Help restore our property to pristine native bush & enjoy swims at the beach in Waiomu, New Zealand

Details

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  Description

  Hi there! I’m Megan, an American expat that fell for a kiwi, my husband Jamie. I work from home 3 days a week with the occasional day trip to Auckland, Jamie works in town (Thames) at a native tree nursery. We have a 3 year old son August, a 1 year old daughter Fern and a 4 year old pup Scarlett. We live on the beautiful Thames coast, our property is surrounded in bush, but just a 5 min walk to the beach and an awesome cafe. We are working to clear our property of invasive things like ginger root, wattles and your everyday weeds and are always always chopping firewood. We are looking for people that are happy working outdoors.
  
  We’ve recently taken a break from workaway while we had Fern and completed some home improvements including a new kitchen and added a cabin to our property, I need to update our photos! When we’re home, workawayers would stay in the new self contained cabin. My mum is over from the states for a few months from December staying there, so this probably won’t be free until April/May.
  
  We have a family holiday planned for 20-26 December and would like to find a reliable person/people to stay and look after Scarlett and the garden. If this sounds like you please get in touch! It would be great to organize a meet up to introduce you to Scarlett first.

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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

  House sitting
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  Interests

  

  Sustainability

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Animals

  

  Sailing / Boating

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Nature

  

  Camping

  

  Beach
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We’re happy to offer our home as a stop off on your travels. We’re a great home base for activities around the coromandel peninsula such as hiking, fishing charters, canyoning, kayaking, etc. As a family we love going for walks, spending the afternoon at the beach, watching the stars from our inflatable spa and having Jamie’s parents round for dinner catch ups, you’re welcome to join us.
  
  Jamie is very knowledgeable about native plants and animals and makes for a great NZ nature guide.
  
  We don’t travel much these days with the kiddos so we are looking forward to hearing travel stories and having some extra hands around the house.

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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

  Our main goal we’d love help with would be garden work and clearing around the property. We’re working to clear the invasive species and create a pristine native bush. Occasionally we need someone to house sit and look after Scarlett. We aren’t currently looking for childcare, but playing with the kids while someone is cooking dinner is super helpful.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  French: Beginner
  Portuguese: 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

  You would be staying in our self contained cabin which has a toilet inside and an outside shower. We’ll provide all linen, bath and beach towels. If housesitting with Scarlett you’d stay in the main house.
  
  In exchange for 4 hours of work a day we offer light breakfast supplies in the cabin and then a sit down dinner at night. We believe in a community kitchen approach - where everyone pitches in. So if you cook, we’ll do the dishes and vice versa. If you notice the dishwasher is full - run it, if you notice it’s clean, help us out with an unstack and so on.

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  What else ...

  You’re welcome to borrow beach chairs and the kayak. We might be able to provide some transport if needed, so long as it’s agreed in advance. It is easier if you have your own car.
  
  We tend to enjoy a few beers or a glass of red with dinner, if you’re planning to enjoy a few drinks while you’re here it would be great if you brought some of your own. We’d appreciate no heavy drinking.
  
  We eat everything, but can cater to vegetarian or pescatarian.
  
  We are strictly a smoke and vape free home.

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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

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

  

  Scarlett (5 years)

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