Stay and play on our family farm in Taranaki, New Zealand

Detalles

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  Descripción

  New Zealand is known for it's production of world class dairy products, and Taranaki in particular is a strong and traditional dairying area. Come and see what it is all about straight from the cow!
  
  Having hosted over 100 workaways pre- covid - we are now putting ourselves back into the programme and look forward to meeting you.
  
  We are a mid forties couple living and working our 360 cow conventional dairy farm. Ian works full time on the farm. I (LeAnne) am a self employed accountant who divides my time between my at home office working with clients, and the farm, working with animals.
  
  We have 3 dogs who are a bit of a handful and quite enthusiastic. We are 6km to the nearest small town of Inglewood and 20 minutes to New Plymouth (the nearest city.) You must love dogs to be here as all of our dogs are very friendly loving pets. They are part of our family and they do live inside.
  
  There is a local park around 2km away called Everett Park with a bush walk, river access, and a small smattering of glow worms which come to life at night. Mount Egmont is visible on a clear day from the dining room window, and offers a host of fantastic treks of all lengths, difficulties, and views. There are also many local museums which give insight on what life was and is like in the Taranaki region, as well as many dedicated to farm equipment throughout the ages. There is never a shortage of things to do and learn here!
  
  The farm is a mixture of contour with views to die for. It is dotted with islands of natural bush and is a haven for loads of bird life. Workaways have helped bring some of this landscape to life by helping plant native grasses, shrubs, and trees, and clearing invasive plants.
  
  We have a mix of young ponies and horses that belong to my mother mostly. They can be handled but we reserve this for experienced horse people only. LeAnne is busy breaking in a youngster at a time when she has time but we are not an "equestrian center" with most activity centered around the cows (and dogs!)
  
  We enjoy entertaining and pride ourselves on great food and hospitality. We raise most of our own meat on the farm (beef, lamb, veal and occasionally some pork and venison) LeAnne loves to cook and share food - so expect good hearty meals made from scratch with love. We tend to center our lives around the kitchen with general conversation and banter. We can cater for vegetarians and other diets if we are given notice.
  
  We lead an active busy lifestyle and when not farming we volunteer for a few local charities which you would be welcome to get involved in.

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  Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  Trabajo de caridad

  Ayuda en proyectos ecológicos

  Jardinería

  Construcción y bricolaje

  Cuidado de animales

  Ayuda en una granja

  Cocinar para toda la familia

  Ayuda doméstica

  Mantenimiento general
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  Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje

  We are a well travelled couple who grew up in Taranaki but have lived all over the world. We take pride in the place we live and are looking forward to sharing our experience and knowledge with others.

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  Ayuda

  Generally:
  
  Looking for a variety of skills - any help is good help! Anything from feeding animals, gardening, riparian and sustainability planting projects, cooking/preserving and help around the house. We are busy people and there is something always going on around us on the farm, everyone is expected to pitch in when needed.
  
  Over the winter months (May/June/July) we focus on farm maintenance - repairing, cleaning, tidying, weed spraying, water blasting, scrubbing and preparing for the coming season. The dairy season winds down in May for us and most of the cows go on a winter holiday. Everything is about getting things in ship shape for the coming season.
  
  August - September are our busiest months of the year with the herd calving (having their babies) We farm big days here and look for all round help to keep things clean, help with calves and general farm labour. Also additional help in the house would really be appreciated if farming is not your thing - anyone who wants to keep house, cook and keep up with the housework would be hugely appreciated over calving time (and you get to stay in the dry and warm!)
  
  October - December we are in full swing of farming, Milking twice a day, making sileage, feeding calves and cows and generally keeping things running.
  
  Jan - March things start winding down. Calves are now weaned and we get nicer weather and summer activities of making hay and seasonal maintenance. This is where we focus on weed spraying as well.
  
  We are looking for physically fit people with energy and enthusiasm who wish to learn what NZ farming is like.
  
  Most workaway help is done in the mornings and workawayers help and get to see day to day farming life up close from Monday to Friday leaving you free to explore in the afternoons and weekends. We are happy to be flexible if you have day trips and activities planned.
  
  We've embraced the workaway philosophy, we have full time staff to manage the day to day running of the farm, so the workawayer's help is for the extra activities and projects we have and a chance to experience and understand dairy farming.
  
  We are pretty good with those who are not strong English speakers - attitude makes up for everything. So long as you are prepared to learn and be patient with us - we do get there in the end!
  
  We recommend you plan to stay at least a week to get the feel for the place - obviously you can stay shorter or longer by arrangement. Most of our previous workawayers have stayed 10 days and wished it was longer!

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  Idiomas hablados

  Inglés: Fluido

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  Alojamiento

  Accomodation is within the main house in the "older" end if the house. It is due for a rennovation (another project?) it is clean and each room has it's own heatpump so it is warm and cosy. We currently have two spare bedrooms that share a bathroom both set up with king single beds. One of the king singles has a trundle bed that can be set up as a queen.

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  Algo más...

  The Taranaki Region of New Zealand was voted the second best region in the world to visit by Lonely Planet and has won New Zealand's sunniest place two years in a row. In our opinion it is New Zealand's best kept secret.
  
  And no wonder, with mountains. beaches, incredible landscape, world class art galleries and museums- there is something for everyone. If you are into walking, scenery and the outdoors- then this is the place for you. Fairly untouched and off the usual "tourist" track - the region is (in our opinion) one of the best areas of New Zealand travel.

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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

  We have Starlink internet - so it's pretty good. It does occasionally drop out - but we can use for most things.

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  Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas

  Plenty of space to park

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  ¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?

  Dos

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  Horas esperadas

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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