Sunny Coast Living with a family of four, QLD, Australia

Details

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  Description

  We're Kirsten and Steven, a happy young mid 30s Australian family of four. Oh man, just saying mid 30s makes me feel old... We've two little boys aged 2 and 6 whom keep us as busy as little boys do. Kirsten is an Occupational Hand Therapist and Steven a Structural / Maritime Engineer. While our two boys take up a large part of our time, we still like to sit down and chat late evening or share experiences.
  
  We're quite well travelled (even our two young boys). The four of us recently completed a rather quick 3 month trip around the country in our 1975 kombi camper. We've also spent 5 years in London / Europe and love talking about and hearing about other cultural experiences, or passing on our local and Australian travel knowledge.
  
  Staying with us you'll have a place to stay and morning and evening meals fully catered for. I'll show you the local surf spots and join you for a surf if that's your thing and otherwise pass on any local knowledge to help you make the most of your stay. As a couple enthusiastic about photography, surfing, art, old things (cars / cameras / vinyl), whiskey and coffee, someone sharing similar interests would probably feel most at home. Our morning and evening's until 7 will typically be spent running around after the boys but we usually make the time to sit with a hot drink or whiskey in the later evening at which point it would be a good chance to catch up.
  
  As a working young family we're usually in bed by 10pm each night and up at 6am to prepare for the working day. Weekends might include having a local BBQ breaky at the beach (and you'd be most welcome to join us) or maybe going for a cruise in our kombi.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Our home is in the locally sought after hilltop suburb of Buderim, only 10 min drive to the spectacular beaches of Mooloolaba, Alexandra Heads and Maroochydore. We're also 40min drive to Noosa.
  
  The volunteer would benefit most from shared interests. Notably:
  
  Beach living:
  We live at 'The Sunny Coast' for that very reason. Not only that, we live the lifestyle too - we have a beautiful 1975 VW kombi camper and if old vw's are your thing we'll take it out for a beach run and early winter surf. I also have a 6'3" surfboard you're welcome too if you know how to surf (but it's not a good learner board).
  
  Taking it slow:
  We like old stuff and to just take it slow. This is reflected in our recent love of vinyl and our vintage record player that gets a spin most evenings. This is the perfect setting to grab a whiskey, sit back, chat and chill.
  
  Photography:
  Steven is an avid photographer (and ex wedding photographer). He shoots nearly entirely film these days particularly in BW. I develop and print photos in our darkroom (laundry late at night) with a great care and appreciation for the whole process. I'd be delighted to share my knowledge of photography if you've any questions, digital or film, or just talk cameras etc.
  
  Coffee:
  We love good coffee; sure, everyone does. But we have and know how to use a great little Rancilio espresso machine and Mazzer grinder. If you like to start your day with a genuine and cafe quality coffee then you'll love our place. If you wish to learn how to make espresso and cappuccino then we're always keen to show you how and give you another life skill.
  
  Cooking:
  Kirsten is simply an outstanding cook. More often than not the evening meal is out of a recipe book, or otherwise it's an old favourite. We’d be delighted to cook for you and it’s not expected you help with evening meals; we’re most happy to do this as a thank you for your help throughout the days. For medical reasons we're committed to a low carb diet these days but assure you whatever is cooked up will be delicious. While we eat meat regularly we're most happy to cater for anyone on an alternative diet as best we can, including vegetarian, vegan, paleo etc.

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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've recently moved into a new house (with a fantastic ocean view) and require volunteers to help with numerous tasks to make it more of a home. Typical tasks would be garden maintenance / landscaping, painting, sanding, cleaning, stacking firewood, basic construction etc.
  
  Our circumstances are better suited to a couple as we've a queen room with queen bed as opposed to single travellers or travelling friends.
  
  We expect 4-5 hrs working per day, 5 days per week. Happy for you to work longer days for an extra day off etc., it's up to you.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We've a large 4 bedroom house with central fireplace and wonderful east facing ocean view about 10min drive to the beach. You would be staying in our spare room with queen bed. It's a basic room but does the trick and even has a nice surf painting above the bed.
  
  Breakfast and dinner is included. Breakfast will be a basic selection of muesli, toast and fruit. Dinner will be a cooked meal, the same as we're having for the evening. You're welcome to tea / coffee as you like though please note that alcohol is not provided. Lunch and snacks typically not provided and will need to be catered for by yourselves.
  
  If staying with us, you would need to have your own car. The public transport in Buderim is limited to say the least and we won't be able to drive you places as we'll be working ourselves. With your own car, the whole coast and hinterland is at your disposal!
  
  We light the fire on weekends which makes for a nice place to sit and talk about local adventures and hear yours / our experiences.
  
  Note, we don't have and can't provide any internet access. However, we do have 3G reception so any cellular data plan you may be on should work.
  
  We Kindly request no smoking and no drugs as well.

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  What else ...

  Please respect that we're a young family and won't be able to accomodate others staying over. You'll be treated as one of the family with shared meals and you'll always be invited to join us in any activities such as grabbing a swim / surf at the beach etc. You're welcome to drink alcohol as you please provided you respect we're generally a quiet family household. Note that alcohol will not typically be provided.

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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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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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