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Host rating
100 %
Reply rate
100.0 %
Usually responds within 4 days
Feedback
80
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Details
Description
We are Janice and David. We are in our upper 50’s. We own a small hobby farm of just over 4 acres in beautiful Fanny Bay, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Our three grown children live elsewhere in western Canada. Over the years we have traveled quite extensively throughout North America, the Caribbean, Europe, and Asia, but are now pretty tied to our hobby farm and business. We also have a bunch of chickens as well as 4 alpacas and 2 llamas that require lots of affection. We rescued two of the alpacas (Quia and Binky) about 5 years ago. They were very neglected and diseased, and we are so happy to have nursed them back to good health. They have since been joined by two healthy llamas (Pearl and Abby). In the spring of 2022 we welcomed alpacas Misty and Fizgig. And we have one cat, Simon, who came out of the woods and adopted us. He is the one who is really in charge of the whole place. We also own a dog and cat boarding business. Volunteers will have lots of opportunity to interact with the animals that are boarding with us.
IMPORTANT: When you message us, please answer the following questions. We do not respond to messages that only provide your name and when you want to come.
-What attracted you to our Workaway host profile?
-What are you most hoping for in a volunteer stay with us?
-How do you visualize being able to help us?
-What kind of experience have you had with animals, gardening, and landscaping?Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Farmstay help
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Volunteers will have the opportunity to learn about life on rural Vancouver Island, taking care of llamas, alpacas, and chickens, helping with various tasks around the property, and spending time on a quiet, beautifully forested property. We look forward to welcoming volunteers into our home and sharing our lives with them, while also learning about them.
We keep busy on our property, but the pace in this part of Vancouver Island is slow. People stop and talk, especially when we’re walking the alpacas around the neighborhood.Help
We have made up a rather lengthy list of projects we would like help with. Some of these tasks can be accomplished in a day or less, while others are likely to take much longer.
Some of the larger projects include clearing and maintaining a walking trail in the forest around the perimeter of the property, various landscaping projects, and planting and maintaining a large garden.
In early 2023 we began a house renovation project involving installing new windows and new exterior siding.
Smaller projects include helping around the house, power-washing, painting, chopping and stacking wood, harvesting and processing lavender, berry picking, cleaning up after the animals, and general maintenance and carpentry around the property.
David really enjoys photographing the dogs and cats that board with us when time allows, and would like some assistance with this.
Janice enjoys working as a fibre artist: spinning, weaving, knitting, crocheting, and is happy to share her knowledge.
Volunteers are expected to be friendly, honest, and respectful. While we are almost always on the property, volunteers should still be able to work independently. We also expect that volunteers be physically fit and able to take on a variety of tasks.
You also need to love animals and be comfortable with being kissed by alpacas.
We prefer volunteers to stay for a minimum of 2 weeks and to work a maximum of 25 hours a week. Longer stays are preferred.
We are able to accept 2-3 volunteers at a time.Languages spoken
English: Fluent
German: BeginnerAccommodation
We have two rooms available for volunteers. Depending upon the number of people staying with us it may be necessary to share one of the rooms. Our home only has one bath/shower, so that will be shared.
We provide groceries for 3 meals a day. If volunteers wish to have additional snacks between meals these will need to be purchased at your own expense. Volunteers are expected to prepare their own breakfast and lunch and to clean up after themselves. Dinner will be prepared and eaten together.
We are open to shared cooking and are happy to discuss what works best.
We do our best to accommodate dietary needs.What else ...
Bus service is available to our community from Nanaimo and Courtenay/Comox. The nearest bus stop to our place is in Buckley Bay. We would be happy to pick you up there.
A 5-minute walk from our property gets you to walking trails, a refreshing creek, the ocean, or the Fanny Bay Inn, a historic pub. The Denman and Hornby Island ferry terminal is 3 km away at Buckley Bay. These islands offer beautiful beaches, many hiking trails, wineries, and unique locally made arts and crafts. Rosewall Creek Provincial Park is a 5 minute drive away and Horne Lake Caves are within a 30 minute drive. Victoria is about 2.5 hours drive south, Tofino is about 2.5 hours west. Mount Washington, about 40 minutes to the north, offers excellent skiing and snowshoeing in winter and great hiking in the summer. There is limited local bus service, with a stop a few minutes walk from our place, which gets you to Courtenay (30 minutes). Tofino Bus and Island Link Bus companies travel throughout Vancouver Island and can be accessed from Buckley Bay. Depending upon our availability, we may be able to provide some transportation to area attractions. (David loves hiking and exploring the backcountry).
Apart from the domestic animals that live with us, it is not uncommon to see eagles, deer, sea lions, seals, and whales in the area.A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
Hours expected
Maximum 25 hours a week
Feedback (28)
We wish her all the best in her future travels and are happy to recommend… read more
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
We wish her all the best in her future travels and are happy to recommend… read more
They always completed tasks well and did an excellent job, we never had to worry about their… read more
The work consisted of helping with the building work on the house, helping with the animals (feeding the alpacas and… read more
They always completed tasks well and did an excellent job, we never had to worry about their… read more
I helped out with several tasks - feeding and cleaning the alpacas and llamas,… read more
Amélie’s easy-going and laid back personality make her an absolute joy to be around. She was always happy and positive. She treated us to several excellent meals including crepes, and helped us with animal… read more
It was a… read more
Leo helped us with garden and landscaping work, took care of our animals, and helped with exterior… read more
Looking back, it was a beautiful time.
Janice and David are open-minded friendly and helpful hosts and I felt comfortable from day one.
In addition, I learned a lot and liked lots of variety in the work.
- Feeding the llamas and alpacas
- House… read more
Also we fed the alpacas everyday and got to play with the dogs if we wanted to :-).
On Vancouver Island there is… read more
We had a wonderful time with Naomi. She was always cheerful, no matter what task she was given, even if it was out in the pouring rain. We are happy to recommend… read more
I enjoyed the daily work. Most of all, it was great to excercise the dogs, get to know the llamas and… read more
Our plan prior to Johanna’s coming was to have her help us clean up a large tree that had been cut down, but then two heavy wet snowfalls hit us… read more
Thank you so much Juliette for reaching out and staying with us for a far too short 3 weeks. We so enjoyed your company and thank you for all of the things you did for us while here. It was a pleasure spending time with you and getting to know you. The muffins were great too!
We could always rely on Juliette doing a great job in whatever… read more
We really appreciated Lauriane’s attention to detail, as she completed every task she was given to the… read more
These two were very hard workers, working quickly and completing a lot of labor intensive jobs. They were always eager to help in the kitchen and made us a… read more
Jolina’s polite and personable nature makes her such a pleasure to be around. She is very mature for someone her age. She was thorough in all she did, and we could count on her to always do a good job. We… read more
They are both super friendly and you'll feel comfortable and welcomed right away.
They'll show you were everything is in the house and then you can just make yourself at home.
The two of them have a lot of knowledge and experiences to share so I learned a… read more
Annett and… read more
Christiane and Dominik’s personalities are so very warm and positive. They always went… read more
Mingyi’s calm and inquisitive nature made her an absolute pleasure to host. She took a very genuine interest in… read more
We very much enjoyed having these two young women stay with us. We were so impressed by how responsible and mature they are for their age. They worked on a number of tasks while with us, but were especially helpful in cleaning up branches and debris from two… read more
Janice and David are really nice and we always enjoyed having… read more
From the minute she arrived she fully understood how things operate around here. She… read more
I really liked my stay at David and Janice's property. We had shared… read more
Marcelin is a polite, easygoing, and hard-working young man. He did a great job in completing any tasks we gave him including replacing fence posts, looking after our animals, helping in the… read more
We really enjoyed having Gabby stay with us from the moment she arrived. She was always eager to take on and learn new tasks she had never done before. She was genuinely interested in understanding what we were doing and did very well in completing the jobs… read more
Annika and… read more
It was our first workaway experience and they really made it worthwhile.
We helped with felling trees, took care of the animals, build most of the green house and so on..
In our free time we had great opportunities to explore the area and Dave gave us some really good advises… read more
Ellie is great company and a lovely person to have around. She communicates well, is very… read more
Zuzana has a quiet, calm presence. She understood instructions very well and completed tasks efficiently. We enjoyed have her stay with us and would gladly recommend her to… read more
Brig was energetic, understood instructions really well, and worked on tasks enthusiastically. We enjoyed having her stay with us and would gladly recommend her to other… read more
We stayed there for a sort period and were so happy to meet Janice and David! We also had the chance to meet their children, and they all are amazing people. It was a pleasure to share those moments with you and we wanted to stay more.
We worked 5 hours per day on many varying outdoor/indoor tasks not directly… read more
We are happy to recommend Lorraine and Jérémie to any other Workaway… read more
Emilie was so easy to get along with. She took on any task we gave her willingly and whole-heartedly, and we were always more… read more
Selina helped us with numerous projects… read more
Lena and Marek were great! They worked really well together, completing outside tasks even in wet and rainy conditions. They were so very respectful and… read more
Bri and Giampa were very self-motivated, needed very little supervision, and were very meticulous in all… read more
They were so kind and generous and we really felt as part of their family. It was a pleasure to talk with them about so many different topics and share great and tasty meals together. They were really organized and every day there was something new to do, so we never got bored. They were really… read more
Paola is very intelligent, witty, and mature beyond her years. She worked hard in harvesting fruit and made some absolutely wonderful preserves. They are so delicious! She was always eager to help… read more
We so appreciated their culinary skills and the very tasty meals they prepared. They willingly took on any tasks we assigned and went above and beyond in completing them. We wish them all… read more
Helen & Anna were more than willing to take on any tasks assigned to them, from trail clearing, to chopping wood, to waxing vehicles. They completed all of their tasks very well and often volunteered to help with household chores. It was great… read more
Diana is a very hard worker and takes a lot of pride in completing tasks. Whatever task she was assigned she did willingly, quickly, and with excellent… read more
I enjoyed the nights outside by the fire, good conversations and playing games in the evening. I already miss David’s jokes which always made me laugh, spending time with the cats and alpacas, watching… read more
Malin was always happy and has such an easy-going personality. She is a hard worker and never seemed to run out of energy. She gladly took on any task we… read more
My work was always well-balanced and very much appreciated.
They helped me practice my language skills and offered good advice for my future travel plans.
I had plenty of free time which I could spend by myself or together in the cute… read more
We really enjoyed working with them, the tasks were always possible to do and we got good instructions.
David, Janice and their son are all so friendly people and we had such nice hikes, trips and evenings at the fire with them.
They really gave us… read more
David and Janice welcomed us into their home practically as family. We enjoyed working on the property and never had a boring day! Thank you for offering us the chance to visit a few landmarks during our stay and helping us with our future endeavors. We are really sad that we are already leaving. We hope that you will find many… read more