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Description
We’re an American-French family living on a 10-acre lifestyle property in the countryside north of Auckland, New Zealand. After years of living and working around the world, we chose New Zealand as the place to put down roots and raise our young son surrounded by nature.
Our property includes gardens, fruit trees, paddocks with cows, chickens, ponds, and a separate cottage where Workawayers stay. We enjoy gardening, outdoor projects, cooking, and meeting people from different cultures and backgrounds.
We’re looking for friendly, motivated Workawayers to help with seasonal property projects such as weeding, pruning, mulching, moving soil, and general garden maintenance. No special skills are required - just a willingness to work outdoors and enjoy rural life.
We love sharing local recommendations and giving visitors a chance to experience a quieter side of New Zealand. We’re close to beautiful beaches, regional parks, and Auckland, making our property a great base for exploring the area.
Types of help and learning opportunities
Light gardening
Farmstay help
Help around the house
Light maintenance
Interests
Technology
Culture
Farming
Plant care
Music
Books
Cooking & food
Languages
Gardening
Photography
Writing
Animals
Nature
Beach
Outdoor activities
Hiking
Cultural exchange and learning opportunities
Our family has roots in the United States, Canada, France, and Australia, and we now call New Zealand home. We speak both English and French at home and enjoy learning about different cultures, perspectives, and ways of life.
Before settling in New Zealand, we spent many years living and working around the world. Our backgrounds are in technology startups, marketing, and entrepreneurship, but over the last few years we’ve traded city life for a 10-acre lifestyle property where we’ve learned everything from gardening and caring for livestock to baking sourdough bread and raising a young child using Montessori principles.
Workawayers are welcome to join us for meals, family activities, beach walks, hikes, and everyday life on the property. We cook most of our meals at home, bake fresh bread regularly, and often have fresh eggs from our chickens to share.
We’re happy to share our experiences of international living, entrepreneurship, marketing, writing, rural property management, and Montessori-inspired parenting. In return, we’re excited to learn about your culture, language, traditions, and experiences. One of the things we miss most about our years of travel is the opportunity to regularly connect with people from different parts of the world, and we’re looking forward to bringing a bit of that international exchange back into our lives through WorkAway.
Help
Most of the help we’re looking for is outdoors and focused on seasonal property maintenance. We have 10 acres of land with gardens, paddocks, fruit trees, and landscaped areas that need regular care throughout the year.
Typical tasks may include weeding, spreading mulch, moving soil or compost, trimming plants, clearing garden beds, planting, pruning, tidying outdoor spaces, and other general property projects.
We’ll often be working alongside you and are happy to share what we’ve learned about gardening, maintaining a lifestyle property. No specialist skills are required, but you should be comfortable working outdoors, getting your hands dirty, and being physically active.
Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
Spanish: BeginnerThis host offers a language exchange
This host has indicated that they are interested in sharing their own language or learning a new language.
You can contact them directly for more information.
Accommodation
Workawayers stay in our private, self-contained two-bedroom cottage located approximately 200 metres from our main house. The cottage sits on our 10-acre property and offers plenty of privacy while still being close enough to feel connected to family life when you’d like to join us.
The cottage has two queen bedrooms, a private bathroom, a fully equipped kitchen, laundry facilities, Wi-Fi, comfortable living and dining areas, and its own outdoor space overlooking the countryside. It’s a peaceful place to relax after a day outdoors and enjoy the quiet of rural New Zealand.
You’ll have access to the wider property, including our gardens, ponds, paddocks, and walking areas. We also have chickens, cows, and a friendly dog who is always happy to make new friends.
We provide accommodation, fresh eggs from our chickens, homemade sourdough bread each week, and opportunities to share meals with our family. The cottage gives you the best of both worlds: independence and privacy, along with the chance to be part of our family’s daily life and cultural exchange when you’d like.
What else ...
We live on a rural lifestyle property, so having your own vehicle will give you the most freedom to explore the area. There is plenty of parking available at the cottage if you’re travelling by car.
If you don’t have a vehicle, we can usually provide lifts into Silverdale as part of our normal routine, and we can often drop you at the Hibiscus Coast Bus Station, which provides connections to central Auckland and other major transport hubs. However, public transport does not reach many of the beaches, regional parks, hiking areas, wineries, and markets that make this part of New Zealand so special.
In your free time, there are beautiful East Coast beaches, coastal walks, regional parks, farmers markets, cafés, wineries, and hiking trails within easy driving distance. Auckland is also close enough for day trips if you’d like to experience the city.
We’re a family with a young child, so our home life is generally relaxed and family-oriented. We enjoy shared meals, outdoor activities, gardening, and spending time together, but we also respect everyone’s privacy and independence. The cottage gives Workawayers their own space while still allowing opportunities to connect with us if they’d like.
We’re looking for people who are respectful, reliable, and comfortable living in a rural environment. If you enjoy nature, fresh air, and a quieter pace of life, you’ll likely feel very much at home here.
A little more information
Internet access
Limited internet access
We have pets
We are smokers
Can host families
Can host digital nomads
Our cottage has reliable high-speed Starlink internet and includes a dedicated office space with a desk and chair, making it suitable for remote work. Many online meetings and video calls can be handled without issue. We’re happy to work with digital nomads who have part-time or flexible remote jobs, provided there is still enough time available to contribute the agreed WorkAway hours. We’re generally flexible about when help is completed and can often work around meetings and other work commitments with good communication. The cottage offers a quiet environment for focused work, while still providing opportunities to get outside, be active, and experience rural New Zealand life during your stay.
Space for parking camper vans
We can accommodate campers, vans, and motorhomes in a large gravel parking area beside our cottage with plenty of space for parking and turning around. Please note that we do not currently offer dedicated camper facilities such as power hookups or dump stations.
How many Workawayers can stay?
More than two
My animals / pets
Maple (1 year)
Golden Mountain Doodle
Chickens (2 years)
3 Brown Shaver Hens
Photos
