Join our family around the house and in the garden in Canterbury, New Zealand

Details

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  Description

  ***Currently, the apartment will be free in June 2024, as we've had lots of interest from wonderful people. If you'd be interested in staying with us, please contact us closer to the time (at the end of April) :) we then have availability again from mid-August onwards ***
  
  We are originally from the UK and the Netherlands and have been in NZ for 12 years. We have lived in Leithfield for four years now and have a 3.5-year-old toddler and 1.5-year-old twin boys.
  
  We have a one-bedroom apartment above our garage with bedroom, lounge, bathroom, kitchen and unlimited WiFi, available to an individual or couple in return for some help in the house and garden (approx. 12 hours per person per week). A car would be beneficial for you to get around the area, but not needed, as there are some lovely walks here too (along the river to the beach).
  
  We also have our cat Otis, who loves cuddles and extra attention.
  
  You have your own private place to stay and facilities to make dinner, but we look forward to many chats and possibly the occasional dinner together :)

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We offer a warm welcome and a different perspective to NZ, as we immigrated here 12 years ago. We have lots of knowledge in that sense, if anyone is considering the same. The area is beautiful if you like nature and peace and yet it's only a 30 to 40 minute drive to Christchurch, 15 minutes to Waipara (with some lovely wineries) or a bit more than an hour to Hanmer Springs, if you wanted to explore the region.

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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 like to see what you enjoy doing or what you'd like to learn to do and we usually will have a project on the go to meet those ideas. Just to give you a bit of an idea :)
  
  - We’d love help from any social media guru’s to help grow our social media following
  - Help around the house (tidy and clean and small projects)
  - Help around the garden (more so small projects than weeding), especially spring and autumn
  
  Let us know what your skills and interests are, we’ve met some amazing people and have had some fantastic things made, like our boat sand pit for the kids for example. No DIY skills required, as we’ve also really enjoyed having the house re-organised and tidied and are appreciative for everyone’s unique area of expertise.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent
  Spanish: Beginner

  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

  Self-contained apartment above garage (not attached to the main house). Apartment has one bedroom, bathroom and open lounge/kitchen area. Completely furnished and comes with king bed, couch, dining table and chairs, fridge/freezer, oven/stove and pots and pans etc. Includes free unlimited WiFi and washing can be done at our house.

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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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  Can host digital nomads

  We have unlimited WiFi and the connection is reasonable in the apartment (router is in the garage underneath the apartment), but we've had people work in the apartment remotely).

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a large parking area at the front of our house, but you can stay in our separate one-bedroom apartment.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  12 hours per person per week (3 x 4 hour days perhaps?)

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