Help us by the Sea in St Leonards, Victoria, Australia

Details

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  Description

  Hi,
  
  We are actively seeking to host right now and this is the best time of the year in Victoria, right through until the end of April. We are walking distance to the beach and there will be plenty of opportunities to go out for swims and to explore the local area. We start with an introduction week and if you would like to stay longer, we can work this out in the first week of your stay. If you fit into the family well we can look at a lengthy stay if you want to make the most of the climate in Victoria this time of the year and have a home away from home.
  
  We are a normal blended family and we always try and provide a feeling of a home away from home for our Workawayers.
  
  Our home is in a small bayside village about 100km from Melbourne. There is a ferry 10km from where we live which goes across the bay into the city of Melbourne.
  
  We have been hosting various travelers through Workaway from different parts of the world and we are loving how much our lives have been enriched as a result.
  
  We are looking for a traveler who can help us with projects around our home. We are a hands on Do It Yourself Family and we are in a constant state of creation, looking at what needs to be done around our home and what can be added to improve what we already have.
  
  We are definitely on a path to being environmentally aware and are in a state of learning and adapting our life as a family to improve our carbon imprint. Often our projects relate to ways in which we are trying to improve our home and garden to be more environmentally friendly. We have recently made a change to our eating habits too and we are now eating a largely plant based diet. We do still include a very small amount of dairy in our diet. We are also on a path to trying to minimise our sugar intake. We are basically trying to have a healthy diet. The reason we tell you about this in our profile is because we provide travelers who stay with us in the capacity of Workaway with their daily meals, so we try to prepare people who might be interested in staying with us before they make any inquiries.
  
  We also enjoy music and have various instruments and we enjoy hearing other's play and when the opportunity presents we also like playing music with other's. There is no pressure for people to have an interest in music, we only mention this as it might hold some appeal for musically minded people.
  
  We ask for the standard 20 hours of help per week in exchange for accommodation and meals. Whether you come to us with lots of skills you have previously learned or not, we don't mind, as long as you come with a great attitude to give tasks a go and have a willingness to lend a helping hand; we will be happy!
  
  We are located close to The Great Ocean Road and there are opportunities to explore the local surrounds. As mentioned there are two ferries close by, one which travels between Geelong and Melbourne city and the other which travels between a neighbouring town Portarlington and Melbourne City. Both ferries are an offardable way to reach us from Melbourne. There are also other forms of public transport like the train and the bus. If you catch the ferry to Portarlington we are happy to pick you up from the port.
  
  We have a cute retro caravan which is a quiet hangout and home away from home for a Workawayer.
  
  We like to stick to a routine because we have a very busy life with three children in high school and we are juggling several jobs. Basically, we need you to go with our flow.
  
  We are flexible with factoring in plans and outings our Workawayers would like to make during their stay with us. We support you in seeing as much of our surrounds as you would wish to explore. This is your opportunity to immerse yourself in the beautiful place where we live. Communicating plans with us and making regular offers to help are the main ingredients needed to make everything run smoothly.
  
  We are happy to act as a sounding board with traveling plans and possibilities based on our own experience and based on information exchanged with our previous workawayers. We have also helped some of our Workaway travelers source cars cheaply for their travels.
  
  We like to start off with offering a one week stay and see how we get along beore committing to a longer stay.
  
  We look forward to hearing from you.
  
  We prefer enquiries from singles. We will accept enquiries from couples and will try and accommodate all enquries wherever possible.
  
  Wishing you happy travels!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  General Maintenance

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help with Eco Projects

  Help around the house

  Animal Care

  Help with Computers/ Internet

  Teaching
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You will get to live in a lovely part of Victoria, on the beach of our Port Phillip Bay, 30 mins drive from wonderful surf beaches, local walks and cycle paths abound and there are a heap of really nice places within easy reach of a days return drive. Torquay Bells Beach, the You Yangs, Geelong,
  A ferry goes to Melbourne from nearby Portarlington and another ferry goes from nearby Queenscliff to Sorrento on the other side of the bay. Both are reasonably priced.
  Lots to explore on your time off.
  We have various bikes and other wheeled vehicles which you may use, plus snorkeling gear, surfboards, tennis rackets and camping gear etc etc, just the usual family clutter.
  During your hands on helping time you will get to hang out with both ends of the age scale. Both parents are self employed and work around the children and if things pan out that way we would love you to babysit occasionally.
  If you come to stay with us you will see a busy household where lots of different things happen to give us a pretty average but very open and happy life with three lively young Australians to entertain you thrown in!
  You will get a sense of their lives and see the world through their eyes whilst you enrich their lives with glimpses into your world.
  Clive came to Australia from the UK when he was 23 as a backpacker and found work, love and a life full of adventure which saw him living in Darwin, Aboriginal communities, New Zealand and Victoria. There may be a thing or two, as we say, that you may relate to Clive about.
  Sandy is first generation Australian with her two parents who migrated to Australia separately from Germany. Sandy has done her share of traveling, she travelled to America as an exchange student for a year and stayed with 5 different host families in that time and was in the music Industry mostly touring to different parts of the East Coast of Australia with bands.
  Both Clive and Sandy love music and Clive plays one instrument or another (none of them very well he would say, but other's would disagree and say he is great) and Sandy loves to sing any time Clive is in the mood to play an instrument. Although Clive detests playing publicly, the odd Workawayer has when the mood strikes Clive, heard Clive and Sandy play and sing the occasional song.
  For animal lovers, we have two dogs, both adopted, one a rescue Greyhound, Basil and the other a Brittany Spainiel, Hercules. Both dogs are about 7 years old. You are welcome to take the dogs for a walk whenever you like, they will love you forever!

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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

  The work will be some kind of hands on work, where administrative, building/maintenance/gardening skills will be needed.
  
  We work project to project and we will gladly provide more information on specific projects when Workaway inquiries come to us.
  
  Some upcoming projects include:
  - Repurposing an existing garden bed for a new productive vegetable patch
  - Fitting out an Outdoor Room which is the home of our beloved Greyhound Basil to also become to a productive Green House, Drying Room and General Garden Shed
  - De-Cluttering & Clearing out space under the carport to create an AlFresco Area/Chill Out Zone/Home Gym
  
  We really need inquiries from people who don't mind turning their hand to a variety of activities which will help keep the main tasks being undertaken by us to run smoothly.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  A private room/caravan.

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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?

  One

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4 hours a day, 5 days a week

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