Stay in our paradise home and enjoy the local culture in Victoria, Canada

Details

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  Description

  We live in an actual paradise in North Saanich on the peninsula of Sidney on Vancouver Island. We are close to parks, John Dean Park is in our backyard and is a great spot to go hiking.
  
  We love to garden, we keep bees so we have lots of flowers, we have a pond with fish, loads of fruit trees, vegetable garden, a little Butchart gardens, which we live near as well.We have 3 cats and 3 dogs however we would only leave cats to be with a pet sitter. Our dogs are too attached to us and too old to create stress for them.
  
  Our cats are 2 senior girls (Black panthers) and Marmalade is our new one year old brindle tortie. We have a few camping trips booked this year and would love to have someone here to keep the kitties loved but to also make sure the garden gets watered. We do have a drip irrigation but some of it still needs to be turned on manually and potted plants and baskets need watering. There is always dead heading to do so if you like to garden this is your spot.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Help around the house

  House sitting
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  Interests

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Plant care

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Art & design

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Camping
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We live near Sidney where there is a great farming and arts culture. Street markets run through the summer months. Local artists, breweries, local produce, musicians and food trucks. Saanich Fair is on the Sept long weekend and is a big event. Burchart Gardens is close along with Butterfly World. Close to hiking in John Dean Park and not far from the beach at Island View and Sidney. Bus routes easily managed in this area. Kieran was a chef and a karate sensei for many years. I was a Dr. of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture. We are both retired, love to grow and cook our own food. Don't eat much meat other than the fish Kieran catches (when fishing with my brother). Love our animals and plan our days around them. Stay fit by going to the local rec centre (down the road) and pool and hiking with the dogs. He eat healthy and stay fit with dog walking, hiking and gardening.

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  Help

  General gardening and yardwork, pet sitting of 3 cats and light housework. We have a lovely flowering garden, we keep bees and have a raised bed vegetable garden. As well as many fruit trees and rhododendrones.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  Sorry we only speak English but would love to learn Italian
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  Accommodation

  We have a (student) room all set up for long term stays with a single bed, dressers, desk. We also have a room with a queen bed, dresser, nightstand which is better for a couple.
  
  We can provide three meals a day. We feed our guests well and are both excellent cooks. We usually cook for our guests but welcome having another person cooking for us. We have had people who want to cook for themselves and that is great too. Sharing their culture. We provide the food of course. We are open to whatever works.
  We are mostly vegetarian for health reasons, ethical and financial.

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  What else ...

  Victoria and the Sidney areas are full of festivals, music events and markets all summer long. There are so many great things to do and see, beaches, lakes, hiking trails, as well as the tourist things like whale watching, Butchart Gardens etc. We are near a main bus line that goes downtown to Victoria.

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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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  Space for parking camper vans

  We normally have my brother's RV and boat here for the winter so we have lots of room in the summer (when he isn't keeping his stuff here). We have 1/2 acre and room for many vehicles.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We are fine with dogs as long as they respect the cats and don't chase. Our dogs are 13 years, 12 years and 2 years old. The older dogs are sedentary but get walks everyday, one is blind. The younger girl is very friendly with dogs, nervous around people but warms us eventually. All 3 are ChowChow rescues and are NOT vicious. Unfortunately there is very bad information out there about Chow's and pitties. We have had 9 and they have all been wonderful.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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