Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
10 Jun 2025
Reply rate
96.8 %
Usually responds within 12 days
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Details
Description
Hi workawayers!
We're looking forward to meeting you :)
About us: We are a writer and architect with a girl of 14 and boy of 9, who live in a (mostly) renovated old house overlooking the sea on Waiheke Island, just 35 minutes by ferry from downtown Auckland. We are extremely well-travelled (50+ countries) and welcome people of all cultures and outlooks, and workawayers from any country, culture or religion are welcome to enquire about staying with us.
11 years ago we moved here from Auckland city to enjoy a more fulfilling way of life, and be as sustainable as possible. In the process, we became mostly vegetarian (and sometimes vegan). We grow some of our own vegetables and fruit organically but we don't grow as much as we'd like, so your help is appreciated with that. Climate change has made this harder!
Our 100-year-old house often needs repairs and maintenance, and we have a big garden so there is usually a project of some kind underway.
We love animals of all kinds and have a friendly dog, two cats, some free-range chickens, + lots of native wildlife inhabiting our garden. We also have two ponies who live a short way from us (we don't have enough land on Waiheke for them to live on our own land).
In general, we are looking for either 1 or 2 workawayers to help with a variety of work such as cleaning/housework, gardening, painting and possibly building work depending on your skills. We are also interested to host you if you are an experienced horse rider who can teach, to help the kids improve their skills, or someone experienced with young horses who is interested in doing groundwork with our 3yo pony (he is an ex-wild horse (Kaimanawa), mustered in April 2024), as the horses take up a lot of our time!
For longer stays, we usually prefer people with existing skills such as horseriding/building/carpentry/plumbing/ roofing and gardening/landscape experience (especially those who can use machinery such as mowers and weed trimmers) - so make sure you tell us if you have those skills when you apply.
Waiheke is a beautiful island with lots of wineries, green spaces, bushwalks and wonderful beaches. Dolphins and orca (killer whales) are sometimes seen around the island (in winter especially) and we have lots of native birds. There is a friendly local community and lots of places to do yoga - in fact, Waiheke's main yoga centre is just 5 minutes walk from us :) with fantastic yoga and meditation classes available.
Our house is a historic old house with a close-up beautiful view over the water at Anzac Bay. We are close to a main bus route, so you can easily explore the island or get to the ferry to go into the city. You won't need a car to explore most of the island. We also have kayaks you can take out on days when the weather is good.
Your room will be a separate garden studio (with comfy queen size bed) - so you won't be woken by children in the mornings on your days off!
All meals are included in your stay.
Dinner is eaten together, while breakfast and lunch is on a 'help yourself to items provided' basis.
No smokers please. We eat mostly vegetarian and sometimes vegan food for ethical and environmental reasons, with the very occasional bit of fish (around once a month). If you are vegetarian we will eat fully vegetarian food while you are here; if you are vegan we will eat a mixture of vegan and vegetarian food - you might need to make your own vegan option on occasion. (We usually use plant-based milks and yoghurt anyway and usually only sheep cheese, but sometimes use eggs – however, we do not buy commercial eggs but only use eggs from our own happy very free-range hens (note that between May and early July they do not lay as their bodies take a well-deserved winter break.)
We are flexible about workawayer(s) also doing a little part-time paid work in the time you are not helping us, because there is a lot of casual work available on Waiheke especially over spring and summer. (Hospitality (cafe/restaurant/barista), vineyard work, gardening, retail, babysitting, cleaning, building.) We can also support you to find a job.
Also – at the end of 2022 we (with some friends) bought 29 hectares of beautiful ex-farmland north of Auckland – we are planning to regenerate it with native forest and started planting the first trees in May 2023. If you are a single person staying with us for more than 2 weeks, we will probably spend one weekend (2 days) up on the land either camping or staying in a local cabin, planting trees and/or removing weeds. There is already some forest on the land and a stream running through it with a beautiful waterfall. Sorry we can't take couples up to this as you won't fit in our car!
If you want to be involved in this eco-restoration project please tell us so we can plan to involve you in it :) If you don't like to work outdoors in nature (and maybe in the rain) then it's probably not for you. (Work/helping times on this project is more on a volunteer basis and will probably be longer than the days at our home, but of course you will be helping to offset your own travel to New Zealand by doing it - so the planet benefits :)
Workawayers usually stay between 1-3 weeks with us, depending on their skills and the time of year.
Right now we find we do not have enough projects for longer stays.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Charity Work
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Teaching
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
House sitting
Interests
Charity work
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Vegetarian or vegan
Sustainability
Self development
Culture
Carpentry
Drawing & painting
Writing
Cooking & food
Gardening
Languages
Photography
Music
Plant care
DIY & crafts
Books
Art & design
Architecture
Animals
Sailing / Boating
Water sports
Outdoor activities
Beach
Cycling
Hiking
Yoga / Wellness
Nature
Camping
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
You will experience everyday life in a New Zealand family in a non-city environment, practise your English (if you are a non-native speaker), and learn about a variety of things, such as sustainability, gardening and cooking. Note that we are actively working to reduce our carbon footprint and prefer workawayers who are interested and motivated to be sustainable as possible.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
For single workawayers, a lot of the help will be gardening and cleaning help, with some cooking, animal care, activities with the kids, and general help around the house. There may be an occasional art project (with the kids or mural to be created). Workawayers experienced with horses are welcome especially if you can teach (Ludo is learning to rise to the trot, Pia can do low jumps). (If you are small and light (under 55kg) and an experienced rider, you may also be able to occasionally ride one of our ponies.) Or if you are experienced with young horses, we have a very cute and funny 3yo ex-wild pony.
If you are 2 people, additional chores will include more gardening, painting, and possibly building, depending on your skills.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
French: Beginner
Italian: Beginner
Swedish: Beginner
Accommodation
Your room will be a private, comfortable guest studio in the garden (so you can sleep in on your days off without noise from the kids :-)
What else ...
Workawayers staying with us will get lots of English language experience - especially from our chatty kids, and I have also worked as an English language tutor so can offer you help too. You can also learn about organic gardening, sustainability and cooking.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Happy to have digital nomads stay and help, in between doing their work.
Space for parking camper vans
We have space for a campervan (but you don't need to sleep in it! :)
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (35)
They cooked a delicious… read more
We've hosted workawayers now for almost 11 years and although we've had so many positive experiences, there will always be a few workawayers who we're especially grateful… read more
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
They cooked a delicious… read more
We've hosted workawayers now for almost 11 years and although we've had so many positive experiences, there will always be a few workawayers who we're especially grateful… read more
Susan always made sure we had everything we needed and had good… read more
She was also… read more
The work was varied and I enjoyed not only working in the… read more
They are such a loving and caring family and directly made me feel included in their home. It has been pure happiness to get the… read more
We loved share meal with them, fpotd, uno, listen the pia's stories about school and pony club. Hoping one day Ludo will like the "butternut cake" of Solène.… read more
In a word, super. :)
We appreciate all our workawayers, but some will always be more memorable to us than others.
These two were an absolute pleasure to have around: amazing attitudes, extremely responsible, very considerate, fantastic with the kids, always… read more
We hosted Noriko earlier this year and found her a wonderful help with many of the tasks we needed doing. She was happy to give anything a try, even if she had not done it before. We all got along very well and our son particularly enjoyed chatting to her kids (she even tried going on the trampoline with… read more
I learned so much about their sustainable lifestyle.
Every meal Susan cooked was delicious. It gave me a new appreciation for vegetarian meals!
Their adorable children, Pia and Ludo, are cheerful and smart, and I loved spending time with them.
My work… read more
She spent a month with us and became like a member of our family.
She has a fantastic attitude – positive, hard-working, and willing to learn. She was amazing with our two kids (9 and 5) – and always had time for them and their games. She's also really interesting to talk to… read more
Thank you for an amazing 1 month and Coromandel trips for 4 days.
I already miss them actually....😢
I planned to stay for 3 weeks but it turned out 1 month.
During my stay, they took me to Coromandel where I really wanted to go, and celebrated my birth day!!
I never forget the time with them...
They… read more
Jerome and Susan made us very welcome from the get go, their… read more
Ged and Laraine are among the creme-de-la-creme of workawayers, coming with a vast amount of life experience and high level of skill. As other reviews have said, hosts should not be put off by their age (we weren't, as they are only 15 years older than us!), as they are thoroughly capable of pretty much anything.
We were… read more
We can strongly recommend this host.
Thanks so much!
They are really welcoming and they make you feel part of the family. I felt like home !
The job is quite cool, I have been doing some gardening, cleaning and I was… read more
He is thoroughly energetic and thinks about the task he's doing, as well as how he can possibly improve it - which is why we now have a much drier firewood store! Our garden certainly saw the benefit of having Brett around!
We had some interesting… read more
It was a testament to their warm and friendly… read more
Both of them are proactive, motivated and hard workers, who are willing to take on whatever job needs doing, with enthusiasm and initiative. They are an intelligent and friendly couple who have a natural affinity with children and animals, so despite their short… read more
They are capable, hard-working, mature, trustworthy, responsible and very caring people who we would recommend 100% if you are considering them for a workaway placement.
Carl's electrician skills come in very… read more
We enjoyed the food too. Susan is a very good good cooker.
The work is not hard, it's different every day (collect eggs, collect fire wood,… read more
Pia is just fantastic, so intelligent and imaginative. I loved listening to her… read more
Work is varied and very fair, food was amazing and our accommodation was fab! We were very well looked after. A really wonderful Workaway experience :)
Susan, Jerome, Pia and Ludo are a lovely family and we shared good times with them.
The job is mostly easier, some gardening, house cleaning and childcare.
Susan is a fabulous cooker !
Thanks for all !
See you soon.
They were very warm, considerate and willing to tell me how to enthejoy Waiheke, so I could have a lot of fun there.
I've got so many things to say, how delicious the meal Susan cooked is, or a very beautiful scenery which Jerome showed me by taking drive.
And their… read more
I felt like a member of the family and I got really attached to Pia. Looking after her was like looking after a little sister. She's an awesome little girl, I really liked spending time with her!
I enjoyed every single day there,… read more
Thank you for the great time!
I had an excellent stay at their place. Susan and Jerome are really welcoming, friendly, kind and well-travelled people, with an absolute adorable and lovely daughter ( and of course all the animals) During this time i felt more like a family member, then anything else.
Susan is an excellent chef… read more
Susan, Jerome and Pia are a very welcoming family. (do not forget Lian, Sam, Cauliflower and Broccoli !) They moved in only last summer 2014 in a lovely house with a great sea view from the garden. They are planning many refurbishments in the house so I suppose your help will be well appreciated in… read more
