Help with a family permaculture project in Malmsbury, Australia

Details

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  Description

  We are an outgoing family of four: two adults (Mum, Dad) and two children (Ethan, eighteen years old and Rafaela, eleven years old). My husband is an academic, and I am a school teacher. We are passionate about permaculture, social justice issues and ecological living. We love meeting new people, and just enjoying each others' company and having a good time.
  
  We live in Malmsbury, which is a rural area that is one hour exactly from the Melbourne CBD by train (the train station is a five minute walk from our house). Malmsbury is a combination of farmland and native forest, and there are kangaroos and other animals in the area.
  
  We breed chickens and ducks and always have a permaculture project or two on the go. A lot of our meals come from the garden and we are passionate about gardening, cooking and good food.
  
  We have hosted many people in the past, and enjoy meeting new people.
  
  We generally ask for help in exchange for meals and board in our home. Guests have a private room in our home. The home itself is large, modern and comfortable.
  
  We are in the process of developing our property and need help with this. We usually ask for around 14 hours of help per week. We share cooking and house cleaning on top of that. Helpers are welcome to join with all aspects of our life, including outings to swimming holes and farmers markets, and parties at friends houses.
  
  Helpers are provided with all meals and snacks. Breakfast and lunch are self-service, with a shared evening meal.
  
  If helpers wish to be more independent, we also have a large block with a caravan and a studio on it, and we are happy to negotiate far fewer work hours for people who want to exchange a few hours a week for accomodation only or similar.
  
  We try to run an eco-conscious home, so helpers who are interested in this kind of lifestyle tend to be a good fit.
  
  Couples and families are welcome by arrangement.
  
  Enjoy your travels!
  
  De

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Interests

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Sustainability

  

  Farming

  

  Charity work

  

  Writing

  

  Languages

  

  Music

  

  History

  

  Gardening

  

  Carpentry

  

  Cooking & food

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Animals

  

  Nature

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Hiking

  

  Outdoor activities
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Travellers are welcome to participate in all aspects of family life. We have shared meals, go for walks, visit farmers markets, go swimming in local water holes and check out local wildlife.
  Our family raises chickens and ducks and grows organic food. Travellers will primarily learn about ducks, chickens and quail, and by the end of their stay will have an extremely good understanding of how to work with these animals.
  
  We have several references on the website Helpx. Travellers can check out what others have said about us there.

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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

  Travellers are asked to help with a wide range of tasks, and we usually try to balance the less exciting housework with more stimulating gardening, eco activities (like kombucha and jam making) and animal care.

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Chinese (Mandarin): Intermediate

  This host offers a language exchange
  I want to improve my Mandarin Chinese
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  Accommodation

  Accommodation is a private room in our house, which is large, modern and comfortable.

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  What else ...

  We are near lots of great towns. These are towns that were built during the 1860s gold rush. There is a lot to see and do, and good local transport systems. We have a lot of friends in the area who are doing interesting farming, building and eco activities, and we are always getting involved in these.
  
  Helpers will have no trouble visiting the nearby towns of Castlemaine, Daylesford and Bendigo (amongst others). It is also only a one hour train trip to downtown Melbourne either by car or train, and the train is a ten minute walk from our house.

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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 are open to hosting digital nomads.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We can definitely host people with campervans etc.

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  Can possibly accept pets

  We have chickens, so any pets would have to be chc

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  My animals / pets

  

  Nacho (5 years)

  Nacho is a friendly medium sized dog

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