New Zealand
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I have a beautiful and picturesque small sheep farm (50 acres) located near Darfield, and am located about 45 mins from the edge of Christchurch. The farm house is a 4 bedroom Victorian style period villa with lots of character and wonderful views. Some of the land is leased out, but I farm on the remaining 20 acres. I have 40 sheep who are very friendly, all have names and their own stories to tell. I also have 1 horse and a pony, lots of free range chickens, 2 goats, 2 dogs and a cat, all of who are friendly and love attention. There is also a large vegetable garden, a young fruit orchard, a couple of farm buildings and a river that runs through the farm.
Celia (a solo Mum) works 5 days a week (from home) providing support for Doctors and Medical Centres, as well as running the farm, looking after the kids and everything else!
Leon (10) and Freya (7) both attend Darfield Primary school and play rugby and cricket for Darfield, go to hockey (turf not ice) training, have dance lessons (hip hop, jazz, ballet and acrobatics), attend gymnastics club and are learning to play the recorder. This is in-between spending most of their awake hours outside on their bikes and scooters, or getting wet in the river, or helping out on the farm!
DIY and building projects
Help with Eco Projects
Gardening
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
This would be the chance to experience a real kiwi rural family lifestyle. I can share my knowledge of farm skills, animal husbandry, gardening, environmental management, sustainable living and maintenance skills.
Helping us would mean you could become part of our household and family. Previous helpers remain in contact with us and some even plan to return to visit us on their next trip to NZ. We've made some wonderful friends through hosting our previous visitors, and we hope that you could become friends for life.
Please note that the NZ borders are closed for all travelers due to Covid-19. If you are not already in NZ, you will not be able to enter the country, and so I won't be able to host you. I do not know when the borders will be open again for travellers.
If you're already in NZ then please feel free to contact me.
I need help with the following....
-Help looking after the animals; dogs, cat, chickens, sheep and lambs.
-Farm and outside chores - for example: gardening, weed and bush clearing, stacking wood, landscaping, river management, fencing, sheep work, house and building maintenance. We never run out of chores outside the house!
-Help look after the horse and pony, but only if you are an experienced/competent horse person. Riding could be available too, but my horse (Polly) is fizzy and excitable, and is for advanced/confident riders only. She schools well and can jump quite nicely, and is lovely mare, but please don't overestimate your ability as she is not suitable for novice riders. I also ride English style, so western riders please take note!
-Basic help around the house (cleaning, vacuuming, washing etc)
-Cooking meals some days
The farm is quite isolated, but I am usually working at home during the day and we are all at home in the evenings and weekend, and then there are always the dogs to keep you company!
The help we need would be approx 20 hours each week....depending on what projects we have going on at the time.
So, if you want to stay with us and have access to family and farm life then this may be just what you need!
We would need you to:
-speak a fairly good standard of English
-be a non-smoker (100%)
-stay for a minimum of two weeks
If you are vegetarian this is not an issue, but you'd need to understand that our family will be eating meat, however I would not expect you to :-)
I am also fine to accommodate gluten free and Coeliac diets. Any other dietary requirements can be discussed but purchase of specialised foods would be the workawayers responsibility.
I have two (very friendly) dogs and a cat who live in the house too, so you need to be happy to have animals around you.
There is a daily (Mon-Fri) bus from Christchurch to Darfield if you have no transport of your own.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
This host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
Please contact them directly for more information.
Everything would be provided for you including fun, food, internet, washing machine, bikes, fresh air and mountain views!
You would have great company, lots of new experiences, a room to stay in and no living costs.
We are close to the mountains, Arthur's Pass, Castle Hill (features in Lord of the Rings & Narnia), Cave Stream, 2 Ski fields (Mount Hutt and Porters ski fields), Rakaia Gorge (Salmon fishing), Waimakariri Gorge (swimming place), local amenities at Darfield (big ice creams at the dairy, shops, library, post shop, mechanincs etc), and only an hour from Christchurch City centre.
NZ, and Canterbury specifically is the best place to live in the world!
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Unlimited WiFi from my mobile phone hot-spot, so when I'm out there's no Internet. I'm home most of the time though!
This host can provide space for campervans.
Two
20 hours per week, Monday - Friday.
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.9)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
