Join our family and take part in meaningful projects in coastal Belgian Gardens, QLD, Australia

Detalles

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  Descripción

  Welcome, travellers :)
  
  We are a family of two adults, Jason and Olga, one energetic toddler Tem and a now mostly elusive cat Bubbles, who used to love lounging on laps before our toddler appeared.
  
  We live in a lovely part of Townsville; Belgian Gardens is one of Townsville's most loved suburbs: leafy, walkable, and just minutes from The Strand (our beautiful beachfront promenade), local cafés, and the Magnetic Island ferry. We are at the edge of tropical North Queensland, with the Coral Sea, the Wet Tropics, and the outback all within striking distance. In the dry season (May–September) it is genuinely one of the best places in Australia to be outdoors, while the wet season is a glorious time for different reasons, but is better suited for those more heat tolerant :)
  Our house backs onto Castle Hill and walking tracks, while we are a 5min bicycle ride away from the foreshore and 10min ride (or 5 drive) away from the Jezzine Barracks, which is a cool outdoor space for gatherings, occasional events and the start of the Strand. There is a skate rink within a 5min walk which our toddler absolutely adores. We also have a swimming pool and about to set our (chest freezer) ice bath back up and running.
  
  Our house is larger than we need but it also needs a bit of love, which we’re trying to fill with community effort. Our dream is to make it sustainable, as off grid as you can, in a city environment, and as welcoming of a space while keeping the options for quiet peaceful recharge.
  
  We're largely plant-based and gluten-free, and we have a large kitchen that was made for sharing. We love cooking and eating together, and we'd genuinely welcome someone who brings new inspiration to the table — a recipe from home, a technique we haven't tried, or just enthusiasm for making something good from scratch. We also host weekly potluck dinners and in the cooler months, we add regular backyard bonfires to the rotation. This is our way of building community- a regular gathering of locals, to share, connect and plan. You will meet people from a variety of backgrounds, giving you an insight beyond the backpacker circles. Most of us are quite well travelled so sharing adventure stories is a favourite topic- in fact, pre-child, this was exactly what most of our weekly bonfire gatherings used to be about.
  
  We care deeply about living lightly — in how we eat, how we move through the world, and how we tend the land we live on — and we're happiest sharing space with people who are on a similar path, or genuinely curious about what that looks like in practice.
  
  We invite you to join our family for the duration of your time here- sharing our home, food and stories. We ask for 3-4hrs of help with our projects and household minding per day for up to 5 days a week in exchange.

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  Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Proyectos artísticos

  Práctica de idiomas

  Ayuda en proyectos ecológicos

  Jardinería básica

  Proyectos creativos DIY «hazlo tú mismo»

  Cuidado de niños y juegos creativos

  Cocinar para toda la familia

  Ayuda doméstica

  Mantenimiento básico
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  Intereses

  

  Vegetariano o vegano

  

  Sostenibilidad

  

  Autodesarrollo

  

  Política / justicia social

  

  Escritura

  

  Fotografía

  

  Jardinería

  

  Cocina y alimentación

  

  Yoga / bienestar

  

  Navegar / barcos

  

  Actividades al aire libre

  

  Naturaleza

  

  Montaña

  

  Senderismo

  

  Fitness

  

  Baile

  

  Ciclismo

  

  Acampada

  

  Deportes de aventura
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  Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  We're trying to make our new home a meeting space: at this point through weekly potluck dinners and backyard bonfires with people from many walks of life. You will meet people from a variety of backgrounds, giving you an insight beyond the backpacker circles. Most of us are quite well travelled so sharing adventure stories is a favourite topic- in fact, pre-child, this was exactly what most of our weekly bonfire gatherings used to be about. For reference, we have previously travelled and hosted via couchsurfing, warmshowers and the old-fashioned couchsurfing way of meeting people randomly in person before being invited to stay; Workaway is just another platform we are now trialling to connect through in this new, temporarily grounded, phase of life.
  
  We have decades of experience in varied fields: from environmental policy and waterway restoration to expedition racing, from freediving to psychology, risk management, climbing, yoga, meditation, movement, writing, dancing, slack lining, flying helicopters, and now discovering parenting. All of these are up for sharing, in story form at the very minimum.

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  Proyectos con niños

  En este proyecto podría haber niños. Para obtener más información, consulta nuestras directrices y consejos aquí.

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  Ayuda

  We're looking for people who want to genuinely contribute — though we'll always match tasks to your skills, experience, and energy. Our main areas:
  
  Food garden — We're designing and building our productive food garden from scratch. Green thumbs welcome, but enthusiasm is enough.
  
  Landscaping & garden — Our garden has plenty of scope for someone who loves being outside and working with their hands. We're also dreaming of a future creek and reserve revegetation project on the community space next door to us — if you're passionate about ecological restoration, bring your energy, or at least ideas.
  
  Childcare & family life — Helping with Tem is one of the most valuable things anyone can offer us. We're not looking for a professional — just someone warm and engaged who genuinely loves being a big kid and helping him discover the world while we catch up on housework. Available slots: mornings or evenings Tuesday–Thursday (after daycare), or more flexibly Friday–Monday.
  
  Kitchen collaboration — If you love cooking and want to swap ideas, techniques, or recipes from your own culture or background, you'll find a very willing audience here.
  
  Handy projects — There is scope and plenty of choices of real, satisfying help here. Current projects include installing wardrobes, replacing windows, sanding floors, redesigning sections of the house. Longer term projects: creating a bouldering wall. Enthusiastic beginners welcome for anything we can guide you through ourselves.
  
  Occasional Pool maintenance — No more than an hour per week. We'll show you everything.

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  Idiomas

  Idiomas hablados
  Inglés: Fluido
  Ruso: Fluido
  Ukrainian: Intermedio
  Francés: Principiante
  Indonesian: Principiante

  Este anfitrión ofrece intercambio de idiomas
  While we are an English speaking household, we're aiming to raise Tem to at least understand Olga's mother tongues (Russian/Ukrainian). We've dabbled in other languages while living abroad, so any refreshers, or to be honest, any exposure to different languages is welcome!
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  Alojamiento

  We offer a large private room with its own entrance and a shared bathroom. There's currently a double bed there but we're planning on upgrading in the coming months, so if you’re applying as a couple, that could be the nudge we need to do it sooner rather than later!
  
  Full pool access.
  
  A home gym, and eventually an outdoor one once we build the deck.
  Shared meals from a largely plant-based, mostly gluten-free kitchen (3x meals a day). Please note we won't have capacity for cooking you separate meals, but if you have food allergies, we are more than happy to accommodate.
  We have bicycles to borrow.

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  Un poco más de información

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    Acceso a Internet

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    Acceso a Internet limitado

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    Tenemos animales

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    Somos fumadores

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    Puede alojar familias

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  Puede acoger a nómadas digitales

  Our internet is adequate for non- data heavy work; if you're staying for a while and need that, it's possible to accommodate with some notice, we just haven't needed to yet. We are more than happy to accept families with up to 2 kids (this limitation is mostly due to space and number of available toilets in the house!). Jason currently works from home 3 days a week and hangs out with Tem for 2 while Olga works 5 days. We either work around the house or try to go away camping on weekends. You will be welcome to fit in around the week as works best for everyone; plus you'll be welcome to come camping with us. We can accept workawayers travelling in campervans, but there is only street parking available, so you'd be living with us, rather than in your campervan. Unfortunately as our cat is fairly antisocial with other animals, we won't be able to accept anyone travelling with pets.

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  ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

  Dos

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  Mis animales / mascotas

  Bubbles

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