Live with our sustainable healthy lifestyle and help with daily life in our family house in Cooran, Australia

Details

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  Description

  We are a family of 4. Myself, my husband and our 4.5 year old daughter and 1.5 yo Son.
  
  We have a passion for sustainable healthy living and music. Adam and I traveled through Central and South America for 2 years volunteering on several permaculture farms. We purchased our dream property of 10 acres in 2018 and have slowly been turning it into our paradise.
  
  We have a north facing 4 acre paddock which we have started a small syntropics system on. We were rotating a couple of friendly beef cows around this section of the property. However have recently sold the cows to focus more on other projects. The other half of the property is mostly native Australian forest with lots of wildlife. So our house is surrounded by bush and nature and yes we have a few spiders and snakes around. Along with wallabies, echidnas, goannas, cockatoos, King parrots and during mating season we even hear the koalas.
  
  Our main focus has been to get the infrastructure sorted, with new tanks to catch more water. Our focus is now on the gardens, tree lines and implementing swales. We have the capacity to be almost self-sufficient with vegetables just from the syntropics section when it is fully planted out. However with work life and family balance we struggle to stay on top of it and would love a hand in the gardens. We have also started work on herb gardens around the house. Next we will be working on implementing swales and planting out a food forests.
  
  In Spring (Sept - Nov) we grow broccoli, Asian greens, herbs, lettuce, spinach, silverbeet, cassava and bananas.
  
  In Summer (Dec - Feb) we don't have a whole lot as it's too hot! But tend to focus on planting out more tree lines and soon will have plentiful bananas. Cassava and some herbs. Pumpkins.
  
  March - time to plant again. Then throughout autumn and winter, we should have much more variety to share; beans, broccoli, kale, silver beet, asian greens, corn, cucumbers, tomatoes, raddish, turnips, cabbage, wombok, baby carrots, beetroot...and more.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  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

  You will have the opportunity to learn about permaculture principals and syntropics style farming. You will get to learn about a deep composting chicken housing system. You may also gain experience around what its like to live on am manage a property, land management, water management, building skills.
  
  You will have the experience and comfort of living with an Australian family, eating healthy food and practising your English.
  
  We have a national park across the road from our property with trails to Cooroora mountain which is a spectacular mountain to climb. We are less than 10 mins to Pomona (by car); home of a silent theatre. Cooran is only 5 mins away (by car) with regular musical Tuesdays and an open mic night on a Saturday once a month. There's great community here yet we also have a very quiet secluded property. We sometimes host live music events ourselves.

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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 would mostly like help in the gardens. Weeding, preparing garden beds, planting, watering. Help taking care of the chickens. Help around the house is always needed! Cooking is welcome also.
  
  We love learning other languages and would love our children to be exposed to other languages. We speak a little Spanish ourselves. Our children love meeting and playing with new people and some help with entertaining and taking care of them is more welcome. Adam is a cabinet maker by trade and a great teacher. If you have any practical skills with building or would like to learn this could also be a good opportunity. There are many projects to work on. We recently renovated the house and there are still a few loose ends to tie up here.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: 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

  We can offer a few options.
  2 Meals a day and accommodation in exchange for 4-5 hours work up to 5 days a week. ( no meals on non work days)
  Or just keep the work exchange to 8 hours per week in exchange for accommodation only. ( this option is really only for people staying in the caravan).
  
  We have a double bed in our studio space. The studio is a building separate but close to our main house. Our house is very small so the stuido acts as our spare room, office, storage and music room. It is a shared space so we also use it at times. However being separate from the main house it also alows to give you your own space. This bed is pictured in the photos. There is a compost toilet built out the back of this building ( no smell) for use when you are at the studio.
  
  We also have a caravan with an outdoor undercover camp kitchen and brazier. Outdoor hot shower that looks up and the stars. Compost toilet ( with no smell). All self sufficient and suitable for single or couple. This is the space more suited to long term stays. If your an adventurer you will love this space. It's a bit like camping. Your very much in nature. But with a comfy double bed. We created this space with the intention of being able to host people for longer periods of time in exchange for help on the property. (Eg. Accomodation only for 8 hours a week).

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  What else ...

  There is a train station and bus's available from our little town Cooran to beaches such as Noosa, and lovely towns, cafes, libraries, markets, bush walks, waterholes and waterfalls, train to the city (Brisbane).

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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 a large indoor studio space that can be used for working or other projects if needed. We recently got WiFi and it works very well in the studio.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We have a leveled flat area that is appropriate for this with some access to power.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Yes, as long as they are friendly with children, chickens and wildlife. We don't have a fence so it may be necessary to tie a dog up at times.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  8 hours per person per week in exchange for accommodation only. Shared meals and more hours can be arranged.

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