Be part of our household and share family life in Cedar Brush Creek, Australia

Details

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  Description

  My name is Sarah and I live here with my husband Shaun, our nine year old daughter, who is at the local school during the week, and Shaun's fourteen year old son, who is with us every second week. We live on 150 acres of bushland in the Yarramalong Valley, about an hour and a half north of Sydney. There is a creek, walking tracks, and a lot of quiet. Our nearest cafe is fifteen minutes away in Yarramalong and the closest town (Tuggerah) about thirty five.
  
  We share the place with cats, geese, chickens, bees and two dogs, three when Shaun's son is here with his. Shaun and I run a lighting business, though that sits entirely separate from life here and no helper is ever involved in it.
  
  What we enjoy most about hosting is having other people around the table. Between us we are a real mix. I am German, Shaun is South African with a Dutch mother, and my stepson's mother has Italian family. My daughter and I speak German at home alongside English, and we like the way a household changes when someone new brings their own cooking, music and way of seeing things into it.
  
  We are looking for people who want to be part of a household rather than pass through it, who will learn a few things and teach us a few things, and share the load of a working rural property while they do it. There is a balance here that we like: time together around the table and out in the garden, and space to disappear into when anyone wants it, us included. Shaun is very handy and happy to pass on what he knows. If you are already handy, that is a bonus, not a requirement.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Light gardening

  Creative DIY projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Light maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Self development

  

  Sustainability

  

  Pets

  

  Farming

  

  Photography

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  Gardening

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Art & design

  

  Animals

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Hiking

  

  Camping

  

  Beach
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  UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

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  What's this?
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Things that happen here that you are welcome to get involved in:
  
  - Fermenting and preserving, sauerkraut and yoghurt if you're interested
  - Organic and healthy cooking with what is in the garden that week
  - Building and renewing raised garden beds, and the soil we use
  - Chickens, geese, dogs and cats
  - German, which we speak at home alongside English
  
  What we hope to get from it:
  
  - Perspective. Living out here is wonderful and it is also narrow. Someone at the table who grew up somewhere else changes how we see our own routines
  - Cooking. We would love you to make something from home while you are here
  - We have lived overseas ourselves and we miss that. Hosting is how we keep some of it
  - Our children. Other cultures coming through the house widen their world in a way we cannot on our own.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  A maximum of 25 hours per week, usually across 3 to 4 days, and we mostly need help on weekends. Beyond that it varies with the season, the weather and what is going on.
  
  Outside:
  - Watering, weeding, planting, raising seedlings and mulching
  - Chickens and geese, feeding, eggs, keeping the routines going
  - Clearing paths, small fence repairs and light painting
  
  Inside:
  - Cooking together
  - Light help around the house
  - Small repairs and patching
  
  Some things we will do alongside you, and some, like the chickens, we will show you once and then leave you to it.
  
  You are welcome to harvest from the kitchen garden. If we renew the raised beds or put in another one while you are here, that is something you can build alongside me and learn. Couples and friends travelling together are welcome.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  We enjoy informal language exchange through shared meals, daily tasks, and conversation. English and German are spoken at home.
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  Accommodation

  A comfortable cabin set away from the main house in the bush, quiet and well away from family life. Three single beds and one queen across two rooms, sleeping up to five. Depending on who else is staying you may be sharing it with other helpers. A couple or two people travelling together would have a room to themselves.
  
  The cabin has heating, a shower, toilet and a small kitchen. We provide your food, and while not every meal is shared, we eat together regularly.
  
  Worth knowing before you come:
  
  - Phone reception is patchy out on the land, fine in and around the main house
  - Wi Fi is in the main house only, not the cabin, and you are welcome to use it there
  - No public transport from us, but Tuggerah has trains, buses and Ubers
  - We drive to Tuggerah for work and can often take you along
  - There is a spare car on the property for emergencies

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  What else ...

  Sydney is reachable by train for a day trip, and the Central Coast beaches are around forty five minutes away. Closer to home, the Yarramalong Valley is quiet, green and made for walking, with birdlife everywhere, and we have a creek and swimming holes on the property. It is a slow place. If you are after nightlife this is the wrong listing. If you want a month of bushland, animals, good food and real conversation, it is a good one.

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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 have plenty of space for campers. There are spots closer to the house and more secluded ones further out on the paddocks. The paddock spots have no water, power or toilet, so you would need to come fully self sufficient. If putting in a composting toilet out there appeals to you, that is a project we would love a hand with.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We are happy to consider dogs that are calm, well behaved, and friendly, and that will not pose a risk to our animals or livestock. Please tell us about your dog when you get in touch. If you have any other pets you want to ask about, please approach us.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  My animals / pets

  Trixie

  Poet - or we call her PoPo

  

  Fenya

  Happy and friendly Maremma. She looks after the chickens and the house

  

  Callie

  Super calm and happy Golden Retriever.

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