Family Homestay in country NSW, Australia

Details

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  Description

  (Avail to host from 8th of May :)
  
  Hello Travellers!
  
  We are a active little family with several great projects on the go most of the time. Practical couples or singles would enjoy volunteering with us. Its amazing getting a hand in the garden and the house into order and helping out with the kids during the school week. Optional if you speak german and/or are the handy type then helping with DIY jobs is a huge plus. ( we r finishing off a laundry bathroom reno at the moment).
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  THE FAMILY: German scientist (Felix) works away during the week, Australian massage therapist/trainer ( Cami) working from home 1 day, and away 3 days, two daughters at school 5 days (7 and 10) social, fun, quiet and very feisty. Plus 2 sassy guinea pigs... possibly having babies in May.
  
  EXPERIENCE: We have enjoyed hosting volunteers and renting to lodgers/bnb on and off for the last 15 years across Melbourne, Perth, and Germany. We now live in country NSW (near Maitland 2 hrs north of Sydney and 35 mins east of Newcastle by car, 3-4 hours train).
  
  We try to live a sustainable lifestyle in a comfortable home with a colorful yard and organic 'community' vegetable garden. We are vegetarian.
  
  LOCATION: Our backyard looks out over rolling pastoral land. In the distance are thickly forested hills, cows and on dusk and dawn walks you are sure to spot kangaroos grazing in the neighbourhood. 4 kilometers from town, a bike, bus or jog away.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Language practice

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are an almost 'normal' family, busy, happy, intense, loving, sharing. There is a real mix of practical skills that could be learned and we attempt to match your interests to the tasks at hand. If you are here to improve your English then we are patient and provide lots of opportunities to practice. Supporting the children getting ready for school and doing homework is a great English exercise. Learning 'on the job' everyday words and phrases is also a natural way to improve. Playing and hanging out with the kids in your own time is a great way to accelerate your language learning too 😀

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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

  SHORT STAYS: We are looking to host independent, efficient, energetic and practical people who could assist in day to day house help, cleaning, gardening, home DIY projects with paint, tiling or wood.. (old clothes and shoes recommended).
  
  LONGER STAYS: All of the above plus, if you enjoy children and have experience at being both a friend and a mature adult then some child care opportunities may be included. (up to 6 hours per week help with homework, getting to school and bed on time, meals etc).
  
  All stays regardless of whether they are short or long helps so much to reduce the 'motherload' of a working mum, and a dad who is away most of the week. We all get to rest and play a little more when volunteers come to stay.
  
  TASKS: We discuss which areas you have experience in or are interested in learning and helping with.
  
  This could be:
  + day to day general housekeeping, cleaning, laundry, deep cleaning
  + general gardening maintenance, weeding, pruning, mowing, edging
  + simple handyman repairs and DIY projects
  + deep cleaning and decluttering
  + watering, planting and harvesting tasty organic vegetable garden,
  + building healthy soil with garden and local paddock ingredients
  + making and baking your own sour dough bread, kombucha and kefir
  + cooking simple and wholesome vegetarian meals
  + Walking to School/sport drop off/pick ups
  + German language practice with us all
  + Homework help German, English or maths
  + Painting projects
  + repairing things, working with wood and restoring furniture,
  + preparing to move house end of 2024
  
  
  Up to 22 hours of volunteer help exchange includes accommodation, vegetarian food and WiFi. Cooking a couple of meals and/or helping clean up after evening meals are in addition to your weekly help exchange hours.
  
  MIN STAY: 2 weeks
  MAX STAY: We can host for a few months or more :)
  
  MEETING FACE TO FACE B4 VOLUNTEERING: A simple resume/bio and/or a short video call to get to know each other a little before hand is the usual process we take before onboarding terrific volunteers. Its a great way to ask questions and get a feel for if we will all work well together. We also have a 'volunteer agreement form' that goes over what we have discussed and helps make us feel more safe with inviting people into our home and family life. It can also help you to feel confident that you are coming for a fair volunteer/work exchange and positive experience.
  
  We are happy to pick up and drop off from local train station (Maitland), or airport (Newcastle) on arrival and departure if it works into our work schedual. There are also greyhound busses, and local busses. Plenty of parking space avail for anyone road tripping about Oz :).

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Fluent
  English: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  We would love a bilingual English-German family. Practicing as much Deutsch as possible with native speakers is terrific for inspiring our kids to learn further. We traveled to Germany/Switzerland in late 2022 and their language development was fantastic. We actually got to visit some workawayers who we have hosted in the past. It was so very very cool for us to see them again and experience their culture and young families. We can also be very patient with people learning English and give them plenty of chances to practice conversation and reading with the children. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, we are all learning!
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  Accommodation

  Your room is simply furnished and has clothes storage, fan/heater and most importantly a comfy Queen size bed. A little view out to the paddocks and wavy tree tops in the distance. There's a communal kitchen, bathroom, deck with peaceful views and a living space( often overrun with toys). All are welcome to share this space or enjoy their own peace and quiet.
  
  The garden is cute and colourful with natives, flowers, fruit trees and veggies, play equipment and a lawn to spread out on.
  
  It is a lacto ovo VEGETARIAN house hold/kitchen. This means dairy, eggs and of course chocolate is enjoyed! In addition to your volunteer week, it is hoped that you can cook a meal to share your countries traditional flavour and taste secrets :).. if not we'll support you to try and follow a new vegetarian recipe for the first time. Helping with the dish washing up is also a extra for the evening/lunch meal if you are not cooking.

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  What else ...

  We are a short bus or bike ride into the nearby townships of Maitland, Lorn and Morpeth. There are fields with horses, cows, turf or vegetables to pass and a river to visit by foot, or bike. All townships have interesting heritage from early settlers, boutique stores, good coffee and cakes. There are also vinyards, beaches and great big forests a bit further abroad if you have your own transport.
  
  You are always welcome to borrow a bike for some local adventures.
  
  This area is also just a typical quiet Aussie countryside setting... i.e it runs at a fairly different pace to the city in a friendly neighbourhood. Interesting to foreigners, and a nice place to take stock, follow your own creative pursuits and re-energise before jumping back into your travels..
  
  We think Workaway volunteers could benefit staying with us as they can explore the country culture, practice English or speak German, enjoy a bit of homely family life, apply and/or learn practical skills and balance their study/ work/travel with their exchange hours.
  
  We look forward to hearing from you
  
  Cheers and happy travels, Cami, Felix, Jana, Frieda and the guineapigs.

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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

  Our NBN WIFI connection is reasonable for general internet use however streaming, heavy graphics applications etc would need to be used at times when we are not working as this can cause drop outs to other users. We ask that whilst you are doing your volunteer hours phone use is kept to a minimum. This ensures your safety, efficiency and attention to detail for the jobs at hand. The hours a volunteer works is flexible and be discussed in the first week of your stay. Whether you chose to do 3 long days or just 3 hours every day works fine by us. In the summer the yard work should be done either early or late to avoid peak heat times. This leaves most of the day free for work, rest or beach visits and play.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  There is a flat parking space in the garden for a moderately sized camper van. Other vehicles have space to park either on street or on the property.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  20 per week

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