Profile information
Host is looking for help immediately
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
6 May 2025
Reply rate
61.3 %
Usually responds within 11 days
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Host offers payment
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Details
Description
Notice: Regarding the 'paid positions available' check box we have ticked:
We will sometimes consider an au pair style agreement for people who have strong skills in domestic help and child care, or possibly for other work that requires specialised skills, if we have an extra need and it's beyond the normal volunteer hours per week. But we usually host on a normal exchange basis of about 20 hours per week :)
I'm Andrea, from New Zealand and Australia, and my partner Gregor is originally from Austria. We're a travelling family, and when we're at home, we live Upper Austria, on the Krems river, in a small rural town south of Linz. Here we have a 2 storey house with a big backyard, as well as a workshop, barn, cellar, pool, and a small orchard and garden.
It's a beautiful region, very green, with lots of farms, organic food production, and hiking trails. We're on the train line and the bike trail, and there's a sports complex, playground, and BMX track next door. There are many small towns and villages nearby. It's 20 minutes drive to the mountains, and 25-35 minutes to nearby towns and cities of interest, like Steyr, Gmunden, and Linz.
Our projects include gardening and landscaping, house renovations, 'homesteading', and homeschooling projects, which can be almost anything. We would love your help if you have skills in gardening, handy work, childcare, or household help, like cleaning, tidying, folding clothes, and so on.
We hosted many volunteers in the past at our small community and permaculture farm in Australia, which is where most of our feedback is from.
One day we hope to find someone who wants to stay longer and travel around the world with us as an au pair or team educator :)
We homeschool our kids, who are 9, 7 and 5. We love to explore nature, do crafts, build, create, invent, and learn. This year we plan to do woodworking, harvest and fire wild clay, make the garden more beautiful, hike and camp, for starters ;)
For the childcare side of things, we look for people who are sensible, confident, fun and experienced with kids of that age, can keep them safe, and have good domestic skills. We love helpers who can see what needs doing, and tune in to the flow of the family. If you have skills like teaching, art, music, sports, or knowledge of child development, that's a bonus. We always take it slowly, and give time for everyone to get used to each other. Our kids are happy, friendly and playful. They will be shy for like 5 minutes ;) My partner or I will usually be nearby. Sometimes you might care for them by yourself, and sometimes we all do something fun together.
The details of the exchange are by negotiation. We are open to host travelling families like ourselves :)
Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Language practice
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Help with Computers/ Internet
Interests
Technology
Sustainability
Self development
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Farming
Culture
Writing
Plant care
Photography
Music
Languages
History
Gardening
Drawing & painting
DIY & crafts
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Books
Astronomy
Art & design
Yoga / Wellness
Outdoor activities
Nature
Hiking
Fitness
Dancing
Cycling
Camping
Beach
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will learn about life in a Kiwi-Aussie-Austrian bilingual family ;)
The main language in the house is English, and Gregor speaks German (Tyrolean dialect) with the children.
I am always interested in learning how to support children to thrive. I like to grow food, and make preserves and fermented foods like sauerkraut and kefir. I have a deep love of the natural environment and of learning about ecosystems and many other science topics, and have passed on to the kids my over-the-top rock collecting and interest in non human animals ;)
Gregor's interests include intermittent fasting, playing guitar and singing German songs with the kids, and 'meta politics' (ask him more!)
Our community project: We have taken a break from our project, but we hope to return to it in the future. We would like to live in an extended family or tribe to support each other in raising children, and give the kids (and adults) a different experience. If you are interested in how intentional communities form and work, and what the benefits might be, we can share our insights with you.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
When new helpers arrive, we spend the first few days getting to know each other and make sure it is a good fit for everyone. After this, we prefer helpers to stay with us for two weeks or longer, as we find this leads to a better experience.
We ask for your help 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. But we're happy to work out different arrangements if you prefer. We try to match the work with your skills and interests if possible. We value helpers who are proactive, enjoy contributing, and know how to get things done.
We provide all your food, except treats and alcohol (we are happy to pick them up for you though). We usually have dinner together and sometimes lunch, while breakfast is usually self serve. We have a mixed diet, and can cater to most diets including vegetarian, vegan, paleo, low carb, gluten free, dairy free.
We prefer non smokers, but if you do smoke, please let us know. Butts should be disposed of thoughtfully and please smoke away from the house.
We respect your privacy, but please tell us if you have any limitations that may affect your ability to contribute to our household.
We supply soap, shampoo, towel and wash cloth. Please bring all your other personal items, including clothes and shoes suitable for gardening, if you are coming to do some gardening with us :)
We want you to feel at home when you stay with us! You always welcome to talk to us about any questions or concerns. If you have particular needs or circumstances, please let us know before you arrive so that we can be sure we can accommodate you.
Languages
Languages spoken
German: Fluent
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
Italian: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
We all speak English. The kids speak German, some more, some less, but they understand everything. Andrea speaks basic Mexican Spanish, and has forgotten most of her Italian 😅 My (Andrea's) German is very basic, but I can speak more Spanish, and the others are starting to learn it too.
Accommodation
You will have your own bedroom in the house, with a comfortable bed and basic furnishings.
What else ...
Our house is on a long bike route that runs for many kilometres. It's possible we can lend you a bike :)
We are also 5 minutes walk from the train station, from where you can go to Linz and many other places.
See a rail map here:
See rail and bus route options here:
The nearest airport is in Linz, a major city, with lots to see and do, on the Danube river.
Other nearby centres are Steyr and Gmunden, both beautiful towns.
There are many towns and villages within 30 minutes drive, and each has various attractions.
There are lots of hiking trails in the region (check the Alltrails app,for example).
There are beautiful lakes nearby, like Traunsee, Attersee and Mondsee.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
We have space in our yard for tents or campers, or in the car park next to our house, by the river :)
Can possibly accept pets
By negotiation. We have a fully fenced yard, and we love child safe pets :)
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (11)
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Cultural exchange:
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