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29 Sep 2024
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Description
We are a smoke and drug free family of myself, my husband Richard, and currently our oldest daughter (22 years old) and sometimes her boyfriend living on a 35 acre property about 50 minutes out of Mackay, Queensland. Our youngest daughter Danielle (20 years old) lives in town but visits often. We eat a normal diet but can cater for vegetarians easily.
We also have as part of our family 3-4 large dogs (one lives with Danielle but often returns for spells at home), 1 small dog (miniature schnauzer), 2 inside cats, rabbits and birds. On the farm we have sheep, goats, alpacas, cows, farm dogs, chickens and pigs.
Jobs required would be feeding the farm animals, cleaning out cages, doing the simple fencing like mowing and spraying under fence lines to keep grass out of fence, getting electric fences to work, gardening, some house work when required. You are responsible for helping us with the dishes and keeping the house clean. You are welcome to have cuddles with the animals anytime, the farm ones once the two farm dogs know you.
Your accommodation is in our house, in your own room. You will be sharing the bathroom with my daughter. The toilet is separate from the shower. We are also on rain water so water is very important to us and not to be wasted, so you need to be water wise. You will have dinner with us to get to know us as a family and experience both New Zealand and Australian ways. We are New Zealanders living in Australia. We also provide breakfast and lunch but we often are all eating these two meals at different times from the rest of our family due to other commitments.
Our house is based just north of Mackay, in a town called Gargett, in North Queensland. We are on 35 acres, 50 minutes from town. There is no public transport near our house, so a car is preferable if you wish to go anywhere on your days off. In saying this someone goes into town most days so we would be able to take you in around work times.
There is lots to do around this area on your days or times off. You have Eungella, Finch Hatton Gorge, beaches, Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays all within a one to two hour drive.
We look forward to meeting you and learning more about your culture, and sharing ours. We have had in excess of 90 Workawayers from all areas of the world and love meeting new people.Types of help and learning opportunities
GardeningDIY and building projectsAnimal CareFarmstay helpCreating/ Cooking family mealsHelp around the houseGeneral MaintenanceUN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
We are New Zealanders living in Australia, so we have a mixed culture between the two countries. We are happy to help you improve your English, show you around as much as possible, and interact with you. You will learn a lot about looking after animals, and if you have any knowledge of this area I am always looking for ideas and to learn more myself.
Help
Tidying up the yards, raking poo and hay, and spreading it around gardens. Feeding animals twice daily, this takes about 30 minutes each time. There would be light house duties depending on the help needed.
You do need to be reasonably strong and healthy/fit, and be prepared to work outdoors. Jeans and boots is a must, but we do have gumboots here depending on your size feet.
I prefer someone with common sense and who can see what needs to be done. If unsure you are always best to ask rather than assume and get it wrong.
You will need closed in shoes, a rain coat for summer months as this is our wet season, and long sleeve pants and tops for being on the farm to protect from the sun, the long grass, spiders and snakes. Yes you are in Australia!!Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
Your own bedroom with a king bed, a shared bathroom and toilet with my daughter.
What else ...
When you have time off, close by is Eungella, Finch Hatton Gorge, Airlie Beach, the Whitsunday Islands, and several other beaches close by. Town is nearly an hour away.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
If you have your own van you want to park here there is heaps of room to do so. If you want to stay in it we can connect you to power.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week
Feedback (36)
Within my short stay at her lovely property/ farm, a lot was happening and my friend and I were never bored! She has the loveliest animals , which we were very happy to take care of!
During my short… read more
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Within my short stay at her lovely property/ farm, a lot was happening and my friend and I were never bored! She has the loveliest animals , which we were very happy to take care of!
During my short… read more
Karen is a caring, warm-hearted, funny and outgoing person. She saw what we did and appreciated it and made sure we're
ok. She is always happy for helping hands with feeding the… read more
They notice the work you do and they are t
gratful, it's really pleasant to work for them.
I recommand their… read more
The tasks we did were not too hard and included for example… read more
From the first moment we were treated phenomenally, the tasks to be carried out are simple and entertaining, we always had a lot of freedom.
The house is very nice and our room had everything we needed. Karen was with us most of the time but also trusted us to leave us alone while she… read more
My first day of work was already on the road with Port Douglas as our last stop, second week down south in Rockhampton and back to the North on the third week!
It sounds like a lot but I honestly really enjoyed travelling with Karen, we… read more
All the best with the rest of your travels.
Please feel… read more
The traveling farm is amazing and you will learn a lot by working with Karen.
Thanks to everyone for this (too) short stay and I wish you all the best!
François
We were most of the time away with Karen to work but their house in Mackay and the atmoshere over there is really good, even if you stay in the caravan… read more
Taylor stayed with us for a lot longer than originally planned on Workaway as she loved it here and we fitted into each others needs and wants perfectly. I think we reminded her of home, crazy, busy, mad, frustrating, fun, loving, and so much… read more
Thanks so much for coming to stay with us. I really appreciated your help over the time you were with us, and am sorry we never got to spend much time together. I am pleased you felt comfortable to talk to me about your feelings and our work in the public, and I am happy that we came to the arrangement we did for you to stay on and… read more
Thanks for your time guys, I appreciate what you did for me and helping me out. All the best with your travels and stay… read more
I really liked the work with all the animals and I experienced a lot.
We did a lot of Travelling so I saw a few different places in Australia what was awesome. It was nice to see different schools, Childcare and shows, just the perfect job for me.
Karen and her family definitely makes me feel like home. It was… read more
We loved the work with the animals and living with them on their farm.
Karen is super busy but still made sure that we were all good and we really appreciated that!
It was an absolutely amazing experience and we would recommend it to anyone!
Thanks for having us again and good… read more
Everyone worked really well, the… read more
Karen runs a traveling farm and there is always something that needs doing. The work was interesting and different from… read more
we really enjoyed our time there. the… read more
We really enjoyed our time with her, even though it was short. She made us laugh and was very easy going.
I wish you all the best for the future and hopefully we… read more
Chiara works really hard at anything put in front of her and does really well on long days with me and the… read more
Thank you for staying with us for the short time you were available. It was lovely to meet you and I am really happy you did manage to stay with us for some time. You were a great help at home with the house and the children, they loved you. You did a fantastic job at school with the animals and all the classes, it was a huge… read more
Karen is a superwoman busy, she does really well and she would deserve some rest ! She takes care of everybody (if you… read more
It was no worries at all to try and help you out, and I didn't mind driving you into town, it was the least I could do to… read more
Unfortunately my stay was cut very short (life happens) and I ended up leaving on a day that happened to be very busy and chaotic for Karen but she didn't even get upset with me, in fact she still took the time to talk to me and drive me… read more
Thank you both for staying with us, it was an absolute pleasure to get to know you both. You both fitted into our family perfectly, and were great with our two girls, animals, and were fantastic while we were travelling with all the babies. I know they were long days while working away, and you both were so very helpful I… read more
I just wanna thank you and your family for having me just like I'm part of you. I enjoy the trips that we went on and the take away that we had while we were driving home.
You're lucky to have your two girls, they are absolutely beautiful and caring.
and the animals are just so cute and I hope they're all doing fabulous.
Take care… read more
I enjoyed our laughs while on the road Mary, it was much fun travelling with you.
You fitted in well… read more
Thank you so much for your time and effort while you were staying with us for a month. It was lovely meeting you and we really appreciated your time and effort in fitting in with our family, and getting to know you. Thank you for travelling with me to all different places, working with my baby animals, and being so great with the… read more
Thank you for staying with us for nearly three weeks, it was lovely meeting you. Thank you so much for your help in tidying up the yard, bathing the animals, coming to work with me, and helping in the house. We enjoyed your company and our talks in the car while I was driving were good. Good luck with your ventures and new experiences.… read more
Thank you for staying with us for nearly a month over Christmas, your birthday and New Years. It was great having you in our house and part of our family. I am pleased we got to celebrate these times with you.
I really appreciated your time and hard work. It was great travelling with you all those distances with the animals, having… read more