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Sustainable living in the Dandenong Ranges, Australia

  • Favourited 240 times
  • Last activity: 19 Mar 2024

Availability

  2024 

 Min stay requested: at least a week

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Hi I'm Christina. I am a single Mum with a 14 year old son Bodhi who lives with me part time. We live in Belgrave in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges - a popular tourist destination in Victorian. We have a cat and 5 chickens and try to grow our own food and live as sustainably as possible.
    We live on a normal size block on the north side of a small hill and overlook a beautiful treed suburb. We live in a unique house we renovated with curved walls and ceiling, lovely views and lots of timber features. We have a bright and airy house.
    I work as the Project Manager for a group who encourage community food growing in public places and I co-ordinate a local community bulk buying group. I also work as an End of Life Consultant, Death Doula and Sacred Ritual Practitioner. I enjoy conscious dance, Kirtan, african drumming, camping and hiking. My son attends the local High school and plays basketball and loves skating and BMXing.
    We are a warm, inviting, inclusive friendly family who love sharing our home and lifestyle with new visitors and learning about other cultures and traditions.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
    Help with Computers/ Internet
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We live near beautiful forests and gardens on the quiet side of the mountain of a very popular tourist destination. We have beautiful bird life, local parks, lakes for swimming and live in a vibrant, connected and creative community with lots of amazing events and local activities. We practice a permaculture lifestyle where we can and can share lots of knowledge and wisdom around living sustainably, homesteading,, deep ecology, rites of passage, eco parenting and many other topics.

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

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

  • Help

    Help

    There is a large range of tasks both indoor and outdoor to suit any skill level. There is always plenty of weeding, raking leaves, composting, planting seeds/seedlings, watering the garden and feeding the animals.
    There are general cleaning tasks, lots of decluttering and many handyman tasks.
    Larger building and maintenance tasks are available for skilled people.
    There are lots of homesteading type tasks: preserving, repairing, upcycling etc. and decanting goods for a community bulk purchase group.
    Any technical, computer skills and administrative type skills are welcome also
    The minimum stay is 7 days due to the time it takes to wash sheets/towels and show you around and go through all the information with you
    The exchange requires 3 hours per night spent. However due to the unreliability of Workaway guests post-lockdown I am now requesting that you work 4 hours per day for the first 5 days and then that 5 hours will be subtracted from your hours after that. I am trialing this because several Workaways have taken other offers or received work and left after 1-3 days and it is very inconvenient and frustrating as I have usually turned other Workaway guests away and it can be hard to replace them at short notice. I have also bought food and materials for projects so please understand that if you accept an offer you are committing to stay a minimum of 7 days and hopefully for the duration of the agreed time. Working extra hours the first 4 days means that you will be ahead of your hoursand it encourages you to stay the minimum time required and not break the agreement as you will be rewarded with the hours deducted after that. Please ask questions if this is not clear.
    After the first 5 days I am flexible as to how these hours are spread throughout the week. If you want to help with more hours per day and have more days off that is fine. I have a timesheet to record hours and I keep track of the work done as I have had a few Workaways try to take advantage of this in the past.

  • Languages spoken

    English: Fluent

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    I have 2 rooms available.
    One has a King Single bed a small desk and empty cupboard and drawers. This room has its own entrance to the front porch.
    I also have a spare room with an office station where I can set up mattresses on the floor. This is usually the preference for couples to create a bed to sleep together.
    Bedding is provided. There are more mattresses if any extra bedding is needed for children or extra friends.
    We have a 4 bedroom open plan living space with a large lounge room and a balcony overlooking forest views. The front porch is an outdoor 'lounge' area with BBQ. There is a shared bathroom available.
    Food is provided and I usually cook most evening meals (mostly vegetarian). Sometimes I am super busy and do not get to cook meals for you but there is usually leftovers and plenty of food to prepare for yourself. Breakfast is 'help yourself' and lunch will mostly be help yourself (usually leftovers from dinner) but there may be occasions I am making something. You are welcome to cook your own or contribute to shared meals as well.
    We are a non smoking family and prefer non somkers, however smoking is acceptable well away from the house.
    We are generally quiet and both love reading and playing board games. We do not have a television
    There is room to park vehicles in the driveway. If the rooms inside are full but you have your own van/camper etc. you are still welcome to apply and stay in your own vehicle

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    We live in a quiet peaceful neighbourhood near Puffing Billy - a popular steam train tourist attraction and walking distance to bus stop and train station. There are many amazing local sites to visit within half an hour drive/bus. I am heavily involved in my local community and am very active in organising local events and gatherings. You would be welcome to join us in connecting in with our community.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    Every room in the house is hardwired as I don't like to use Wifi too much but it is possible. There is an office space in the public area and one of the spare rooms is set up with an office space and the other has a small desk.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    Small vans are OK but really big motorhomes may have trouble on my narrow dirt road and driveway.

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Your animal would need to be OK with a cat and chickens. The property is fenced but not necessarily pet proof - depending on your pet!

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    More than two

  • ...

    Hours expected

    21 hours per week (calculated at 3 hours per night spent) flexible as to when hours are worked

Host ref number: 277751797542

Feedback (31)



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Accuracy of profile: (4.8)

Cultural exchange: (4.7)

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