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Evaluación del anfitrión
100 %
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23
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Detalles
Descripción
Our off-grid 36 acre farmstead is just over an hour from Vancouver, but far away from the hectic pace of urban life. Cristal and Stephan work full time in mental health and education, while raising children, cattle, pigs and chickens! We have four children between the ages of 26 and 19; currently only one of them lives at home. We are not afraid of hard work, but we also enjoy the Italian motto of "il tempo giusto". Craft beer, wine and cocktails on one of our outdoor patios round out many a sunny summer evening, while rainy evenings are best enjoyed in the "spa azul" or the "palais de Cristal".
Jade Pond Acres is a work-in-progress: juggling work, family life, animal husbandry, and building additions takes time! We are surrounded by forests and meadows, and a key feature of our farm is the two-thirds of acre fresh water pond -- we swim and boat in the summer, and spend free time around the campfire pit on the sandy shore.
We regularly see deer pass across our pastures, see black bears several times a year, and have seen cougars twice in over twenty years. Coyotes and crows annoy the chickens, but our friendly farm dogs Jasmine and Nala do a good job of keeping them at bay. Our aloof farm cat Salsa is a great mouser.Tipos de ayuda y oportunidades de aprendizaje
Jardinería
Proyectos de construcción y bricolaje
Ayuda en una granja
Ayuda doméstica
Objetivos de sostenibilidad de las NU que intenta conseguir este anfitrión
Intercambio cultural y oportunidades de aprendizaje
Cristal grew up in Mumbai and Dubai before studying in London, Chicago and Montreal. Stephan grew up in Chilliwack, but fell in love with the Francophone world as a teenager and lived in Nice and Montreal for a total of six years before returning to the Fraser Valley. Our children have studied in Germany, France, and Norway, and our entire family values the rich diversity of humanity. We have hosted numerous exchange students for anywhere from two weeks to 5 months.
Meals reflect not only our own multicultural upbringings but also our interest in international cuisines. We also appreciate the 100 mile diet; in fact, we are proud to say that in the summer, we often eat food that comes from within a hundred metres of our kitchen! Given that we are a farm that raises pastured meats, animal proteins feature in our meals; we are unable to honour vegetarian or vegan diets.
Cristal is an expert on hiking the local mountains, while Stephan's ruined knees make him better suited to looking at them. Join one of us, depending on your energy level and mood on any given day.
Your experience in our family would not be the typical Canadian experience, in that our remote Chilliwack River Valley farmstead and our lifestyle is different from urban or suburban living; however, we enjoy sharing what we have and explaining what we do with others, and look forward to welcoming like-minded individuals!
We speak English and some German and French. English is the main language of the household.Ayuda
"Under construction" best sums up Jade Pond Acres. In the short term, fence posts and wire fencing need to be installed, some pathways need to be placed in stamped concrete, and a wood-fired bread/pizza oven needs to be completed. A vegetable garden and small greenhouse need a green thumb, and there is always cooking and cleaning to keep the household going!
Longer term, we would like to develop a walking path around our two ponds, and create a landscaped ornamental garden around one of the ponds (18th century British landscape? Japanese inspired? Who knows?).
We would hope for approximately 20 hours of help a week. Except for July and August, there would be some weekend work and irregular weekday hours, depending on our guests' skill-sets and our own work schedules. During the summer, we work four hours in the morning five days a week and then have the afternoon for relaxing at Jade Pond Acres or exploring the remarkable nature of the Fraser Valley.
You don't need to be skilled, as long as you are a quick learner and willing to work! That's how we learned to build up Jade Pond Acres without prior experience. That being said, you should be willing to learn to operate a tractor and implements, a chainsaw, and a brush cutter, as these are used from time to time.
NOTE: Due to the remoteness of our property and the type of work we will be doing, we are restricting our availability to couples only.Idiomas hablados
Alemán: Fluido
Inglés: Fluido
Francés: FluidoAlojamiento
We have one bedroom available, with a shared bathroom. The bedroom has a queen-sized bed.
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Chilliwack is located in the heart of the Fraser Valley, with many mountains, lakes and rivers within easy driving distance. While you would need a car to be completely independent, or in really good physical shape and happy to jump on a bike to get around, we are happy to drive you either to public transit or to go on trips together. We also just like hanging out at home, and we are sure you will too, once you get to know Jade Pond Acres. For more on our area, simply google "TourismChilliwack" and enjoy the opportunities!
Un poco más de información
Acceso a Internet
Acceso a Internet limitado
Tenemos animales
Somos fumadores
Puede alojar familias
Espacio para aparcar autocaravanas
Este anfitrión puede proporcionar un sitio para autocaravanas.
¿Cuántos voluntarios puedes hospedar?
Dos
Horas esperadas
Maximum 4 hours a day, 5 days a week
Comentarios (13)
That’s how I would describe my stay with Stephan and Cristal and the family for the past 2 months. Everyone you meet is super nice and you will feel welcomed from the first minute on.
The incredible view, stunning nature and of course the hot tub will make you miss the place when you are gone and It will never get boring as there is… read more
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Comentarios
Son opciones de calificación adicionales para cuando los miembros dejan sus comentarios. Se muestra la calificación media dejada en cada opción.
Precisión del perfil:
(5.0)
Intercambio cultural:
(5.0)
Comunicación:
(5.0)
That’s how I would describe my stay with Stephan and Cristal and the family for the past 2 months. Everyone you meet is super nice and you will feel welcomed from the first minute on.
The incredible view, stunning nature and of course the hot tub will make you miss the place when you are gone and It will never get boring as there is… read more
Stephan and Cristal are awesome hosts, the whole family are so generous, warm and have the best sense of humour.
We felt like part of the family from day one - we loved eating lunch and dinner together everyday and hanging out in the evenings and weekends,… read more
We had an absolutely wonderful time and would be back in a heart beat! The work was varied and fun. - we had no prior experience, however Stephan took the time to teach us how to drive a tractor, operate a chainsaw, and use all different tools/equipment… read more
We have made nice trips in the area of Chilliwack like the hikes to the Lindeman Lake or to Elk Mountain. One weekend we went to the river rafting, which was a lot of fun!
On working… read more