Profile information
Host rating
85 %
Feedback
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Email verified
Details
Description
We are a Dutch, Greek, Australian family. Aaron and I met each other in a backpackers hostel in St Kilda and after a few years of living in Melbourne, we packed our bags and went travelling the world for two years. We have travelled to over 40 countries and stayed in more than 500 hostels.
Aaron grew up on a farm in East Gippsland and knows the area like the back of his hand. He studied hospitality and tourism in Melbourne and has worked in the industry ever since. From Hayman Island, Flight Centre to Melbourne Skydive Centre, Peregrine and Autopia, he loves everything about travel, whether it's helping people put their itinerary together, recommending places, tour guiding or travelling himself.
I grew up in the Netherlands in a small country town (Dieren) and studied in Utrecht. My first solo adventure was to South America. I got the travel bug and after working for a couple of years to save up some money, travelled to Asia and came to Australia on a WHV. I found farm work to apply for a second year WHV and fell in love with Australia. During my second year, I found an employer who offered a role with sponsorship. Then I met Aaron in a backpackers hostel in St Kilda and the rest is history!
Our lives have been entirely about backpacking and travelling. It made sense for us to open a backpackers hostel in this beautiful part of the world, being able to offer a comfortable place to stay and meet likeminded people.
Fast forward 5 years from opening the backpackers hostel, we have welcomed a little girl into our lives, and becoming parents is super rewarding but it does impact the way you holiday and the freedom of travelling. So, we have decided to sign up to Workaway to still get a bit of that travel feel, meeting different people and cultures whilst staying in the one spot :)
We are a non-stop, incredibly busy family. We always launch ourselves into a new project or creative idea. On top of managing our backpackers accommodation business, I am also employed, Aaron also owns a food business, we have chickens, a dog and a daughter who keeps us busy.
We don't have a spare room in our own home, but we thought it would be more fun for you to stay in our mixed-dorm room in the hostel (for free!) to live among other travellers. In exchange for helping us with gardening, cooking, cleaning, feeding the chickens, going for walks with our dog, babysitting and creative play with our toddler and those type of things. We don't have set times, but probably need 2-3 hours each day on week days, so you could even look at getting a job in town to save for your next bit of travel or doing your 88 days. We can organise a bike for you to get to our home and back and we can look at a food allowance or something to cover your food expenses.
Totally new to this platform so please message us if you have any questions or if the above sounds interesting.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
Animal Care
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We have an insanely producing garden full of fruit trees and vegetables and we can teach you how to pickle cucumbers, make relishes, dry mint and camomile to make our own tea, make tomato sauce from our homegrown tomatoes and things like that. We love roasting our own coffee and brew our own beer so if that's your thing we can do some batches together! We are also totally into baking our own bread, but never tried making our own kombucha (definitely keen to learn).
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We would love some help with gardening, cooking, cleaning, feeding the chickens, going for walks with our dog, babysitting and creative play with our toddler and those type of things. We don't have set times, but probably need 2-3 hours each day on week days. We have an insanely producing garden full of fruit trees and vegetable plants and would need help with pickling cucumbers, making relishes, picking mint and camomile to make our own tea, make tomato sauce from our homegrown tomatoes and things like that. We love roasting our own coffee and brew our own beer so if that's your thing we can do some batches together! We are also totally into baking our own bread, but never tried making our own kombucha (definitely keen to learn). When either Aaron or I need to go to the hostel for new arrivals, we may need you to organise dinner or look after our toddler for an hour or two.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Dutch: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
German: Beginner
French: Beginner
Accommodation
We don't have a spare room in our own home, but we thought it would be more fun for you to stay in our 6-bed mixed-dorm room in the hostel (for free of course!) to live among other travellers. If you are a enquiring as a couple, we can look at getting you a private room (pending availability).
What else ...
Too many things to mention, there are many outdoor activities (mountain biking, cross country, hiking, caving, boating, fishing). We have rivers, lakes, 90 mile beach. We literally can talk for hours about what is awesome in this region.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have unlimited wifi with really good signal anywhere in the hostel. Best spot to do some work in a quiet space would be downstairs in the dining area or outside on a bench surrounded by beautiful native scrub around the firepit. I work from home (fully remote) so happy to arrange something for you to work here if needed.
Space for parking camper vans
You can park your campervan at the hostel, but are still expected to stay in the accommodation (as accommodation provider we are not licensed to have people sleep in caravans/campervans etc).
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 2-3 hours a day, 5 days a week
