Susan & Denis

New Zealand
Login to see last activity

Badges (4)

Photos

View all

Give the gift of Workaway

Profile information

Travel information
We are currently
At home
Description
We are a married couple, both recently retired school teachers. We are enjoying great health, have a love of travel and meeting people and are looking to have more adventures. We have an extensive, organic, home vegetable garden and orchard, as well as chickens, on a lovely hill-side overlooking Tasman Bay in Nelson, New Zealand. Denis has just recently built a studio in the garden, as well as a greenhouse and potting shed, so we can spend even more time enjoying our garden environment. We are committed to environmentally-friendly practices like composting, collecting seaweed for fertiliser and recycling and repurposing materials for making garden structures. Other interests we share are: hiking, cycling, boating (rowing, kayaking and sailing), camper-van trips, reading and cooking. Denis has recently built our own St Ayles coastal rowing craft, which is crewed by 5 people, using 4 metre oars. He is an experienced and qualified rowing and sailing coach and is keen to share his knowledge of rugby if you have a local team needing assistance. Sue enjoys preserving the fruit from our orchard and is an amateur wine and liqueur maker. Sue studied French at university and is keen for the opportunity to immerse in French language and culture. We have three married daughters and now four young grandchildren who give us a lot of pleasure.
We travelled to France in 2018 and worked at 4 different locations with Workaway. Most of our work involved gardening, both vegetable and ornamental. Denis completed a number of building projects including a trellis pergola/gateway and a large tree-house. We enjoyed our experiences so much we returned to France again in 2019.
Interests
Water sports
Van life
Sustainability
Sailing / Boating
Politics / Social justice
Plant care
Outdoor activities
Nature
Music
Movies & TV
Gardening
Languages
History
Hiking
Events & social
Drawing & painting
Dancing
DIY & crafts
Cycling
Culture
Cooking & food
Carpentry
Camping
Books
Beach
Languages spoken
English: Fluent
French: Fluent
German: Beginner
Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
Some knowledge of:
Eco Projects
Art Projects
Able to teach about:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
More details about your skills
Gardening, building, general maintenance, teaching, cooking, sports coaching
Age
70 & 69
What else ...
We are well-travelled, flexible and adaptable. We would prefer to have self-contained or separate accommodation as a couple. We pride ourselves as competent self motivated managers, so feel free to discuss work required, give us the appropriate tools and point us in the right direction. We will get the job done!
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
- Special dietary requirements

Website Safety

Feedback

23 Jul 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

Sue and Denis are just incredible. There is nothing in the garden they cannot do. They fly thorough jobs with expertise. Their combined skill set meant they worked together or separately fulfilling everything on my 'to do' list. They are both solution focused and came up with ideas that fixed problems, improved issues and sorted situations… read more

(Excellent )

19 Jul 2019

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Help with some general ...)

The prospect of a real island experience so close to central London was a must for us this workaway trip, and in all respects proved a truly delightful experience. Sue was a warm and welcoming host, generous with her time and knowledge of local life and attractions, providing great food and hospitality, plus we were fortunate to spend most of our… read more

(Excellent )

25 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Help with small building ...)

We felt instantly welcome on arrival at Brigitte’s beautiful character-filled country house in the small village of St Jory las Bloux. Brigitte has a lovely, low key manner to hosting her workaway visitors and while we worked hard and achieved some good results for her, with some house renovations and maintenance tasks, nothing seemed too… read more

(Excellent )

25 Aug 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

Sometimes it's hard to leave real friends, even if we've known them for a week. Lots of laughs, sharing with my family and friends, cooking contests and and many help.
I love them a lot.
Un couple que je recommande à toutes les familles.

(Excellent )

14 Aug 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

Sue & Denis,the Kiwi's are really hard working and enthusiastic in all they do,tackling any job that was asked. They cleared and tidied area's of garden in no time at all. A vision of a full size girraffe actually happenend when Denis added a head,ears,body ,legs and tail. See photo in our gallery. The jungle area is taking shape !
There was never… read more

(Excellent )

14 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Learn about growing ...)

We received a warm welcome from Mick and Janet and were provided with cosy accommodation in their self contained traditional Brittany house at the front of their property. It was satisfying to contribute our input to our hosts’ dream lifestyle . The work was quite demanding but well within our capabilities. Some parts of the garden had yet to be… read more

(Excellent )

View all

Photos

Show all photos

Friends

Feedback

23 Jul 2019

Left by host for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

(Excellent)

19 Jul 2019

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Help with some general ...)

(Excellent)

25 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Help with small building ...)

(Excellent)

25 Aug 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

(Excellent)

14 Aug 2018

Left by host for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

(Excellent)

14 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Learn about growing ...)

(Excellent)

5 Aug 2018

Left by host (Come and help us around our ...) for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

During their stay with us Denis and Sue have been incredibly creative and efficient in their main mission that was to design and built a treehouse for our grand son Leo ( 4,5 years) , who was here at the start and somehow communicated with Denis on the project ( We all are looking forward to see Leo discover the final result in a few days) , not a… read more

(Excellent)

4 Aug 2018

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Come and help us around our ...)

Our stay at the water mill in Durtal hosted by Jocelyne and Jean–Claude was perfect, with all the essential ingredients of a great gardening workaway experience. The physical setting was magnificent, with the property positioned on the banks of Le Loir, a major tributary of La Loire, with a grand chateau across the river and the town a short 10… read more

(Excellent)

19 Jul 2018

Left by host (Gardening in Provence, Cote ...) for Workawayer (Susan & Denis)

It was a pleasure and lots of fun to host Sue and Denis for a working holiday in June 2008. Sue,
an experienced and methodical gardener, knows how to use her time productively pruning, weeding and planting vegetables. Denis put his woodworking, recycling and negotiating skills to good account constructiing climbing frames for tomatoes and in the… read more

(Excellent)

11 Jul 2018

Left by Workawayer (Susan & Denis) for host (Gardening in Provence, Cote ...)

Second Visit - June 2019:
We were so looking forward to revisiting our favourite Bormes garden and wonderful hosts Nicky and Mick this year, and again our expectations were exceeded. The garden almost seems to have a life of its own as it continues to change and evolve, and Nicky is definitely the active steward of its development and always has… read more plenty of ideas to work on. This year proved no exception, and our major brief this time was to assist with the completion of a rock retaining wall and laying down of tiles to create a new pickleball court. Together with new friends and fellow workawayers Vera and Jo from Barbados, Col from Canada, and some breakthrough strategies from Nicky and Mick we ploughed into it, learning and developing a few new skills on the way including dry rock walling, tile laying, sand compacting and line fall sand levelling. The barrow brigade of Sue,Vera and Cole did some massive logistical work shifting loads of sand and tiles from the driveway down to the court. Our departure date loomed with the court incomplete, but the team made remarkable progress in the following days to complete a great looking court. Outside work hours we thoroughly enjoyed the kind hospitality of our hosts, and the local attractions of the Cote D'Zur region, making frequent trips to nearby beaches swimming and snorkeling, celebrating our hosts 40th wedding anniversary, and Sues’ birthday with friends, and joining in on festivities programmed in Bormes village including a Medieval festival and flower and dance festival. All such fun, alongside great company, and all with a real feeling of accomplishment of completing another significant garden feature. Many thanks again Nicky and Mick for such an enjoyable stay. We would certainly like to come back and help out again in the future.

First Visit - June 2018:
Our lovely visit to Nicky and Mick's beautiful Bormes home and Grand Jardin was our first Workaway experience and what a wonderful and unique experience it proved to be in all respects. The region itself - the Cote d'Azur -with its warm climate , fantastic coastline and beaches , the distinctive charm of Bormes hillside village, street markets and vibrant culture and unique landscape was pretty special, but equally matched by the exceptional hosting of our generous hosts. We appreciated particularly the thoughtful guidelines to do with work arrangements- starting work early to beat the heat of the day and working uninterrupted until 10.00am, when we met up for daily coffee, croissants and conversation. Work projects were planned, purposeful and varied,and Nicky always talked through the tasks with us, with ideas exchanged and our strengths acknowledged. Sue's knowledge of plants and gardening processes saw her complete a range of specialised jobs round the garden, while my leaning toward building led to completing a trellis wall and gateway alongside other associated landscaping construction projects. This huge beautiful garden is lush and complex , with a life and character of its own and a tribute to the enthusiasm and drive of the owners. It was a treat for us to add our mark to its on-going development.
Nicky and Mick were thoughtful hosts, providing quality self contained accommodation, and transport, knowledge and companionship when accompanying us on trips to local points of interest or the beaches for a swim, as well as hosting occasional shared meals.
We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience and our month here passed quickly. We would love to come back sometime in the near future and renew our acquaintance with our favourite Bormes garden and new friends.

(Excellent)

To leave feedback make sure you are logged in & your account is online