Enjoy life at the sunny side of the harbour in Diamond Harbour, Christchurch, New Zealand

Details

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  Description

  LATEST NEWS: No availability to a later date in 2025. The Gardener's Cottage has been pulled down as it was unrepairable after substantial earthquake damage. Watch this space later in 2025 for news about a new dwelling and the development of a Piet Oudolf garden amidst the permaculture food forest.
  
  Developing a food forest and building with recycled materials are part of the daily grind in this hundred year old cottage on the peninsula, where the sun makes diamonds in the water. Happy to teach you permaculture principles and share products of the land with you.
  
  The Gardener's Cottage is situated in a sunny bay across the harbour from Lyttelton Christchurch, a 7 minute ferry ride away. If you are interested to spend some time here you can expect a warm welcome and lodgings in a cabin built with recycled materials. There is plenty of time to explore the surrounding peninsula, climb a nearby mountain, find out about New Zealand authors in the library or laze in a cafe.
  PLEASE CHECK THE CALENDAR. In your message PLEASE CONFIRM you are a NON Smoker and are happy to volunteer 5 Hours a day. We provide you with a comfortable bed, 3 delicious meals a day, a hot shower and internet access.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We like to teach you about the particular way we develop our garden according to perma-culture principles, so if you are interested in living sustainably, come and check us out. We are developing our thoughts and actions on zero waste and are always open to new ideas how to reuse, up-cycle and do with less.
  At the Cottage we have a piano, a guitar, a ukulele for muso's, lots of books in English and Dutch, comics, board games. We aim to show you some of the sights if you do not have your own transport. This will depend on the season, how busy we are and the length of your stay. There are many walks and a good tramp up mount Herbert on our doorstep, the cafes are close and we now also have a little supermarket. The Saturday farmers market and the Harbour Coop are just a ferry ride away and the bus takes you into bustling Christchurch with the transitional Cathedral, Art Gallery, Gap Filler, Community Gardens, Regenerate, Otakaro Project, Libraries, Markets, Canterbury Museum, Botanic Gardens with the Curator's Garden, to name but a few of the numerous attractions.

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  Help

  At this moment especially carpentry, painting, general handy work. we are building with recycled materials, tasks would include sanding, cleaning materials, fitting insulation, painting, putting in skirting,finishing off windows etc.etc. We have a perma-culture garden which needs maintenance and development. Tasks include gathering seaweed, pulling out grass, planting seeds and seedlings, mulching, building beds, making liquid manure, digging trenches, worm farming, composting, pruning, There are also housekeeping jobs like vacuum cleaning, window washing that occasionally need doing. At this moment there is painting to be done. If you are experienced and handy with a hammer, or know about water systems, we especially invite your input at this time.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent
  Dutch: Fluent
  German: Beginner
  French: Beginner

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  Accommodation

  You will be staying in the Gardener's Cottage's Cabin which has a comfortable bed. We provide sumptious meals and are happy to cook for any diet including GF, DF, vegan. We offer one hot shower a day and internet access for emails. We cook mainly with vegetables from our garden.

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  What else ...

  Diamond Harbour is a small village on Banks Peninsula, 30kms from Christchurch at the sunny side of the harbour. It can be reached by bus (there is a direct service from the airport) and ferry or by car. At the cottage there are several vegetable patches, fruit trees, chickens, a cottage garden, a glasshouse and a little artichoke grove. It's quiet and peaceful here and your entertainment would include walking, running, biking, swimming, reading, using internet at the library, meeting the locals, attending a (yoga)class, having a drink at the cafe, fishing off the jetty, climbing Mount Herbert, exploring Orton Bradley Park with its high ropes course, Victorian Cafe and many walks to Rock, Waterfall and Mount Bradley and Herbert. We are only a 7 minute ferryride away from Lyttelton, the port, with its cafes and shops and Farmers Market on Saturdays, then a bus ride to the centre of Christchurch with it huge array of attractions, from the Cardboard Cathedral to the Museum, from the Art Gallery to the Botanic Gardens, all its Community Gardens, the inviting Public Libraries and the library fridges on the way. In between the leftover rubble of the earthquakes and thousands of aftershocks you'll find some real gems of community resilience.

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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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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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