Ellen & Nicholas

Australia & United Kingdom
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Profile information

Travel information
We are currently
Travelling
Description
Hi! We are Elle and Nick, an engaged couple taking a year (or two) out from work to meet new people and see the world.
Elle is Australian, Nick is English, and we met in France just over 8 years ago. We love travelling, food (cooking and eating!) and getting into nature. We're looking forward to workaway experiences where we can learn new skills, get to know our hosts, and show us the local life of new places. We're both active and hardworking - very happy to take on some physical work and kick back for a chat at the end of the day.
Over the last year we have done done five workaways. The first three were in England, one doing housework and gardening, one on a small holding farm, and the last doing more hands-on garden jobs like welding. The fourth we did was in France where we worked as part of a harvest team on a vineyard, and the fifth was in Italy on an olive-harvest team.
Interests
Yoga / Wellness
Van life
Sustainability
Writing
Plant care
Photography
Performing arts
Outdoor activities
Nature
LGBTQ
Languages
Music
Hiking
Gardening
Fitness
Farming
DIY & crafts
Dancing
Drawing & painting
Events & social
Cooking & food
Charity work
Carpentry
Camping
Books
Art & design
Animals
Languages spoken
French: Intermediate
Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn
We're interested in:
Hospitality/Tourism
Charity Work
Some knowledge of:
Gardening
DIY and building projects
General Maintenance
Life at a Farmstay
Eco Projects
Helping around the house
Animal Care
Languages
Art Projects
Helping with Computers/ Internet
Able to teach about:
Creating/ Cooking family meals
More details about your skills
We are both hardworking and reasonably handy people, keen to use our existing skills and learn new ones as we go!

We don't have trades, but have undertaken many minor handy tasks around our homes, and in friends and relatives homes. Jobs we've done include things like room painting, minor plumbing (fixing leaks!), fixing curtain rails, mending cabinetry and furniture, sanding and varnishing wood furniture, putting up shelves, and so on. One of our big projects was turning our van from an old trade van into a camper that we lived in for most of 2021/22!

We have loved every one of our workaway experiences - they have taught us so many different things and introduced us to lots of amazing people. Some of the things we’ve done include: building fruit cages, chopping wood, caring for poultry, pruning trees, planting and staking new trees, beekeeping, general garden maintenance such as weeding, edging and mulching garden beds, painting, welding, harvesting crops, and cleaning machinery.

We're both relatively tech-savvy and are happy to help with computers, websites and social media. We both finished university a few years ago, Nick in Economics and Elle in Business and Creative Writing. Nick speaks some French and Elle is learning (getting there!).
Age
33 & 32
What else ...
We love a good game (cards, board or whatever) and a chat. We're both interested in music, food and learning about other cultures.

Elle LOVES animals, Nick plays a couple of instruments and we both like being active and out in nature.
Some more information
- Smoker
- Driver's licence
- Allergies
  No
- Special dietary requirements
  No

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14 Apr 2022

Left by Workawayer () for host (Happy relaxed household ...)

We stayed with Paddy and Sophie for three weeks in May 2021, and enjoyed every minute of our time with them. We felt like part of the family as soon as we arrived - they are both so welcoming and generous, and their home and land are just beautiful.
We spent our time helping to set up their vegetable garden in time for summer, learning to weld… read more

(Excellent )

22 Feb 2022

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help at a vineyard/winery ...)

We had a ball helping out for three weeks at Caroline and Thomas' beautiful winery during the harvest. We were part of a team of twelve workawayers from all around the world, with English as our common language.

The work was physically intense but really interesting and rewarding. Because we were there for the harvest our days were mostly spent… read more

(Excellent )

16 Feb 2022

Left by host for Workawayer ()

Elle and Nick are just what you want as workawayers! Friendly, hard working, always with a smile and always happy to help (and cook delicious meals!)
They stayed with us for 3 weeks of grape harvest, which is a very busy and at times stressful time of year for our small winery. The work is quite tiring and physical, predominantly outdoors. Nick… read more

(Excellent )

13 Jul 2021

Left by Workawayer () for host (Learn about self-sufficiency ...)

We stayed at the farm with Sasha and Simon for two months in March and April, and our only wish is that we wished we could have stayed longer!
It is a truly beautiful property - the restoration that Sasha and Simon have done is amazing - you would never believe what it was like before they lived there. We settled in to an easy routine straight… read more away working 8:30-1 everyday, and then another half hour in the evenings putting the birds to bed. Every day was different and varied, always feeling satisfied and ready for lunch at the end of work.

Some of the things we did were: took care of the geese, ducks and chickens, composting, planting out raspberries, sand and varnished the dinghy, collecting, chopping and stacking wood, clearing lake weed, bonfires, edging garden beds, helping Helen (the lovely gardener) with various jobs in the garden, pruned apple trees in the orchard, built fruit cages, hedge trimming, cut back brambles, tree planting, assembled bee trays, helped with beekeeping - and the list goes on!

The accommodation is a static caravan that has been clad in wood to look like a little cabin from the outside. Inside it is warm and cozy, full of light and has everything you need! It's completely private, nestled up against the hay store and looking out onto the wooded track that leads to the lake. Often there will be chickens scratching around outside the windows, you can see rabbits and woodpeckers around the trees and sheep in the field - it's idyllic!

Sasha and Simon themselves are wonderful people. They are natural teachers who cared not only about showing us work around the farm, but also about showing why each job mattered as part of farm life, and about making sure that we were learning things that we were interested in too. For example when I told Sasha that I was interested in learning more about foraging and plants, she was always more than happy to spend time showing me the best way to pick wild nettles and where to find wild garlic and alexanders in the spring! Simon also was keen to show us about beekeeping which we found fascinating - he took us to hives that he keep son other farms as well, always happy to explain what he was doing and get us involved!

They (and also Helen!) are great, inspiring and also really interesting people - we feel so lucky to have spent two months on the farm with them all. Couldn't recommend highly enough!

(Excellent )

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14 Apr 2022

Left by Workawayer () for host (Happy relaxed household ...)

(Excellent)

22 Feb 2022

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help at a vineyard/winery ...)

(Excellent)

16 Feb 2022

Left by host for Workawayer ()

(Excellent)

13 Jul 2021

Left by Workawayer () for host (Learn about self-sufficiency ...)

(Excellent)

10 Mar 2021

Left by host for Workawayer ()

Elle and Nick were super Workawayers and we really enjoyed hosting them.
They were both very conscientious and hard working, they never clock watched and wanted to see a task through to completion.
Our dogs absolutely adored them!
Elle and Nick very graciously brought wine to our meals together and we had some very enjoyable evenings with… read more

(Excellent)

25 Feb 2021

Left by Workawayer () for host (Help with puppies and a ...)

We stayed at Liz and Rory’s for three weeks and it was fantastic. They were great hosts - they made us feel comfortable straight away, and really like we could have a home away from home on their property. Mable (the lovely mobile home that we stayed in) is super comfortable and has everything you need. It was absolutely freezing for a number of… read more

(Excellent)

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