Come and help an ordinary Aussie family with many stories and experiences to share in Loch, Australia

Details

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  Description

  We live in a peaceful, green, hilly area about 1.5 hours South East of Melbourne. Our two boys are 8 and 10 years old, we have 2 ponies, 1 small dog, 3 chickens and a large garden. We are always busy with our boys, renovating our house, working on the garden and looking after the animals. We would like Workawayers to help us with tasks that you are happy to try around our home, as well as telling our boys about your culture and language. We are happy to help you with learning English although our Aussie accents could make this interesting!
  
  We are about 1 hour's drive from Phillip Island and the famous Penguin Parade. A public bus that goes between here and Melbourne is 5 minutes drive from our house. We are a hard working family and we like our visitors to be willing helpers who always try their best. We do not smoke and prefer non-smoking visitors. We don't drink alcohol but we are happy for our visitors to drink in moderation. Our boys are loud and full of energy. They are a lot of fun but you need to be clear with them when you need your own space.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are an ordinary Aussie family with many stories and experiences to share. If you are hoping to improve your English, we can help you - our boys will be delighted to teach you new words! We can teach you how to do different home and garden maintenance tasks. If you are driving along the East Coast of Australia, we are in an ideal position for your first stop after Melbourne or last stop before going to Melbourne. You will be well suited to stay with us if you want to experience Aussie family life in a quiet part of the country away from the busyness of big cities.
  
  We often have a family meal together during the day on Sundays with any extended family who are visiting, and we love for our Workaway visitors to join us for this if they feel comfortable to. For anyone who is interested, Deb can teach about Australia's approaches to disability support and aged care.

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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

  We have a lot of different jobs that you can do depending on your skills and experience. We need help with babysitting/childminding - I (Deb) work from home a lot of the time so at times I need someone to supervise them while I work, although now that they are older, they don't need a lot of supervision. They both love sport and being active - if you also love sport, you may want to research Australian Rules Football before you come as they will definitely want to try to teach you to kick an Aussie football. They play cricket in the summer and also love to play this with our Workawayers.
  
  We need help with feeding and working our ponies but only if you have experience and are confident with horses. To make sure that you and our horses are safe, we will ask you detailed questions about your experience with horses before allowing you to work with them or ride.
  
  Our garden needs a lot of work, so if you're happy to try, there is digging, pruning, weeding and planting to do.
  
  There are lots of jobs that need doing to finish off our renovation, so if you have the skills or would like to learn, we would love help with this too - Pete is a carpenter so he can teach you some skills if you are interested.
  
  There is always cleaning and housework to do, as well as cooking if this is something that you enjoy. In the autumn we need help with picking and cooking apples from our many apple trees. Sometimes we will work alongside our Workaway visitors and other times we will want you to work independently. This means that it may sometimes work better for at least one of your 5 work days to be on the weekend with another day off during the week but we will always try to be flexible.
  
  We love to show off our local area and to help our Workawayers to see local attractions if at all possible. Please understand though that our lives can be very busy at times so this may not always be possible.

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  Languages

  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.
  You can contact them directly for more information.
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  Accommodation

  There is a bungalow separate to the house, with a bathroom and kitchenette. The bungalow has a queen-sized bed, a double bed with single bunk bed above it, armchairs and a sofa, and a split-system air conditioner for heating and cooling.
  
  Most of our guests prefer to stay in the bungalow, but if you prefer not to be alone at night, we also have a room in the main house with one queen sized bed. Our bedroom and the boys' room is on the other side of the house. There is a large (shared) bathroom next to the room.
  
  There is free wifi access but we ask guests to check with us about use if we are working, particularly during the evenings when internet speed can be slow. Obviously our work needs to be the priority with internet use so we ask that guests are considerate in their use of internet.
  
  We have our main meal during the evening, and like to all eat together where possible. Breakfast and midday meals tend to be more informal and a lighter meal. We appreciate our guests helping to keep the kitchen clean and tidy throughout the day. We provide main meals but like our guests to provide their own additional snacks.
  
  We love having families to stay with us but ask that they contribute to meal costs as this becomes very expensive for us to shop for a whole extra family.
  
  Most of our workawayers stay for around two weeks and we find that works well. We generally like to try to check in after the first week to determine whether things are working for us and for you.

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  What else ...

  The nearby Loch Village has nice cafes and a couple of interesting shops, including a gin distillery and brewery. The town of Poowong has a small supermarket, post office and outdoor public swimming pool which is open during the summer months. If visitors do not have a car, it is important to be prepared with any supplies that you may need as it is not easy to walk to shops (and the local shops are quite expensive).
  
  There are drives with picturesque views of the local farmland filled mainly with dairy cattle. There are beautiful beaches around 40 minutes away, and The Phillip Island Penguin Parade is a 1 hour drive. Wilson's Promontory National Park is roughly 2 hours drive. The Public bus service to Melbourne is 5 minutes drive away, and train to Melbourne or Bairnsdale in East Gippsland is 25 minutes away by car. A public bus goes between Poowong and the larger nearby town of Warragul once per week.
  
  If you do not have a car, it can feel a little isolating here, so it is important that our visitors are genuinely happy to be away from the rush and convenience of city life.
  
  We strongly recommend that you spend some time (even 1 week) in Australia before you come to us. Once you arrive at our place, it can be difficult to get to shops for anything you may need, so it is best to have some time in a major city like Melbourne first.

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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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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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