Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
23 Feb 2025
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 4 days
Feedback
14
Email verified
Badges (3)
Details
Description
Welcome to New Zealand. I hope it is not too cold for you. We have a couple of openings for Workaway guests this winter from mid June.
We are a retired couple and we live 1km outside of Waihi town on a 1.2 hectare (4 acre) property with a stream running through it. Our garden has a small native forest, two large ponds /wetlands, fruit trees and a citrus orchard, flower gardens and extensive organic vegetable gardens. We live in a newly built 3 bedroom house and we have a stand-alone building which is our B&B. We welcome workaway guests to stay in the B&B when it is off season. We love to cook and we are comfortable with all cultures. We speak English, of course, and Japanese fluently and little bits of other languages. Much of the food we eat comes directly from our land and our hens provide us with eggs all year. The garden is a beautiful place to work and play in and there are many wonderful beaches, walks, and cycle tracks very close by. The Waihi Gold Mine pit-rim walk is about 2 minutes walk from our house.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Interests
Sustainability
Books
Languages
Gardening
Cooking & food
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Hiking
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We work in the garden and eat together with our guests so they can benefit from lots of English practice and fun learning all the 'garden language' we use every day. We can teach Japanese language and Japanese written script (kanji), ikebana (Japanese flower arranging) , cooking, seed-raising and general gardening skills, care of hens etc.
The area we live in has strong gold-mining history which is very interesting, and in fact the stream that runs through our property was the first place gold was found in Waihi.
Help
Welcome 2025 Workawayers.
This year we have a couple of big projects:
1) clearing invasive weeds and tidying a waterway on the northern edge of our property, and
2) working to clean up our fenceline which borders an unkempt council property.
We are looking for a fit, energetic and hard-working couple to help us with these jobs as well as some general gardening work. Some heavy lifting may be necessary.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Japanese: Fluent
Italian: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We are language teachers and are interested in the study of linguistics. We enjoy interacting with non-native English speakers
Accommodation
We have lovely B&B type accommodation which can sleep 4 people. It is fully furnished with full kitchen facilities. We will cook all meals for our guests. We are also happy to share cooking if our guest would prefer.
What else ...
We have extensive knowledge of our local area and it has beaches, mountains, gorges, gold mining history, antique and collectables shops, lots of cafes and restaurants and there are two reasonably large cities just over 1 hour away by car. There are some really great hiking tracks nearby.
There is not much public transport in our small town, so you will need a car for your independence, but buses do go to and from the main cities like Auckland and Tauranga. We have an electric bicycle which we can make available for our guests.
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 in both our B & B and our house and have basic computer repair skills.
Space for parking camper vans
We have space for a large motorhome to park for an extended length of time. We are happy to share facilities and to cook for anyone using a motorhome
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (6)
In addition, they are really interesting, funny people, wonderful cooks and gardeners!
The work was very diverse and fair, and we really appreciated to see the… read more
Photos
Feedback
These are extra optional ratings when members leave feedback. The average rating left for each option is displayed.
Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
In addition, they are really interesting, funny people, wonderful cooks and gardeners!
The work was very diverse and fair, and we really appreciated to see the… read more
Their garden is a lovely place that they have put much time and effort into. We got to do different tasks and jobs almost everyday and their completion always felt really rewarding. Both of us were able… read more
