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18 Feb 2025
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Description
Help on an Australian Rare Breeds Hobby Farm in Bonville, NSW, midway between Sydney and Brisbane , only 8km to Coffs Harbour. Get up close and enjoy the company of some very friendly miniature goats, alpacas, sheep, highland cow's, chickens, ducks, emu's (currently also a baby emu) cockatoo, tawny frog-mouth, and German shepherd dogs.
If you fancy a week or so in paradise on your travels then this is the place for you.Types of help and learning opportunities
Art Projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Our place is a rare breeds hobby farm, sustainable from paddock to plate. and practicing permaculture methods in our gardening. We care about the environment.
Originating from the UK we have been living on the Mid-North Coast for nearly 16 years. Both professionals in the OH&S and power industry.
We have natural native bee hives and an abundance of wildlife around us. I'm also a carer for WIRES, so you never know what native animal may be in care when you arrive! Willing to offer some limited advice on native wildlife care.Help
Always weeding! Help varies depending on the time of year, I prefer to discuss any projects personally before arrival. But in general work can be anything from, painting, fencing, weeding, house duties, digging up reeds in paddocks, picking up sticks in paddocks, building animal pens, renovating animal pens and sheds, cleaning windows, jet washing, dog training, emu training, car detailing.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
Accommodation, shed purposely built 1 bed apartment. Kitchenette and bathroom.
Before arriving we like to discuss meals, and will stock the apartment with your 'in season' dietary requirements. We will also do shared meals on some days work / covid/flu/colds permitting.
Depending on your skills, we also offer a 15 hour week where you provide all of your own food, as suggested by workaway and in keeping with inflation.What else ...
Bonville is a beautiful town on the mid north coast of New South Wales, Australia. Only 8km away from Coffs Harbour. In the waters off Coffs Harbour Marina is the Solitary Islands Marine Park, home to abundant wildlife, seasonal whales and coral reefs. Just east is the Muttonbird Island Nature Reserve, with its large population of wedge-tailed shearwater birds and learning centre. The perfect spot to venture out and explore Dorrigo, Bellingen, The Promised Lands, and secret tucked away beach's such as Tuckers Rock.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
We have a decent wi-fi connection for those who might need to do some work from home
Space for parking camper vans
Room to park a camper-van
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Feedback (40)
Working task were very fair and flexible, and the surroundings and animals are all beautiful it was a pleasure to be… read more
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Cultural exchange:
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Working task were very fair and flexible, and the surroundings and animals are all beautiful it was a pleasure to be… read more
We had plenty of free time and time to explore the area. The accommodation is fantastic, everything you need is available. When Janine found out that we were looking for work, she didn't hesitate to ask her friends, and we are… read more
Tom was amazing around the property, helping Jon in many areas, and always just picking up a tool and getting on with it, he went above… read more
I thank all my angels for sending us Janine! And John of course, the loveliest couple who helped us begin our working holiday in Australia.
Tom and I arrived in December with little planning nor prior knowledge of the country and Janine helped us with just about everything,… read more
Matt would be a marvelous addition to any house hold, fully recommend.
I helped with some landscaping and… read more
I spent some great days at Janine’s house! They really are like a great holiday in which you have your own space (overlooking your new friends emus, alpacas...), a fridge always full of food and a bike available to tour the area
The work was never much (oh Janine, I felt guilty for not… read more
However the time we spent with Janine and her family was lovely. Janine is very welcoming and gives you lots of information on things to do and places to see and lots of time to go and explore.
You can complete… read more
She is an easy going and very generous person. She was very careful that we lacked nothing. She even took us to the beach around her place, that was very lovely.
The apartment where we lived is comfortable. We really enjoyed spending time with her animals, all very kind.
During our time here we have… read more
This is a piece of Aussie paradise, mountain ranges as a back drop, a gorgeous garden and amazing animals everywhere you look. You get your own flat, to the side of the main house,… read more
First of all, Janine is one of the kindest person we have ever met. She did everything to make us feel happy, confortable, smily !
Our help-work consisted of weeding, gardening, painting… it was really peaceful and a pleasure to be in this beautiful property. Janine always offered us to go for a… read more
I… read more
She gave us everything we needed and showed us around. Even though it rained a lot, she made sure that we could see as much of Coffs Harbor as possible. But not only that, she included us in her family. We played with her granddaughter, her son taught us how to play pool and we had… read more
They both enjoy baking, and made some yummy banana bread. The girls helped out with weeding, planting, animals and housework. So much rain prevented a lot of paddock work, but they were still happy to garden and pull weeds. They stripped out a few areas for me to… read more
Great conversations, super friendly, and always ready to help with a smile, got along great with our dog (German shepherd) who still thinks she's a puppy!
Highly recommend this… read more
The apartment they offer to volunteers is very nice, comfortable and… read more
I had such a great time helping out in the garden and setting up for a Hen Do, it was such fun.
They are so friendly and helpful, Janine showed me all the local places to go and gave me advice on what to do in the area.
It was so relaxed and easy to do the work around my plans.
So many… read more
I highly recommend this workaway!
She worked so hard on my veggie patch making sure all weeds were removed down to the roots, it's made an amazing difference. Respectful, private and diligent, would love for her to return one day. Best of luck in Bellow and your studies
A real fun couple to hang out with, and killer bar tenders, our cocktail party was a… read more
We stayed in a supernice house with our own kitchen and bathroom. Janine would fill our fridge and we'd cook for us.
As they have a huge property there is always something to do. We stayed for around a week. Our jobs were in and around the garden, nothing too hard. Janine and Jon would always make… read more
The accomodation was our own flat with a kitchen, toilet, TV and nice bed which was really comfortable which we thought was very nice of them to give us our own private area
Some of the animals they have are chickens,… read more
Our work was most of the time weeding and other jobs in the garden and a bit of painting. They are very flexible in the working hours and always made sure that we don't have the work in the heat! The apartment is unbelievable and Janine is a great cook. We… read more
They didn’t ask for a lot of work, just enough to help them and it was a pleasure to do it. They have so much more that… read more
In the mornings we did some gardening, weeding or cleaning and in the afternoons we were able to explore the Coffs Harbour region. Janine took us to a couple of her favorite spots… read more
Daytime included some work and in the afternoons we made ourselves a good time, had nice chats and swims in… read more