Join our family in the Dandenong Ranges, Australia

Details

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  Description

  Hello fellow travellers!
  
  We're so happy you found us!
  
  We are a hard working & adventure loving family, residing in the lush forest of Melbourne and we have a great opportunity here for someone who LOVE kids, helping around the home, adventures & nature!
  
  We live on 3 lush acres of ferny tree and bird filled bushland in beautiful Belgrave South in the heart of the Yarra Ranges.
  
  We moved here from our farm 5 years ago and it has been just the tree change our souls needed to fully thrive & create a bit of space from the hustle & bustle of the busy farm.
  
  The girls attend a Steiner School locally and we are building a beautiful community up here running regular events and gatherings on the land & making friends.
  
  We also have a newborn so spend plenty of time together at home and in the garden playing and adventuring.
  
  We have a private self contained 1 bdr apartment available with a queen size bed for an independent female person who is really keen to help for up to 15-20 hours a week in caring for our three darling little girls (Matilda age 8, Elodie 5 & Margaret 7 months), as well as general help around the house, cleaning, general home tidying, sorting, decluttering, and keeping on top of the ever flowing baskets of laundry. A mother's helper!
  
  Ideally, you would have experience with little ones, an aptitude in cleaning, tidying and organising and are available for at least a month.
  
  We generally feel that one month is the minimum amount of time to get to know us, get in a good flow, and really immerse in the beauty of nature & flow with our family here. In a dream scenario with the right person, we would love someone for 3 months.
  
  Even better if you have your own car = extra freedom. We may be able to arrange a call for your use if needed.
  
  We are more than happy to offer you to do your hours over 2-3 days so you can have a few days at least to yourself, every week if this works better for you. We're very flexible with hours - especially if you have adventures planned and other activities you'd love to do.
  
  When it comes to time with our family, we love adventures to the forest, warm days on the beach, going to cafes, op shopping, hiking to waterfalls, visiting the snow, hiking trails, going to the gym, trips to the farm, swimming pools, the local Lysterfield lake and more!! The stand up paddle board is so fun!!
  
  We would love to take you on adventures with us! And we're also happy to give you all the tools and directions to go on solo journeys if you prefer.
  
  The girls LOVE making art, crafting, dancing, singing, gymnastics, swimming, playing, puzzles, circus school. running, walks to the park, bike riding, scooters, reading books, and of course, Barbies!! Haha!! You're so welcome to join in on their games and have fun and adventures with us!
  
  The garden is a mix between a tidy functional front & back yard surrounded by wild bush! Plenty of fire wood to collect and trees to trim back as well as planting fruit trees and natives all around the block. The whole garden is yours to enjoy.
  
  In our home we eat all organic veggies(grown on our farm), free range pastured eggs, meat traded for veggies at the farmers markets we attend, and whole foods from local health food shops. We can provide our workaways all organic veggies & eggs from our farm to enjoy! We will provide you with an amazing organic veggie box and eggs as well as all the essentials you need to cook your meals, and we love sharing dinners with our workaways too!!
  
  If all this resonates with you & inspires you to reach out - we're really looking forward to hearing from you!
  
  Warmly,
  
  Clare, Paul, Matilda, Elodie & Margaret

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  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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  Interests

  

  Sustainability

  

  Events & social

  

  Farming

  

  Self development

  

  Fashion or beauty

  

  Writing

  

  Photography

  

  Plant care

  

  Music

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Books

  

  Art & design

  

  Architecture

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Performing arts

  

  Astronomy

  

  Animals

  

  Winter sports

  

  Yoga / Wellness

  

  Nature

  

  Fitness

  

  Camping

  

  Beach

  

  Dancing

  

  Mountain

  

  Outdoor activities

  

  Hiking

  

  Cycling
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  We are experienced workaway hosts with over 9 years of hosting travellers on our organic farm, in Koo Wee Rup and 4 years now here at home.
  
  We are avid world travellers - Paul and I have been all over the world - to South America, India, South East Asia, UK, Europe and more, and love music, nature, cultivating quality connections and conversations of a spiritual nature.
  
  Paul is farming 7 days a week but comes home to the Hills regularly, loves cutting up fire wood from trees on our property & hosting dance parties for the kids in the garden & listening to Harry Potter by the fire.
  
  Clare has been back into her own business of running womens' circles, mother circles, monthly kirtan singing circles and cacao ceremonies as well as her online beauty business on social media.
  
  Clare has just had a baby in early June - so the extra helping hands is especially needed at this tender time while it's extra hard picking up the kids things off the floor and energy levels for mama are low! Bonus = baby snuggles!!
  
  We love to meet likeminded people who want to share their language, culture and food with us but also appreciate their own time & space.
  
  Clare grew up in Melbourne before living in Ireland and England for 7 years in her 20's, then returning home and immersing in her spiritual studies and practices & becoming a full time mama.
  
  Paul lived in India for 2 years in his 20's following his own spiritual path, and ultimately discovered a love for growing organic food.
  
  We know our way around this area & Melbourne and are very happy to recommend places to go and explore!
  
  We LOVE to cook and have plenty of recipes to share too. Clare is always happy to have helping hands chopping up veggies for dinner!
  
  We love music, making art, festivals, dancing, living an organic lifestyle, hosting gatherings, cacao ceremonies, monthly community cacao kirtan, kids parties, living in harmony with nature, consciousness, and much more!
  
  We are very community minded and love a good co working day!! :)
  
  And we LOVE an art-ernoon tea at a local cafe with friends!
  
  We're keen to find people who want to become a part of our family, make new friends, and help us take care of our beautiful children, home and garden.
  
  If you have any questions - please don't hesitate to ask!
  
  Looking forward to hearing from you. :)

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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

  We are looking for organised, efficient, trustworthy, innovative, empathic, solutions focused, warm, intuitive & communicative folks to help us in our busy lives!!
  
  We get along well with nurturing, warm, loving, attentive people who are keen to help with the girls - playing, reading stories, doing art projects, taking care of them when needed and helping around the house.
  
  Of course, this position is ideal for someone who genuinely enjoys the gentle general help around the house of cleaning, decluttering, sorting, eliminating & of course, folding laundry.
  
  There's always things to be done in the garden too, helping with land care - creating wood piles, collecting branches that gather in the gardens for fire wood, hauling logs, etc.
  
  Clare is looking for another pair of hands to run the household, beautify the home and keep on top of the beautiful chaos.
  
  We value our family time but we also we love having a cultural exchange and want to share our lives with you and would love to learn all about your culture too!!
  
  Generally, most folks prefer to do their workaway hours over a small handful of days and enjoy quiet time on our spacious property, or take themselves on fabulous adventures, day trips, or maybe even explore near by on their days off.
  
  We're also open to having someone stay who is studying or working part time, so you can help us and still do your own study/work in your own time. We're happy to be accomodating!
  
  The apartment accommodation is self contained in our sanctuary retreat (formerly a fully operational 5 star rental apartment) above the double garage - separate to the living space of the house, so you would have absolute privacy to yourself. We are interested in hosting respectful, trustworthy individuals who understand that this is not a party house and peace in our home is paramount.
  
  We have discovered that running the gorgeous online rental is significantly less important to us than having company & much needed help and support with our kids while Paul is farming 7 days a week, staying mostly at the farm, and getting this beautiful home and garden and grounds really buzzing with life, love and joy is a top priority this year! :)

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  German: Beginner
  Spanish: Beginner
  Italian: Beginner

  This host offers a language exchange
  We love languages and are keen to learn yours and share ours!
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  Accommodation

  You're in for a real treat here!!
  
  We have a beautiful one bedroom QB apartment oasis with own bathroom, lounge room, kitchenette and office area, private garden and more.. formerly a "superhost" 5 star bnb retreat, this apartment is beautifully appointed and a real oasis in the trees..
  
  This apartment is attached to the house by a long corridor and sits above the double garage.
  
  The kitchen in the accomodation is suitable for cooking simple meals, (toast, smoothies, eggs, reheating meals, light dinners, etc) we have kettle, toaster, blender, microwave, small oven, 2 burner stove, fridge, freezer, water filter.
  
  If you're wanting to cook more elaborate meals or do some baking you're most welcome to use our main kitchen. We also have a BBQ!
  
  Our property is on 3 lush private acres in the forest and is absolutely filled with incredible plants, flowers and birds!
  
  We have a resident wombat, a family of deer, kookaburras, king parrots, black cockatoos, rosella, and so much more!
  
  There are many little places in the home and garden to sit and relax, meditate & contemplate life and nature while looking out into the forest and trees and the beautiful sunset and sunrise.
  
  We also have an outdoor fire pit nature garden and are keen to build a tipi and plant more fruit trees!
  
  We have been here two years and are still discovering the magic and wonder of this beautiful property..
  
  We are a short 2 minute walk to the bus stop, local shops, cafes, butcher, supermarket & bakery.

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  What else ...

  Belgrave South is a beautiful little town at the foothills of the Yarra Ranges / Dandenong Ranges..
  
  We're a short 1 minute walk up to the shops, cafes, parks, supermarket, wholefoods health food shop, bus stop, etc.
  
  We are right near the Puffing Billy iconic steam train and literally hundreds of incredible hiking trails to waterfalls, fern lined tree giants and incredible bird and wild life..
  
  We are less than 5 minutes drive or a 45 minute walk in the hills to Belgrave train station and township with everything you need - cafes, shops, supermarkets, restaurants, bars, library, etc.
  
  We are 15 minutes to Narre Warren, Ferntree Gully , Berwick, and other major shopping town centres.
  
  Even though it feels like we're out in the wilderness here because of our spacious private bush block, we're only 40 minutes to Melbourne CBD.
  
  Plus, there is a local bus that will take you to the Belgrave train station & many other locations.
  
  Your own car or a clean full drivers license a definite bonus! You can borrow our car if you need to run errands or if you're dropping the girls off at kindy, dancing, etc.
  
  We love a natural, organic, chemical free life and our children are at the local Steiner school. This is the reason we moved away from the farm and up into the hills, for our children to be surrounded by nature, and a nurturing school environment as well as the awesomeness of the farm and farmers markets where we spend most of our weekends.
  
  We already have an amazing community of like minded and hearted folks up here in the hills and are keen to share this little slice of paradise and way of life and living with fellow travellers and like minded souls looking for a stable happy family home base on their adventures of Australian soil.
  
  Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
  
  Warmly,
  
  Clare, Paul, Matilda, Elodie & baby Margaret

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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 have an excellent wifi connection and desk in the apartment which you would have full use of at any time, especially helpful if you need to study online on your days off.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  One

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  My animals / pets

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