Join us in our family home in semi-rural North-West Auckland, New Zealand

Details

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  Description

  *** Please forgive us if you have messaged and we haven't replied. We haven't logged on in quite some time. We are catching up on all messages now and hope to have someone join us for 7-10 days to help with building a chicken coop & run and some winter gardening & burning soon ***
  
  General help around the house & garden and with our three amazing kids. We have met some wonderful friends through this experience and hope we can find more. We are always excited to meet new and interesting people so let us know a little bit about yourselves. Thanks :)
  
  We are a family with 3 kids who are homeschooled (unschooling/life learning) and live on a 1-acre property in semi-rural North/West Auckland. We moved here 11 years ago to get away from the city, with the aim of living in a more sustainable way and getting more involved in our community. We are establishing fruit trees and have about 20 fruit/nut trees, and vegetable gardens. We eat a mostly plant-based diet and welcome all dietary requirements. With a young family, our time for gardening and projects is limited so if you join us, we would love some help around the section on some projects and the ongoing management. Right now, our garden is overgrown and not providing to its full potential. We would love some help getting that back on track.
  
  Our area is beautiful! Just 25 minutes to either the rough black sand beaches of the West Coast or to the placid golden beaches of the east. We are close to some great surf beaches, tramping tracks or walks, sculpture gardens, waterfalls and parks and hope to take a day out to show you around.
  
  We like to invite people into our home to share our beautiful area and our wonderful family for a mutually beneficial experience. Will be great to show our children different cultures, languages, food and more to inspire a love for travel. We love our home, our family, friends, the outdoors and good food. Thanks!
  
  
  A BIT MORE ABOUT US
  
  I am a part-time work-from-home Mum. I`ve spent my life working in the music industry with bands and events and now run my own part-time Music PR business, mostly from home. John spent 17 years as a paramedic and has in the last couple of years, taken a new direction with a youth organisation as a driving instructor and he particularly enjoys outdoor education. Our 3 children (8-13 years) are awesome. Our house is full of love, joy and regular chaos. We are both interested in eating delicious and mostly good plant-based food. We try focus on healthy eating, natural health and are consciously aware of our environment. We have unlimited wifi but other than work and some time on Minecraft in the weekends, we try step away from digital choosing instead to spend time with the kids, playing games, doing our hobbies or outdoors. We enjoy spending time in nature, with our family and friends socialising and engaging in meaningful conversations learning more about ourselves and others. Our kids love football, playing and listening to music, board games, arts, sciences and great conversation. Most people would say our children are very curious and engaging, with an eagerness to learn from anyone and any thing around them (as are John & I).
  
  We live about 45 minutes north of Auckland City so a great stop if you are on your way North or coming back down. There is bus transport from the local town which is 7 minutes away and we are happy to assist you with transport. You will be welcomed in as one of our family for however long you stay, you will eat well, sleep in your own room and we look forward to sharing as much of our beautiful area with you as we can.
  
  Adding here that Lauren is in the earlier stages of learning German, while our 13-year-old is beginning French. We welcome all people. We do ask that because you are spending time with the kids (who speak very fast), that you have good conversational English so everyone can get the most of out our time together.
  
  We see this is an experience for all to benefit from. We look forward to talking with you.
  
  *️ Please note that we most frequently use HelpX to meet and host travellers so this profile/reviews may be a little sparse :) Also note that I have just updated the profile but not the photos yet. Our kids are much bigger now :)

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Babysitting and creative play

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We live semi-rural and would like to be more sustainable with the increase in food costs. We're a bit behind in growing our vegetable garden so it needs a good overhaul and weed. I love to cook and my cooking & the variety of ingredients we use are always of interest to our guests. Our three children are life-learners. Meaning they don't attend school and we don't dictate their curriculum. They are free to explore what they are interested in and we support them and involve learning areas in every day life. We love sharing our philosophy with new people and maybe showing them a different view of education to what you have in your own country. Our favourite beach is Muriwai - a black sand beach about 25 minutes drive away. Massive sand dunes where we take the boogie board and slide down. Also 5 minutes up the road is the beautiful Omeru Waterfalls - a favourite place to take all our visitors. We wish to show you the laid-back kiwi way of life and have you become good friends :)

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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

  Hi. Currently looking for a solo or couple to help out with a building project (no special skills required), help around the gardens and an assist in an overhaul/declutter of the house. You must be okay with doing lots of weeding and working outdoors. The garden has gotten away on us and we choose not to use sprays. Looking for people who enjoy kids and are happy to spend time with our three, jumping on the tramp, playing soccer, music, board games, art/craft etc. We have some vegetable garden to weed as well as native tree boundary area. Preparing for spring planting.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  German: Beginner
  French: Beginner
  Maori: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  We have a reasonably modern & sunny home with open plan living that rolls out onto our property where the kids play freely. You will have your own room that one of the children will vacate (so I hope you are okay to be surrounded lego & other toys) with single or double bed. The bathroom will be shared with the kids.

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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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  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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  Hours expected

  3 hours per day of gardening or other allocated jobs plus contributing to usual everyday chores. I'll cook, you help John with the dishes or just help tidy the house at the end of the day. Can work ahead to take days off.

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