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Description
We were now comfortable to host again with COVID mostly under control. We are presently NOT available until the 15th of January 2024. After that we would love to consider hosting couples please.
We are located in the Northern Rivers Region near Mount Warning, Byron Bay and the Gold Coast. You will be staying with an expatriate Canadian 78 years of age and a Kiwi 63 years; both rather younger at heart. We are non smokers, infrequent drinkers, and love conversation about science, politics and environmentalism!
We run our internet business from home so we will be here 6 days a week on average.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Both being expatriates and very longtime Australians (since 1970!), we have a unique and comprehensive view of Australia and Australians. Our understanding of Australian society is broad and deep because we are so enthusiastic about environmentalism, politics, the arts, history, business, tourism and communication.
Much of the knowledge we have accrued about Australia can be found on our website, (search for bigvolcano) which promotes tourism in our region and Australia generally.
We love this country and love to share it with visitors, especially young people! We really enjoy the company of our volunteers from overseas because it widens our horizons too.
Help
A couple, or two singles, are needed to help with clearing and planting a fairly steep slope of native bush in order to mitigate bushfire vulnerability for the house. We also need clearing of feral plants (lantana, blue top, camphor laurel etc.), road work and rock wall building.
We need help with housework and cooking too, We are now also looking for helpers with carpentry and renovations skills. There is plenty of work for rainy days.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
There is a comfortable bedroom available with a queen bed for a couple and a bed available in our van for the second worker if needed.
We have a well equipped modern split level home with good TV reception and broadband internet with wifi connectivity. Skype works very well.
Recently Telstra, the largest national mobile carrier. commissioned a new tower nearby. So we now have good mobile phone coverage too! We also have quite a good library of books CD's, DVD's and BluRays.
What else ...
You will see from the photos that we are immersed in the forest 10km from the nearest village, so if you have your own transport, that is a big advantage.
Our property is almost fully covered in sclerophyll forest with pockets of rainforest in the gullies. We are adjacent to the Border Ranges and Lamington National Parks.
We have no domestic animals; no pets, no chickens, no cows or horses. The pony that is shown is the photo below belongs to our neighbour.
There are, however, resident animals of many sorts. Half a dozen red-necked pademelons (little wallabies), red-necked wallabies, and grey kangaroos are often about trimming the grass. A huge 1.8 meter long lace monitor sometimes visits for water and to bask in the sun and a truly humungous echidna spends time disassembling our rock wall and tiled patio to get at the ants!
We also have quite a few snakes about the place. You will see them occasionally but if you leave them alone they will do the same. We have lots of spiders too but ditto with leaving them alone. The other pests are flies mosquitoes and leeches. For that there is only bug spray and we supply that.
We have identified over 95 species of birds on the property. King parrots, crimson rosellas, and rainbow lorikeets are the most frequent visitors. Bower birds visit in flocks of 30 or 40 and red tailed and yellow tailed cockatoos and even wedge tailed eagles are seen from time to time. If you are into nature you will love it here!
We have been certified as a refuge for "Land for Wildlife". Yeah!!!
There is not much to do around here in your spare time except go for walks and appreciate the birdlife and wildlife so if you want action in your off time, you should seek another host!
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
We've had a few helpers who stayed with us while on their "Big Lap". There's room for one campervan only, to be parked onsite, while helpers enjoy all the mod cons of staying as house guests.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Hours expected
5 hours per day (25 hours per week)
Feedback (8)
He was rather timid about wading into the overgrowth at first, due to his… read more
He did a lot of heavy lifting of tree limbs and clearing of overgrowth. He heaved a ton of gravel onto… read more
We loved to manage by ourself our working day. You are very free, just 4 or 5h per day as you want (morning or afternoon or both...).
You eat by yourself during the day (breakfast and lunch), and for diner, you or they prepare the meal for… read more
Ben and Vivi did… read more
Feedback
He was rather timid about wading into the overgrowth at first, due to his… read more
He did a lot of heavy lifting of tree limbs and clearing of overgrowth. He heaved a ton of gravel onto… read more
We loved to manage by ourself our working day. You are very free, just 4 or 5h per day as you want (morning or afternoon or both...).
You eat by yourself during the day (breakfast and lunch), and for diner, you or they prepare the meal for… read more
Ben and Vivi did… read more
Their work with us comprised mostly clearing the bush of fuel… read more
It was our first Workaway experience and they helped us since the very first moment, giving us great information even before we phisically met them.
Their place is very unique, inmersed in their own forest, crossed by a little creek, and you will be able to see… read more
The big surprise was Timi's volunteering to clean nearly the whole house. It was a tad embarrassing actually.
Timi saw that things… read more
We really enjoyed the time we spent with them ( 3 weeks ). Their cosy home is located in the middle of mother nature, so their garden is just like a zoo. We were lucky to see so many wallabies, parrots, lizzards and their mates.
The work is simple and they respect the 5 hours/day deal. They are so kind… read more
I wish it were possible to give Iveta FIVE smilies. She is such an enthusiastic,… read more
The thing that is most impressive about Lauren is that she is a self starter. She saw aspects of the job that hadn't been explained to her and just got on with it if it was simple, or asked about it… read more
If you want to discover the deep rainforest and you like nature, this… read more
We really appreciate our stay. They are lovely people in a beautiful place.
They know perfectly the area and guided us to discover the Tweed valley.
It was really great to work outside and taking care of the bush, surrounded by the wildlife. We feel really lucky to see an echidna, a bunch of… read more
Lucie & Clément did some very heavy work for us including clearing bush, pulling feral weeds and digging trenches. They worked effectively with little supervision and were… read more
As a vegetarian I was very grateful that I was provided with a… read more
