Douglas & Lucy

United Kingdom
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Travel information
We are currently
Travelling
Activities we are interested in:
Live in the New Forest in the south of England. Travelling to New Zealand October 23 to February 24. Lucy cannot come out till Christmas so Douglas will be travelling alone October to Christmas 2023
Description
We are two mature professionals (graduates of Leicester and Manchester universities) who have decided to take time out to travel and see the world. We have both raised families and the children have flown the nest, had varied careers and have a basic understanding of Spanish language. We have a cat and like all animals. We live in a Forest (The New Forest) in the south of England.
Douglas is a former army engineer officer and travelled all over the world on construction projects in some pretty interesting situations (Zimbabwe, Belize, Bosnia et al) where initiative and problem solving was essential. He has also worked in telecommunications, construction and water industries. See profile on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglas-lewis-90373914/
This will be his 4th Gap year having worked for a year in an Orphanage in Johannesburg, travelled around Asia and just before Covid in 2019 had 5 workaway experiences in South America which were all good. He has varied construction skills including carpentry, plumbing, electrical cabling and fittings, brickwork and basic agriculture/gardening. He has had experience of working with horses (including military ceremonial horses) and still enjoys being a team player. He stays fit by playing rugby ok that is walking rugby for the over 50s !!!…. , hiking and swimming. My current passion is turning wood on a lathe and making wood furniture/toys. I fell my own wood with chainsaws. I have just finished a 4 year project manager role at the University of Southampton coordinating a pan-European research project into human migration on behalf of the European Commission (EC).
Lucy has worked in customer relations in many industries including pharmaceutical and medical research. During the Covid pandemic she took a sabbatical from diabetes education to volunteer in the Covid vaccinating programme. She has extensive experience of house repairs and maintenance, painting, cooking and child care. Lucy has previously travelled to Australia, South Africa, extensively around Europe and lived in Jamaica as a child. Lucy has recently started to run in 5km events, enjoys hiking and swims. Lucy paints in watercolours and sells her artwork and greeting cards.
We recently have been skiing in France and visited Portugal, Berlin and the west coast of Canada including the Yukon. We have both participated in voluntary work projects in Forests in England.
Interests
Water sports
Van life
Technology
Team sports
Sustainability
Self development
Sailing / Boating
Politics / Social justice
Pets
Performing arts
Outdoor activities
Nature
Music
Mountain
History
Hiking
Gardening
Farming
Events & social
Drawing & painting

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Languages
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner
More details about my language interests
This workawayer has indicated that they would be interested in sharing their language(s) or learning a new language. You can contact them directly to discuss this.
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Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
Charity Work
Some knowledge of:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Life at a Farmstay
Eco Projects
Helping around the house
Animal Care
Hospitality/Tourism
Languages
Art Projects
Able to teach about:
General Maintenance
Teaching
More details about your skills
Douglas is a former army engineer with wide construction experience and practical skills in project management, carpentry, plumbing, minor electrical works, painting and general household maintenance. He has administrative skills, competent with a personal and business computers and wide experience of dealing with customers/clients. He has worked with horses and rides.

Lucy has considerable customer relations experience in various industries. She is competent with all business IT programmes, general administration and house maintenance including painting, gardening etc. She is a competent cook having raised a family.
Age
67 & 60
What else ...
Hobbies include painting (water colours), all music, theatre, current affairs, rugby (now walking), cycling, walking/trekking, skiing,
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  no
- Special dietary requirements
  no

Feedback

6 Feb 2024

Left by host (Enjoy the outdoors and help ...) for Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy)

Douglas was SO helpful. He used his initiative and was a very willing worker. Alan enjoyed his company and greatly appreciated his skills in helping to construct a retaining wall, create steps and restore furniture. Douglas is a real "gentleman". He was great to have staying in our home. We covered several topics of interest to us all in our… read more

(Excellent )

6 Jan 2024

Left by host (Help us with some renovations ...) for Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy)

Douglas was an absolute pleasure to host. He chopped a large volume of wood for us (with a chainsaw) and treated the tools as if they were his own, keeping them clean and well maintained. He even went to the effort of finding a part to fix my Dad's chainsaw which was greatly appreciated. Douglas was respectful and fantastic to chat to. Our young… read more

(Excellent )

16 Nov 2023

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Help us with some renovations ...)

Well what a fun week I had with Melissa, Michael...and the adorable Fergus and Margot. I was in slight trepidation at my wrinkly age of going to a young family but the children have prepared me well to become a Grandfather!!!! They were such fun to be with. I converted a pile of apple tree trunks into fire wood but Michael supplied all the safety… read more

(Excellent )

4 Jan 2024

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Horses,cars, gardens. ...)

I had a fantastic experience with Mandy and Richard who were great communicators even before I arrived in New Zealand ...and Ann their Mother was even better!!!!. I had ten days at their farm just outside of Warkworth working with the horses and doing varying tasks including gardening, log cutting, trailer electric repairs and of course… read more

(Excellent )

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6 Feb 2024

Left by host (Enjoy the outdoors and help ...) for Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy)

(Excellent )

6 Jan 2024

Left by host (Help us with some renovations ...) for Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy)

(Excellent )

16 Nov 2023

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Help us with some renovations ...)

(Excellent )

4 Jan 2024

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Horses,cars, gardens. ...)

(Excellent )

27 Nov 2023

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Help maintain our land and ...)

Rosie and Simon were great hosts. From the time they picked me up from Tauranga bus station and took me back there the week went very fast as they were determined to give me a cultural experience including walking up Mount Maunganui with a picnic supper, the Elms Mission House and the Gate Pa battlefield and supper out. Not forgetting the really… read more

(Excellent )

17 Nov 2023

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Live the dream on a beautiful ...)

Barbara was great at communicating before arriving and kindly picked me up from the bus station as she lives 4kms from Kerikeri bus station.

The house is very informal and comfortable. Barbara is a keen gardener and we had delicious salads from her garden and eggs for breakfast from her chickens. I brought oranges which is like "taking coals to… read more

(Excellent )

14 Dec 2019

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Help us to build a ...)

We contacted Fernando and Adriana at short notice as they were new hosts on Workaway. They were very prompt in responding and provided clear communication all along promising a positive expectation. They collected us at the local bus station and were very hospitable from the start and ……….all through our stay with them.

They live in a stunning… read more

(Excellent )

14 Dec 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy)

This was our first experience of receiving someone through workawey and the truth, exceeded our expectations!
We spent a very pleasant week with Douglas and Lucy, with very pleasant and deep talks where we share life experiences and discovering things in common.
In the moments of work, Douglas very motivated and willing, anticipating the needs, a… read more

(Excellent )

9 Dec 2019

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Help us create a sculpture ...)

Elena is a Warm and Generous Lady who instantly makes you feel at home and very welcome. She has a wonderful sense of humour and so positive about everything. All of this motivated us to help as much as we could. We very much enjoyed erecting her sculptures and she was empathetic to our suggestions. The extended family of the sheep were shared… read more

(Excellent )

12 Nov 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy)

Douglas and Lucy had only one week and now they are very dear and strangers a lot ... Douglas is very friendly, cheerful and sociable, as well as helping us to implement the sauna with very comfortable seats.
Lucy supports me a lot in the kitchen since we had people from the area building a kindergarten and they had to be very well fed.
Thank you… read more

(Excellent )

26 Oct 2019

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Come and help us with ...)

Liesbeth and Fernando were extremely easy to communicate with. Unfortunately we arrived at a very precarious time in local conditions with civil unrest in Chile and therefore could not stay more than a day before they recommended we leave the country which was a huge shame!

Liesbeth and Fernando were incredibly generous in collecting us from La… read more

(Excellent )

26 Oct 2019

Left by Workawayer (Douglas & Lucy) for host (Volunteering on a farm, main ...)

We had a fabulous fun week with Mike and Mara (not forgetting Robin and Augustine ... and Kelfie, Rufus and Pancho the dogs). This is a “Shangri-La” that has to be experienced to appreciate its chaotic magic.

Communication with Mike was easy and he has an impish sense of humour which demonstrates his dual nationality/cultural heritage.

The work… read more

(Excellent )

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