updated   Last minute

Experience the magical Celtic charm of rural Spain at our family finca in Nava, Asturias, Spain

  • Last activity : 19 Feb 2025

Availability

  2025 

 Min stay requested: at least 2 weeks

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Details

  • Description

    Description

    Pls read our profile fully to see if we align.
    We offer a very high quality experience & have spent years volunteering & we believe we offer a good deal.

    Hello, salud, bienvenido!

    We are Sarah & Henry, long time Workawayers, travellers & free-spirited wanderers who, after a decade of being fairly nomadic, have finally settled and found a home in Northern Spain.

    We recently bought a stone finca with surrounding land and are looking forward to restoring the buildings & rewild the land giving back to this community & working with some amazing people from all over the world.

    We want to be inclusive to families as we found it particularly difficult to volunteer with our kids, and would like to create something of a world -schooling hub & the chance to connect with the Earth in the middle of abundant nature.

    We are situated within the heart of green & verdant Asturias, half an hour from the cities (Oviedo & Gijón), half an hour from some of the best beaches in Europe and half an hour from the Picos de Europa. What more could you want?

    The closest town, Nava, is 5 mins away, has 3 supermarkets, shops, bars, cafes & an attractive plaza. It also has the Cider Museum.

    We can offer you either a private room next to the family bathroom with shower, or our very comfortable caravan which can sleep up to 4. The heating & stove work perfectly. There’s also the option of parking your own camper.

    It would be advantageous if you could manage your time well, so that your free time does not get frittered away - happens easily!
    Expect around 25 “on hours” per week (this excludes group responsibilities such as cooking / clearing away because you would have to cook for yourself anyway!) & this is not a hard & fast rule; sometimes depending on projects & situations a little longer days might be needed - it’s up to you to keep track of the week overall!
    You can decide how you manage this by either spreading it throughout the week or doing a few longer days to have more days free time to explore the region.

    Use of car & bike included.

    *if you need to prioritise online paid work pls discuss your schedule with us in advance*

    FOOD PROVIDED:
    Breakfast: you are welcome to join us for breakfast, we would normally have a freshly squeezed OJ, homemade juices or smoothy with quinoa, millet or oat porridge

    LUNCH: our biggest meal of the day - always together around 2pm - we normally make about 4/5 different dishes, almost always plant based & would welcome your help preparing & cooking for everyone.

    In Spain it’s custom to have a light Merienda for dinner / supper - we don’t really have much, the children have a snack and drink before bed at 8pm

    I am also a yoga teacher & student (my teacher is based in the city - Oviedo the capital of Asturias which I go to at least twice a week on the bus or train. We are very well connected to the city but live a peaceful life out in nature so have the best of both worlds) & like to start my day with some asana, pranayama & meditation practiced in the shala. You would be welcome to join for this.

  • Types of help and learning opportunities

    Types of help and learning opportunities

    Help with Eco Projects
    Gardening
    DIY and building projects
    Animal Care
    Farmstay help
    Babysitting and creative play
    Creating/ Cooking family meals
    Help around the house
    General Maintenance
  • Interests

    Interests

    Sustainability
    Politics / Social justice
    Movies & TV
    Events & social
    Culture
    Charity work
    Farming
    Pets
    Self development
    Plant care
    Music
    Drawing & painting
    Gardening
    DIY & crafts
    Cooking & food
    Books
    Astronomy
    Art & design
    Animals
    Outdoor activities
    Winter sports
    Yoga / Wellness
    Water sports
    Mountain
    Nature
    Fitness
    Hiking
    Adventure sports
  • UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN sustainability goals this host is trying to achieve

    UN goals
    No poverty
    Zero hunger
    Good health and well-being
    Quality education
    Gender equality
    Clean water and sanitation
    Affordable and clean energy
    Decent work and economic growth
    Industries, innovation and infrastructure
    Reduce inequality
    Sustainable cities and communities
    Responsible consumption and production
    Climate action
    Life below water
    Life on land
    Peace, justice and strong institutions
    Partnerships for the goals
  • Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

    We are from the UK but wish to commune with spanish speakers - we found learning a language very challenging at home & have been learning Spanish now for around 12 years on & off. We learned in Guatemala and used Latin American Spanish during the time we were travelling. Now we want to improve our mainland Castellano - our children are fluent & learning Asturiano in school.
    We are in the Celtic homelands of Northern Spain, country of bagpipes, cider & mythological forest dwellers.

    Our property is boarded by ancient Roman Camino - original *Camino de Santuarios* so if you’re looking for something more under-the-radar and less travelled than the famous *Camino de Santiago * then you have found the right place.

  • Au pair

    Au Pair Help

    Further details can be found here

  • Projects involving children

    Projects involving children

    This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

  • Help

    Help

    We moved into our finca in Feb 2024 & are doing some light renovations & DIY around the house. Mostly painting & decorating & trying to finish off updating the decor in the side we live in.

    For bigger projects we will be bringing in local tradespeople and hopefully will be renovating the downstairs bathroom - including fitting a nice big bath over the next few weeks.

    Re general maintenance and smaller jobs we will be working along with you & want to enlist help to play with the children (5 & 8) & the 3 cats (2 new kittens). We have a wide range of tasks & projects around the property, which will change depending on our current situation & the season / weather.

    Inside jobs include some basic DIY like;
    painting & decorating;
    furniture upcycling;
    plastering;
    digital marketing;
    childcare;
    cooking;
    tiling;
    cleaning.
    and outside jobs (weather dependent) will be preparing the ground, organising and creating spaces around the land;
    A big very important job for Autumn is collecting and storing the wood pile for the winter. We have heating in the house but prefer to put on a fire every evening / morning.
    There is always gardening (weeding, planting, mulching, making raised beds / compost piles & maintenance of beds);
    fencing for animals
    animal care
    building a chicken coup
    Labouring - moving rocks / large stones

    Once we have some nice neat piles of rocks and stones we intend to pay local skilled dry stone wallers & we eventually wish to restore the gate arch.

    This list is not exhaustive and we like to work with our volunteer’s strengths and preferences ... so you will have lots of flexibility & can choose how you spend your time.

    We like to eat one meal together at 2pm so would love your contributions in the kitchen, cooking, making bread, baking cakes & preserving to keep us all well-fed!

  • Languages

    Languages spoken
    English: Fluent
    Spanish: Intermediate

    This host offers a language exchange
    We wish to provide a real cultural experience for our guests & volunteers and are well connected with the local community through our children’s village school. Our boys are bilingual and speak Spanish pretty fluently now they are also learning Asturianu at cole. So if you’re looking to improve your English or Spanish we can help with that - it will be full immersion!

  • Accommodation

    Accommodation

    We have two spare double bedrooms inside the house, a comfortable 4-berth caravan, or you can park your own campervan on our land.
    We provide breakfast and will cook a shared meal for lunch (usually vegetarian but not strictly, any meat is locally & ethically produced). For dinner we usually have a smaller meal but you are welcome to make your own from the kitchen.

  • What else ...

    What else ...

    Having your own vehicle is useful, as we are a short journey from many attractions. It’s half an hour from the coast and 45 mins to the Picos de Europa. There are closer mountain ranges within 10 mins drive away. Cycling is a very popular activity in the local area and there are many good walking routes. We have a couple of bikes you can borrow to stay local & there are amazing hikes within 20 mins.
    It is an easy walk into the nearest town, from where you can take the train or bus into Oviedo, or visit the Cider Museum or local bars & restaurants.

  • A little more information

    A little more information

    • Internet access

    • Limited internet access

      Limited internet access

    • We have pets

    • We are smokers

    • Can host families

  • Can host digital nomads

    Can host digital nomads

    Sarah also works online teaching and tutoring and although our internet is not fibre - can be slow, we don’t have any problems zooming, downloading or anything that requires decent internet.

  • Space for parking camper vans

    Space for parking camper vans

    we have a park up space and plug in / connect to the electricity point from the barn so our courtyard is perfect for parking up

  • Can possibly accept pets

    Can possibly accept pets

    Yes but dogs will have to stay in the garden / garage or outside

  • How many Workawayers can stay?

    How many Workawayers can stay?

    Two

Host ref number: 851149672891

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