Kersten & Donald

New Zealand
Login to see last activity

Badges (3)

Photos

View all

Give the gift of Workaway

Profile information

Travel information
We are currently
At home
Description
UPDATE***08/09/19
My husband Donald has now joined me for the last few months of travel. We are currently in Spain heading to Morocco for a week then heading back to Ireland or UK at the end of this week. Looking to work for 2 weeks together in either of these places in the countryside.
Donald is very fit and your typical NZ handyman having helped our builders build 3 houses and renovate 1. He has recently been building and guiding tramping clients in the NZ great outdoors.
We are both happy to turn our hands to anything and love s challenge!!

April 2019
Greetings from New Zealand
I am great believer that there are windows in life for everything so I am grabbing this opportunity for another period of extended travel.My husband and I are used to a busy, noisy, hospitable house with 3 children, lots of friends and relatives staying and a big garden that I love working in. As the children are now leaving home I find that this is one of our windows. It is so exciting to be looking on this site and imagining all the possibilities!! I will be travelling on my own and am not set on where I want to go as I feel the job/host family profile will dictate where I am drawn to.Hence I have ticked lots of countries.
I am very friendly, enthusiastic, relaxed and positive. I love the outdoors and prefer smaller country places to cities for an extended period of time. 3 years ago we spent a month in South Africa and Kenya. This had been a lifelong dream as we are both avid Wilbur Smith fans!! Prior to this a friend and I had a fortnight in Tibet. It was a very last minute purchase and was the first time both of us had had an extended holiday without children. Utter bliss sums it up!! No stress and no responsibilities. Our biggest worry was what to wear and what to have for breakfast!!In the summer I spend a lot of time in/on the water as my family loves snorkelling, kayaking, boating and swimming. I am used to basic living as we do a lot of camping and tramping.
I feel I can turn my hand to anything as I have had a wide variety of jobs. At present I have an awesome job in a primary school (children aged 5-11). I am receptionist, 1st aider and comforter to 240 children, I pay the accounts and taxes, take the children swimming at lunchtimes and organise things behind the scenes to help ensure things run smoothly for the teachers. They have very kindly given me 6 months off work so that I can travel and meet lots of lovely new people. Before this I owned a gift shop for 8 years and prior this I worked with a tree crops consultant
doing all the office duties and helping out with planting, managing the tree supply requirements and harvesting a variety of olives/nuts in the busy season.
Interests
History
Gardening
Books
Outdoor activities
Water sports
Sailing / Boating
Yoga / Wellness
Camping
Beach
Hiking
Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
Gardening
DIY and building projects
Babysitting and creative play
General Maintenance
Creating/ Cooking family meals
Life at a Farmstay
Helping around the house
Animal Care
Hospitality/Tourism
Charity Work
Languages
Teaching
More details about your skills
I enjoy meeting and interacting with people of all ages and nationalities. In New Zealand our main language is English and I would be very happy conversing with my host families if they want me to help with their English.
I have great inter personal skills which is why I gravitate to jobs that are customer service based. Because of my love of hosting and entertaining I am a confident cook and housekeeper.
Seeing children's joy with the simple things in life makes me happy and I enjoy sharing the exploration of the outdoors and my love of books with them. I have a current first aid certificate and am police vetted.
I am very proud of my garden which I do on my own including the chain sawing of branches and painting of fences. We have built three houses and renovated one. This involved a lot of sanding, painting, landscaping and cleanup.
Age
59 & 61
What else ...
I enjoy tennis, watersports, reading tramping and socialising.
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  No
- Special dietary requirements
  No

Website Safety

Feedback

21 Oct 2019

Left by host (Join our friendly family in ...) for Workawayer ()

FANTASTIC couple and loved, loved having Kersten and Donald to stay with us... 2 wonderfully productive weeks and everything you could possibly wish for in terms of initiative, enthusiasm, productivity and great company
We feel very lucky to have meet them both and hope we will now stay firm friends and we were very sad to see them go. A huge… read more

(Excellent )

23 Jun 2019

Left by Workawayer () for host (Come experience an organic ...)

Marco and Sapphire were amazing ! I feel “homesick” writing this as I was lucky enough to be a volunteer at their piece of paradise for 24 nights. They are such a warm, welcoming couple that it is no wonder guests at their B and B come back year after year. The work was very varied and fair. I weeded, cleaned rooms, set up breakfasts, painted etc.… read more

(Excellent )

19 Jun 2019

Left by host for Workawayer ()

Wow! We are so fortunate to have hosted Kersten! We couldn't have asked for a better fit for our Bed and Breakfast and farm. Kersten took on any task with pleasure- weeding in the hot sun, pruning, baking, cleaning, painting, and more. It was such a relief to be able to trust her with the tasks and not have to follow up each time. Her interaction… read more

(Excellent )

14 Jun 2019

Left by Workawayer () for host (Come and help in a large ...)

I felt like I was part of the family from day one. Margaret and Stewart were so inclusive and chatty. This is the right place if you love discussing politics, which I do!! Margaret and I shared many laughs and in depth discussions and much laughter was had at my NZ accent. I had a lovely en-suite room upstairs, excellent food and the work was… read more

(Excellent )

26 May 2019

Left by host for Workawayer ()

An absolute joy to be with. Kersten fitted into our life like a family friend right away. She worked very hard and without direction did everything we asked. We were extremely sad to see her go. She is intelligent, hilarious and just a lovely person. She put up with all my quirks with charm and good grace and I couldn't recommend her highly enough.

(Excellent )

View all