Profile information
Host rating
100 %
Last replied
1 Apr 2025
Reply rate
88.9 %
Usually responds within 5 days
Feedback
31
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Email verified
Badges (4)
Details
Description
We're a friendly relaxed couple of semi-retired teachers who live on a farm in a beautiful position near the Grampians mountains in Western Victoria. Our farm is leased out, so other people run the sheep farm while we are teaching. We have a large garden, two lively dogs, two lovely cats, plus chooks and guinea fowl, so any volunteers here must love animals and not be allergic to them.
We have three adult children who are here occasionally. We are 10km from the nearest small village and 37km from the closest larger town. Unless you are happy to spend your spare time out here on the farm, a car would be preferable to get around, although we have bikes you are welcome to borrow.
For this same reason, we usually prefer to have couples so that you have a companion when none of our family are here. We have always enjoyed travel and meeting new people, and are very sociable with family, friends and visitors.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Animal Care
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Help around the house
General Maintenance
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Travellers will get a taste of farm living in a rural Australian area. They will usually get chances to interact with plenty of friends and family in our small, local community as we generally socialise a lot. They may get the chance to see or be involved in Australian farming practices, watch Australian Rules Footy, see Australian wildlife and experience our style of eating. We are always interested to exchange information with our travellers about where they live and their culture as well as sharing ours.
Projects involving children
This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.
Help
We have a large, lovely, but somewhat chaotic garden and we are going to be hosting our daughter's wedding in it this Spring, so there are lots of jobs to be done. Digging over garden beds, planting, weeding, cutting back, mulching, edging, etc might all possibly be on the list of jobs, along with more general house maintenance jobs and animal care. We also have some recycling/upcycling projects to work on, maybe involving sanding/painting, building garden structures etc. So if you like animals and gardening in a lovely country setting, then this might be a good place for you.
We may also have the opportunity for people to house/garden/pet sit here for 5-6 weeks through May/June if we got the right sort of travellers, while we are travelling ourselves.
Another thing is that if you are addicted to internet use, this is probably not the place for you. We have fairly slow internet and sometimes poor coverage with phones and internet.
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Accommodation
Volunteers usually sleep in what we call "The Barn", which has its own queen bed, bathroom, kitchen and lounge room. We are happy to cook the evening meals each day in the main house, but usually during the week volunteers prepare their own breakfast and lunch and take responsibility for cleaning up after themselves. We don't allow smoking inside in any part of the house or barn. Our pets are considered special family members, and come into the house with us when we are home (not the chooks and guinea fowl!), so it will be important that any volunteers are comfortable with animals and treat them well at all times.
What else ...
We are close to the Grampians, which is perfect for accessing by car or pushbike (if you're a keen rider), for bushwalking, sightseeing, birdwatching etc. It is also an easy day trip to several great beaches. Our farm is large, beautiful and peaceful, perfect for long walks, bike rides or swimming in dams.
We are also very involved in the local community, the golf club, the school, the pub, and the football/netball club, so there are often events on related to these. Volunteers would be welcome to join in with any of these activities if they wish to.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Space for parking camper vans
This host can provide space for campervans.
How many Workawayers can stay?
Two
Feedback (15)
From the minute they met us, they were both very interested in our story and where we came from and made us feel at home straight away.
The Barn is beyond luxurious, too, with a homey feeling to it and the comfiest bed, and lovely view of the Grampian Mountains.
Tilly and Elsa, Pot and Clairy,… read more
Photos
Feedback
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Accuracy of profile:
(5.0)
Cultural exchange:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
From the minute they met us, they were both very interested in our story and where we came from and made us feel at home straight away.
The Barn is beyond luxurious, too, with a homey feeling to it and the comfiest bed, and lovely view of the Grampian Mountains.
Tilly and Elsa, Pot and Clairy,… read more
The location, though a bit out of the way, is worth the effort to get there - absolutely stunning! Work… read more
They took great care of all our animals, cooked lovely food and kept the place tidy and toasty warm! They really helped make our lives much easier for the two weeks they spent here.
We loved chatting to them about everything they've done in life and what their future plans are, and… read more
Katrina and Luke show initiative with their work - they see things that need to be done and get on with them with no… read more
Thank you so much for your kindness , for your delicious meals Sooze and for conveying your passion for Australian Football to us John !
We enjoyed going out to the Cavendish pub, bush… read more
If you're looking for a nice, cosy and a bit of a busy house than you're in the right place! Oh, and then there's… read more
The girls are so lovely! They were friendly and loved to talk, to find out about us and share their experiences in Australia and around the world. We can recommend… read more
