Ferry, Tasmania and I am DELIGHTED.Our exchange was for 10 days in late April/early May.They stayed in our home in Brisbane & left our home in a spotless condition- you wouldn't have known anyone had stayed there while we were away.We found Sid & Barbara's home to be very centrally located & to be warm & very comfortable. Our visit felt like a stay at our favourite aunt's home-very homely & at ease.Sid & Barb even arranged for their friends to greet us at the airport & transport us to their home. Very accommodating of them & a very much appreciated gesture. Our daughter met them at our home & showed them around & drove them to the station when the time came to move on again.They ,like us, left a bottle of wine & a small box of chocolates on the kitchen bench to greet us.-little gestures mean a lot.
We included a swap of cars in our exchange & this saved us all a lot of money also.
We exchanged a number of emails & phone calls prior to our swap & this made us all feel like friends even before the swap. This definately helped us feel more relaxed about swapping for the first time.We estimate that we saved upto $3000 on accommodation costs for 4 adults & car hire.WHAT A GREAT WAY TO HOLIDAY!!!!!
We are eagerly awaiting our next swap with a family in New Zealand in July & can only hope that things run as smoothly as the last exchange.Thanks Sid & Barbara of Dodgers Ferry & thanks Aussie Home Swap. Regards,
Roslyn
Aussie House swap. What a great concept. We had a very successful swap Bronte Beach NSW for our house & car at Nedlands WA. Three weeks over last Xmas /New Year. Beautiful house (& Car) & it meant we did not have to burden our daughter & family who were just a 20 minute drive to connect Perfect. We are now close friends with our swap partners. Thank You!
James
In January of 2008, my family aussie house swapped with a couple from Victoria. We had a wonderful time exploring the state, with our base being their beautiful home in the Gippsland. They arrived at our home at the beach in Queensland, looked after our cat, watered my plants and had a good explore of our region. My husband was a little uncertain about letting complete strangers into our home, but we have nothing but a positive experience to remember from the house swap. Our house was left as immaculate by our vistors as when we walked out the door 2 weeks prior. The Handy House Swap Form was used by both parties, and made it easy to list details such as contact numbers and instructions. We are currently in contact with a family from the south island of New Zealand, which will be the site of our next house swapping adventure!
Aussie House Swap is an easy-to-use website, full of information and handy tips, not to mention some great places listed.
From a Happy House Swapper.
Karen
We would like to thank you very sincerely for the excellent house swapping site you have set up and for the excellent idea you have initiated. In this day and age it is not easy for families, and for seniors like ourselves, to travel in this wide brown land of ours, especially with the present cost of petrol and the rising cost of accommodation, even the most humble. Your brilliant idea of house swapping has made it a bit easier to travel. So congratulations and good on you !!
Carl & Margaret
Just telling you that we made a house swap in September for a house in Perth and we live in Newcastle.
We had a marvellous holiday in Perth for a month, excellent accommodation, our house swapper was very communicative. The house was left in sparkling condition when we returned and would certainly recommend a house swap and many thanks to your website for the opportunity to communicate because that is one of most essential ingredient in this house swapping process.
Robyn
We have had one house swap during our membership and it was fabulous. We are now great friends with the family and once we settle elsewhere, we will be certain to contact them (and others) for another swap. It is staggering to think of the amount of money we would have paid in hotel accommodation but instead we had a magnificent home in a fabulous location with every household facility at our disposal. As a bonus, we had the convenience of another family caring for our animals and keeping our home tidy and secure during the course of our absence. Brilliant!!
Tania
We are delighted with Aussie House Swap as we have just organised a 6 week exchange to Perth to spend Christmas with our son & family. The exchange is ideal as we are exchangeing cars & the other party are more than happy to look after our little dog & their home is located less than 15 minutes from where our son lives. We did not anticipate getting a Christmas excahnge so it was a real bonus.
This was all organised less than 2 weeks after joining Aussie House Swap.
Mike
I have done a very successful non-simultaneous house swap in Melbourne and the swap went without any problems and was a great help to us. Many thanks and I am in the process of arranging another swap for middle of this year.
Judy
I was able to secure a swap in Coffs Harbour in May this year, very successfully with a lady who had swapped many times before. Many thanks,
Barbara (NZ)
A year ago I joined Aussie House Swap straight away I looked into where we would like to go. I emailed approx 6 other members and 5 off these emailed me back within 3 days unfortunately none where able to swap, after a few months I tried again......we where succesfull it felt like I won the lottery, we secured a weekend away to the Blue Mountains, Within 2 days I organized to swap houses again and while I was working out dates with the family I received an email from Taree.....within a week we orginized two holidays!
We have been to the blue Moutains and Taree, tomorrow we set of for Batemans Bay. I'm a working and studying single mother with two boy's funds are always low and this way we are able to discover the Aussieland without a lot off cost.
Thanks Aussie House Swap Team
Ingrid
I did have a very successful swap last year with a lady at Victoria Point. She had her family with her and they had never been in snow and had a ball. I was very happy to be at her home and walk every day by the sea. Also, I so love the friendly Queensland people. They were so good to me taking me to church, bridge etc.
Pam
'We have just come back from our first house swap in the inner city suburbs of Sydney. We had a fantastic time and were able to save heaps in accomodation costs. Good on you Aussie House Swap'
Robert
We have had 2 house swaps during this 12 months both to Melbourne. The most recent was last weekend when we had a wedding to attend. It worked out fabulously as the house we had in Melbourne was large enough to accomodate all our family (including grandchildren) who had to travel down from north-east Victoria. In return, the family of 5 who came to our house had a wonderful time with our 6 week old puppies and plenty of room for the children to run around. I think house-swapping is a great idea and can't wait to retire so we will have more time to enjoy it. With thanks . .
Helen
We have just completed our first house swap to OZ. It was fantastic, everything went sooo well and cant wait to do it again!!
Karen (NZ)
We had our first house swap in January this year and had a great time, a little nervous at first but everything went well both ends!! We are just in the process of arranging our next swap and have recommended your website to friends.
Julianne
Thank you - we have enjoyed two swaps during our membership and enjoyed them both. We hope you have much success in the future and continue to prosper as you grow. Kind regards,
Suzanne and Stephen
We indulged in our first house swap and had the best holiday we have had in years! The home in Murrumba Downs, Brisbane was just beautiful and the pool, awesome! The best thing about the holiday that was at the end, there was no accommodation or vehicle hire bill!!I have been recommending your site to all of our friends! We have another swap planned for next year in Melbourne. Best wishes!
Rachel & Ian (NZ)
In the past 12 months weve done two swaps to Sydney when we wanted to catch up with friends and family. As we have two small children it was no longer viable (or desirable) to stay in someones spare room. Both house swaps went really well. Weve told all our friends about it. Our second swap was particularly successful as it was with another family with young children. This meant we didnt have to pack half the things we would normally take cot, highchair, bottle steriliser, toys, books, stroller, even car seats were all there. We even bought each other a pack of nappies so we wouldnt have to pack those or rush off to find a shop. I think the secret of a successful house swap is open and honest communication. Be clear about what you have to offer and what you would like. We have had absolutely no trust issues with either of our swaps. We live in Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast and I would say that we have received on average one request per week for a house swap and weve had no difficulty finding someone suitable. Its advisable to book early for the school holidays and Xmas period. We reckon weve saved ourselves about $7000 in accomodation and car hire this year with just two swaps! Thank you for organising such a wonderful and innovative web site its so ingenious and so simple! Keep up the good work!
Sarah and Mark
We had a very successful houseswap in January this year. We swapped our Queenstown, NZ apartment for an apartment in central Melbourne. We were very happy with the arrangement as was our Australian 'swapper'. We are very keen, once time allows, to swap again.
Merv & Jill
I love that we can holiday in Australia with no accommodation costs. This opens up many more opportunities for us to explore new places. We have had three wonderful beach holidays so far. The houses we have stayed in have been beautifully furnished, with beds ready made for us, clean towels and instructions re rubbish night, local venues etc. Each time we return home, our house has been left clean and loved, with gifts of wine, fruit and flowers left for us by our swappees. They also take care to water plants, replace staples such as olive oil, loo paper and cleaning materials. We have made friends with our swappers through phone calls and emails both before and after each swap. We look forward to returning to those places whenever it suits both parties, as well as exploring new places. I cant wait for my next swap.
Adrian
We think house swapping is a great way to travel & recommend it to all our friends.
Glenys & Bruce
After hearing from a fellow bridge player that she had swapped houses six times over the yearsto all parts of the world, we decide to swap ours with one in Melbourne. It was an inner suburb home close to all the action: shows, theatre, art gallery, sports venues, etc. We had a ball taking them all in and saved $6,000over three weeks on accommodation. (We would normally have stayed at a hotel.)On return, we found our home and car in even better condition than we left. Swapping takes a little effort and preparation; and inevitably when returning homeyou can't remember where the devilyou put things away beforeyou left. But I would still recommend swapping. Most people say they wouldn't do it for fear of the other people doing the wrong thing. But 99% of people are decent citizens and if they own their own home they will look afteryours in the same way you look after theirs.
Jerry
I would like to strongly recommend this website and this system. I recently completed a house swap with someone in Sydney and it proved remarkably successful for both of us. We have made friends and intend to do another swap in the near future. It saved both of us a lot of money as casual motel-type accommodation is not only sterile and (to my mind) usually quite deadly, but is also extremely expensive.
Thank you Aussie House Swap Team for a 100% positive experience!
A. G.
I have just finished my submission. The enquiries are still rolling in.This is terrific.!! Cheers
Andrew
We just had our first houseswap and found it to be a fantastic experience. We swapped with a family who also have young children so it made it easy with sleeping arrangements and toys to play with. We are very excited about other houseswap opportunities for our future holidays.
Justine & Paul
We love the house swap site. We have 3 swaps arranged. Thank you so much for your organisation.
Di
I think we have just about organised our first swap, less than 48 hrs after registering.
Mark
I have found this a great site, with an easy registration process and prompt help if I needed it. Thanks again, and Happy Holidays!.
Wendy & David
We have just completed our very first house swap. My family had a fantastic week in the centre of Sydney and the money we saved on accommodation we had fun spending on kids entertainment and family activities (our kids had a ball!) and to have my own kitchen was fantastic. We are hooked and are already planning our next house swap adventure. Thank you for a great service.
By the way our house swappers said they loved their week in our house and have talked about future house swaps with us.
Ky
We have been inundated withresponses to our add, butfor now, have settled on a swap with a Sydney family who have a beach house at Whale Beach.Our kids are all surfers, so they'll love it. We are new comers to house swapping, but I'm sure we'll really enjoy it. It's a great way to see the world with the family!
Louise & Charley (TAS)
I must report, since joining Aussie House Swap, we have been inendated with enquiries and would thoroughly recommend this site. We are swapping already with two families, one in Townsville and the other in Noosa.
Denise
We have just returned from a wonderful 3 weeks house swap in Sydney, thanks to accessing your Aussie House Swap service. Webegan emailing several weeks beforehand as we got to know and trust each otherand then we eventually made telephone contact to fine tune arrangements. It was a "first time" for all of us and it couldn't have worked better -a survival supply of fresh food in the fridge, lots of friendly notes aboutgood localeateries and things to do, beds made up, even a bottle of gin toset the right mood!! We felt really welcomed and the big bonus waseach of our households took our animal companions with us as well.
We came back home to fresh flowers on the table, a spotlessly clean house andthe gift of a superb Italian cook book. What more could you want? We're so pleased we decided to take the leap and explore the possibilities your web-site offers.
Jill & Gwen
Within 48 hours of registering with Aussie House Swap I received two very inviting queries about house swaps. I hadn't even had time to upload my photos! An unexpected benefit of joining is that I will probably be traveling to places I had never dreamed of travelling to, and will see more of this country than most Australians, who travel to the usual locations.
Jenny
Its Lenore again from NZ, just letting you know we have just arrangedour first house swap.
We are very pleased and pretty excited, to be going to Aussie.
Lenore
I thought I should tell you how pleased we have been with house swapping and how keen we are to arrange for more swaps. We had our first house swap (a long weekend) which we really enjoyed and have organised for one in NZ for next year. We could have easily organised more if we didnt have to work and go to school! It seems everyone weve contacted whove already house swapped have had really positive experiences. Regards,
Suzie
Have had about 6 house swap enquiries - some very good except we couldn`t match times. Had 4 weeks in Tasmania which was great. Have arranged a swap to Fitzroy (Melbourne) for l0 days around Easter.
Bill & Trish
Just to let you know we did a house swap last June/July, 2007 to a beautiful home in Sydney. We even met the folk at the half way point of Port Macquarie for dinner and stayed in the same Caravan Park!!! It went tremendously well. We were first-timers, whereas they had done several swaps so filled us in on what we needed to know.
When we arrived we thought we had hit the "jackpot". Their home was in a millionaire street and was beautifully appointed. We kept in touch with each other a little throughout the holiday to see how each other's cats were doing .... as we swapped minding them too!
All in all, it was a great experience and one we would be happy to repeat again. I believe it is up to the individual to source the genuiness of the swappers before committing to go ahead though.
May you go from strength to strength!!!!
With kind regards,
Carol & Graeme
One couple asked us to swap and we did so it was a good arrangement with no problems. Thank you for the service.
Bronwyn
Would like to let you know that I made a very successful swap in September last year. Both parties were extremely satisfied.
Pauline
We have just completed a very successful house swap with another swap member from Perth. Regards,
F. H.
We had 2 great swaps last year both on the Gold Coast and are waiting for another to come up again soon. Best idea ever invented, we are quiet envied by our friends.
Lenore (NZ)
We have met a fantastic couple in Bright Victoria through this great home exchange website.
Krista
We have had a very sucessful house swap with a couple from Queensland in October and we did manage to meet up on their last night in our house to swap notes and comments. Many thanks for all your help in setting things up in the first place and making it very simple indeed. Well done.
Trevor (NZ)
We have 3 or 4 house swaps lined up which should fill the next year.
Our biggest and best swap was with a New Zealand family for 17 nights. Although we did not stay put in their house - NZ does require one to tour around - we were there for half the time and it was nice to have a "home base" to come back to after each little side trip. Also, not needing to hire a car saved us money as well. The people we swapped with loved it here, and they did stay put. So I know they were very happy. It required lots of emailing to and fro, and getting the timing right was a bit of a challenge. Thank god for the internet!! Leaving the house "just right" also puts some pressure on during the final days before flying out.
We have found that people willing to house swap are of a particular breed - called "trusting". This is why it works. The people who were shocked by the very thought, just shouldn't do it. They are bound to attract problems.
The only "negative" experience we had was one couple who pulled out at the last minute due to my bringing "children", stating that their house and pool were not suitable for children. I didn't see it coming, as my "kids" are high school students with part time jobs. But we got straight onto the website and had another swap organised within 2 days - and met some great people in the process.
So thank you - it has been fun, and will continue to be.
Trish & Peter
We have rented out our home and are currently cruising on our yacht for the foreseeable future. We did enjoy your site and made two swaps in NZ that were both great. We recommend you and will re-join once we have a home to swap. Regards,
John and Eddie
