Join our multicultural family and experience the local culture in Ōtaki, New Zealand

Details

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  Description

  We are a multilingual patchwork family who once called the UK home—until we decided to sell (nearly) everything we owned and travel the world with an open-ended adventure in mind. When we arrived in New Zealand, we fell in love with the country and its people and decided to stay!
  
  Currently, we’re renting a home in the beautiful and sunny town of Ōtaki, but our dream is to one day have our own property with a thriving food forest. As unschoolers, we embrace curiosity-driven learning and spend as much time outdoors as possible. With rivers, mountains, and the beach right on our doorstep, we’re truly spoiled for choice when it comes to nature and adventure!
  Ōtaki might be a small town but has an amazing community, there is always something going on from weekly markets with fresh local produce to local festivals like the famous kite festival, matariki celebrations and so much more.
  Nau mai, haere mai!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Teaching

  Gardening

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Farming

  

  Charity work

  

  Technology

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Events & social

  

  Culture

  

  Sustainability

  

  Self development

  

  Art & design

  

  Music

  

  Plant care

  

  History

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Blogging

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Gardening

  

  Photography

  

  Languages

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Water sports

  

  Nature

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Hiking

  

  Mountain

  

  Beach
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Social Activities & Community Connection
  We love creating opportunities for Workawayers to connect with our family, and the local community. Whether it's sharing meals, exploring local events, or enjoying outdoor activities, we aim to make your stay enriching and social. You can join us for casual gatherings, play sessions with our child, board game nights, come along when we go geocaching or even group outings to parks, markets, and cultural events. If you stay long enough there is plenty to get involved with locally! We truly understand that travelling can be exhausting so if you want to sleep-in or need a rest day - we understand that, too!
  
  Skills & Knowledge We Can Share
  We are happy to share our experience in homeschooling, language learning, and unschooling methodologies. If you're interested in child-led education, we can offer insights into how we facilitate learning through play and exploration. We also enjoy cooking, crafting, and outdoor activities, and we’re happy to teach or exchange skills in these areas. We travelled open-ended, living out of just 4 suitcases for quite some time so can share lots of knowledge there :) Additionally, we have access to great resources for language learning, and we'd love to help you improve your English, German, French or Mandarin Chinese.
  
  What We Hope to Learn
  By hosting people from different cultures, we hope to gain fresh perspectives, discover new traditions, and exchange ideas. We are especially excited to learn about different educational approaches, unique cultural practices, traditional recipes, or any creative skills you bring along. Every Workawayer brings something special, and we love the opportunity to grow, connect, and share experiences together.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We are looking for someone who will slot into family life. The work varies by season and days but to give an idea what we need help with
  
  **Child Care**
  Our 5-year-old is homeschooled and attends play sessions all mornings during term time. We follow an unschooling/Freilerner approach, allowing her interests to guide her learning rather than following a fixed curriculum.
  
  We are aspiring to raising her to be at least trilingual. Her strongest language is English, which she learns naturally from her surroundings. She is also learning German and Mandarin Chinese and has shown a strong interest in Te Reo. Ideally, you would be a native speaker of one of these languages and could engage with her through conversation, board games, and activities to help improve her fluency. We do not follow the one person one language approach so you can absolutely speak a mix of languages here and can expect to hear that, too.
  
  Beyond languages, we would love for you to share any passion or skill with her in the afternoons. This could be cooking a specific dish, knitting, crafting, playing a musical instrument, teaching a new card game, or exploring any subject in depth. We have access to great local libraries and can print learning materials at home. If you have something specific in mind, let us know, and we can organise resources.
  
  She is especially eager to learn how to skateboard and surf and has a strong interest in art!
  
  Our 17 year old is in high school and does his own things, he is usually more away than at home.
  
  **Cooking**
  We are not following a specific diet other than being lactose free, but we try to move completely away from ultra-processed ingredients. We cook daily fresh meals which are a good mix of cuisines. We love learning about new recipes and would love if you can take over some cooking.
  
  **Food processing**
  Depending on the season we are canning, dehydrating etc what nature provides. We definitely can use help here and would also love to hear your favourite recipes. We are happy to teach you all we know and learnt about preserving.
  
  **Gardening**
  Weeding, mowing lawn, pruning bushes, look after the wormfarm, harvest, plant and care for veggies and herbs
  
  **Cleaning**
  Standard household tasks we don't get to like windows, wiping kitchen cupboards etc
  
  **Processing firewood**
  We help friends in their off-grid forest home to prune back trees and get to keep the firewood in return. If you are after working in native NZ bush and taking down trees, splitting wood etc this is for you!

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent
  French: Fluent
  Chinese (Mandarin): Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  Our family language is English, but we are happy to communicate in any of the other languages listed and of course teach you as they are our native languages and equally introduce you into parts of our cultures and more.
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  Accommodation

  You’ll have your own private room in our home, featuring a comfortable double bed that can sleep two people. Our main family space is an open-plan kitchen, dining, and living area, but we also have a separate lounge with a kitchenette where you can relax away from the family if you’d like. This space also has a sofa bed, which can accommodate another person or two children.
  
  If needed, we can add a single mattress on the floor in the bedroom or borrow a travel cot if you're traveling with kids and prefer to sleep in the same space.
  
  The downstairs bathroom is shared during the day but will be yours exclusively in the evening and at night. It includes a toilet, sink, and a shower over the bath.
  
  If you're traveling in a van or motorhome, parking on the roadside is no problem! We’ve previously hosted worldschoolers and couchsurfers this way, and it has worked out well.

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  What else ...

  We have no pets and are non-smokers, and we prefer non-smoking Workawayers. We are unfortunately not able to host pets.
  
  We have a stable and reliable internet connection, perfectly suited for streaming, video calls etc.
  
  We hope to share meals and usually eat at a minimum dinner together as a family. We will cover the cost of meals for our workawayers.
  
  Our location offers the perfect balance of nature and accessibility. We are about an hour’s drive from both Wellington and Palmerston North. While the train only stops here twice a day, Waikanae train station is just a 10-minute bus ride away, offering regular connections to the capital for around $5.
  We can pickup guests easily in Waikanae. Every Friday morning, we are in Wellington and can combine this with a pick-up from there.
  The InterCity busses stop in Ōtaki on request, which is a great way to arrive as well.
  
  We’re surrounded by stunning landscapes—beautiful beaches are only a 10-minute drive away, and the Tararua Ranges provide incredible tramping/hiking opportunities. For nature lovers, Kāpiti and Mana Islands are must-visit wildlife reserves, showcasing some of New Zealand’s most spectacular ecosystems.
  
  We warmly welcome families (also single parents), and individuals from all backgrounds. As LGBTQIA+ allies, we strive to create a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for everyone.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have plenty areas to sit (or stand) while working at a PC and have good reliable connection. 9am to 2pm are usually very quiet as only one of us is at home while the other is out with Miss 5 year old.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We live in a quiet cul de sac so not much traffic and parking is free everywhere with space to park up on the road in front of the house or on the driveway for shorter vehicles.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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