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A New Zealand woman and her husband are selling an eco-lodge in Ecuador in a $41-a-ticket raffle.
Rebecca Greenshields built the home with her husband Doug a decade ago.
The pair are now living in Doubtless Bay, Northland, having left Ecuador in 2016 and decided to part with their “third child” after a decade.
The 11-bedroom guest house in Banos was a “family adventure”, the couple say, and Rebecca fondly remembers mixing concrete during its construction, while first-born son John, now 9, sat in a bassinet watching.
The lodge and land would be 100 per cent owned by the winner, who would also receive about $14,000 cash to help cover travel and visa expenses.
Raffle tickets were a steal, at $41.
“We are selling the lifestyle,” Rebecca, originally from Palmerston North, said.
“It almost does sound too good to be true. People will think there’s a catch but there really is no catch.”
The couple need to sell 35,000 tickets to break even. If they don’t reach that mark the raffle winner will receive half the competition’s proceeds, while the rest will cover expenses and go to charity.
Husband Doug said the couple stumbled upon Banos on a world trip and fell in love with it.
“We went travelling in 2005 together around South America. It was supposed to be an around-the-world trip, but we didn’t get much further.
“We went travelling to get away and do something different – to get away from the daily grind.”
During their travels, they noticed it was difficult to find suitable accommodation that catered to their desire to be eco-friendly.
Clean tap water was not readily available and waste was one of the biggest issues in Ecuador, Rebecca said.
The lodge is made from untreated eco-friendly wood, filtered drinking water is provided to encourage guests to stop purchasing plastic bottles and food scraps are composted.
It runs off hydro-electricity and they try to keep waste to a minimum by using their own bags and containers when shopping for the bed and breakfast style lodge, Rebecca said.
The couple mostly spent time chatting to tourists while keeping the “simple to run business” going.
Before stepping into tourism Doug worked as a farmer and Rebecca was a statistician – neither of them had tourism experience.
They are moving to Australia to eventually start a new venture in tourism and to be closer to family in New Zealand.
The raffle was also capped at 250,000 tickets.
The winner would be drawn on April 30.
Sourse: stuff.co.nz
