Profile information
Host rating
80 %
Last replied
4 Jun 2025
Feedback
19
Facebook verified
Email verified
Badges (4)
Details
Description
A bit of an update required here now that the world is pulling itself back together and we're all travelling again! Welcome back workawayers!
We travelled a lot and came back home to NZ to put down some roots around 14 years ago. We bought an old country hospital and are now living in it with the lions share of the work complete but would love a little help with the kids and some light duties about the house.... We live in a lovely part of the world with lots to do and enjoy.
As a new part of the Workaway scheme we need to spell out that it's only light duties about the house and not lots of work on the vineyard or in the winery. If you are interested in learning about these things we would love to teach you, my wife is the winemaker and I am the viticulturist.
Couples are great and we're happy to have you work together or apart if you prefer?!?
We grow almost all of our own vegetables for eating and our meat mostly comes from our farm, we are quite self sustainable and eat very well :)
Types of help and learning opportunities
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Typical rural Kiwi family, very inclusive, with lovely children that live in a wonderful part of the world with a great community!
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
The Hospital...
I am doing a fit-out/refurb of two buildings, turning them into homes, so there would be some occasional light duties to help me out occasionally.... the list is getting shorter slowly, but we keep adding to it too!! A competent handy(wo)man that has an eye for detail would be most welcome!
Kids...
Three awesome kids, Lucinda (14), Freddy (12), just nailed Dep. Head boy! at school 5 days a week and Amelie is 10 years old at school 5 days a week and very much full of positivity! We'd love the kids to learn some other languages and meet nice international people!
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Intermediate
Accommodation
A spare room in the house. Sunny with a big bed.
What else ...
You'll definitely need a drivers licence! We should be able to rustle up a car for you from time to time for your days off so you can go exploring, but, having your own car is preferred.
We're only 1 hour from Wellington by a lovely train that heads to the heart of the city.
About 45 minutes from the coast if you're into diving, it's awesome!, or 10-15 minutes from two lovely country towns with great pubs.
Some meals we would ask that you retire to your room (we will provide the food etc) just for everyone to have a little space as it's a tough time of the night to get kids into bed/stories/tired kids/tired parents etc but 9 times out of ten we'll have a nice meal together :)
Cheers!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We have off street parking with power available either at the vineyard or in town, or at the farm.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (14)
The food, and especially the wine is amazing!!!
They made me feel so welcome from the second I entered the house. Lucinda (the older girl) even made a special welcome video for me. So cool!
Work with Rusty on the Hospital renovation was great too. I had my own… read more
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Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(4.7)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
The food, and especially the wine is amazing!!!
They made me feel so welcome from the second I entered the house. Lucinda (the older girl) even made a special welcome video for me. So cool!
Work with Rusty on the Hospital renovation was great too. I had my own… read more
Good accommodation and good food.
All the Family is so welcoming, we spent great time with them. We should stay one week but stayed at least around two, as we felt so good with them. Kids are lovely and it was so cool to look after them. We worked in the vineyard and learned about it, but also about… read more
These guys extended a warm welcome and a lot of generosity to Courtney and I. We helped Rusty build some brick pillars, it was a lot of fun and Rusty was a good teacher. The lifestyle out in the Rapa is second to none! Can't speak highly enough of this… read more
The kids are great and lovely to be around. Rusty and Lisa have boundless drive and energy - they are a real inspiration - They are awesome to work with and it was great to… read more
To prospective hosts... Mark was polite and helpful at home both with the everyday household life and engaging with the kids. Charming and polite is how I would describe our Mark and a great worker that… read more
The… read more
We had a great time with you mate and the kids miss you, Lucinda still speaks about you and still practises the french you taught her :)
Hope to see you again sometime my friend.
Rust, Lilly + 3
All the family are so nice, the children are lovely, the food and the wine great !!!
It was my first workaway experience and thanks to rusty and lisa I really want to try others experiences.
I hope to see you in France one day !!!
Happy travels and all the best, we will come to visit with all of the gang sometime.
Cheers!
We received the best welcoming ever!!!
We spent one week with them and it was too short! Lisa and Rusty are really two LOVELY people and their kids are AMAZING. It was a real pleasure to play with them.
All the family showed an interest about us. They are open minded and keen to discover… read more
<3 julia
Happy travels mate and I hope to see you again,
Rusty, Lilly and the kids.
I was able to see and learn so many things. Its a really beautiful place there and all of them were so friendly.
I helped out at the old hospital. Its a huge project and i am looking forward to see it finished in the future.
I wish all of you just the best :-)
Best regards, Niklas
