Join us by the sea and be part of family life on Waiheke Island, New Zealand

Infos

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  Description

  Hi workawayers!
  We're looking forward to meeting you :)
  (please be aware that it is currently taking us a while to get through all the workaway applications - so apologies that we are slow to respond)
  
  About us: We are a writer and architect with a girl of 13 and boy of 9, who live in a (mostly) renovated old house overlooking the sea on Waiheke Island, just 35 minutes by ferry from downtown Auckland. We are extremely well-travelled (50+ countries) and welcome people of all cultures and outlooks, and workawayers from any country, culture or religion are welcome to enquire about staying with us. We love animals of all kinds and have a friendly dog, two cats, some free-range chickens, + lots of native wildlife inhabiting our garden. We also have two ponies who live a short way from us (we don't have enough land on Waiheke for them to live on our own land.)
  
  10 years ago we moved here from Auckland city to enjoy a more fulfilling way of life, and be as sustainable as possible. In the process, we became mostly vegetarian (and sometimes vegan). We grow some of our own vegetables and fruit organically but we don't grow as much as we'd like, so your help is appreciated with that. Climate change has made this harder!
  
  Our 100-year-old house often needs repairs and maintenance, and we have a big garden so there is usually a project of some kind underway.
  
  In general, we are looking for either 1 or 2 workawayers to help with a big variety of work such as cleaning/housework, gardening, childcare, painting and possibly building work depending on your skills. We are also interested to host you if you are an experienced horse rider who can teach, to help the kids improve their skills, as we spend 2 hours at our paddock most days with the ponies. (There is a lot of horse talk in our house!)
  
  We also sometimes need our workawayers to housesit on the weekend - and are currently looking for someone or a couple to housesit from 3-11 July (you need to have horse experience as you will be taking care of horses).
  
  For longer stays, we usually prefer people with existing skills such as horseriding/building/carpentry/plumbing/ roofing and gardening/landscape experience (especially those who can use machinery such as mowers and weed trimmers) - so make sure you tell us if you have those skills when you apply.
  
  Waiheke is a beautiful island with lots of wineries, green spaces, bushwalks and wonderful beaches. Dolphins and orca (killer whales) are sometimes seen around the island (in winter especially) and we have lots of native birds. There is a friendly local community and lots of places to do yoga - in fact Waiheke's main yoga centre is just 5 minutes walk from us :) with fantastic yoga and meditation classes available.
  
  Our house is a historic old house with a close-up beautiful view over the water at Anzac Bay. We are close to a main bus route, so you can easily explore the island or get to the ferry to go into the city. You won't need a car to explore most of the island. We also have kayaks you can take out on days when the weather is good.
  
  Your room will be a separate garden studio (with comfy queen size bed) - so you won't be woken by children in the mornings on your days off!
  
  All meals are included in your stay.
  Dinner is eaten together, while breakfast and lunch is on a 'help yourself to items provided' basis.
  
  No smokers please. We eat mostly vegetarian and sometimes vegan food for ethical and environmental reasons, with the very occasional bit of fish (around once a month). If you are vegetarian we will eat fully vegetarian food while you are here; if you are vegan we will eat a mixture of vegan and vegetarian food - you might need to make your own vegan option on occasion. (We usually use plant-based milks and yoghurt anyway and usually only sheep cheese, but sometimes use eggs – however, we do not buy commercial eggs but only use eggs from our own happy very free-range hens.)
  
  We are flexible about workawayer(s) also doing a little part-time paid work in the time you are not helping us, because there is A LOT of casual work available on Waiheke. (Hospitality (cafe/restaurant/barista), vineyard work, gardening, retail, babysitting, cleaning, building.) We can also support you to find a job.
  
  Also – at the end of 2022 we (with some friends) bought 29 hectares of beautiful ex-farmland north of Auckland – we are planning to regenerate it with native forest and started planting the first trees in May 2023. If you are staying with us for more than 2 weeks, we will probably spend one weekend (2 days) up on the land either camping or staying in a local cabin, planting trees and/or removing weeds. There is already some forest on the land and a stream running through it with a beautiful waterfall.
  If you want to be involved in this eco-restoration project please tell us so we can plan to involve you in it :) If you don't like to work outdoors in nature (and maybe in the rain) then it's probably not for you. (Work/helping times on this project is more on a volunteer basis and will probably be longer than the days at our home, but of course you will be helping to offset your own travel to New Zealand by doing it - so the planet benefits :)
  
  Workawayers usually stay between 1-4 weeks with us, depending on their skills and the time of year. (Shorter stays in summer, longer in winter. In winter we prefer a 2-week stay.)
  
  We hope to hear from you soon :)

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  Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre

  Bénévolat

  Projets artistiques

  Aide avec des éco-projets

  Enseignement

  Jardinage

  Bricolage et construction

  S’occuper des animaux

  Baby-sitting et jeux créatifs

  Cuisine/repas pour la famille

  Aide à la maison

  Entretien général

  Home sitting
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  Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre

  You will experience everyday life in a New Zealand family in a non-city environment, practise your English (if you are a non-native speaker), and learn about a variety of things, such as sustainability, gardening and cooking. Note that we are actively working to reduce our carbon footprint and prefer workawayers who are interested and motivated to be sustainable as possible.

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  Projets impliquant des enfants

  Ce projet peut impliquer des enfants. Pour en savoir plus, consultez nos directives et conseils ici.

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  Aide

  For single workawayers, a lot of the help will be gardening and cleaning help, with some cooking, animal care, activities with the kids, and general help around the house. There may be an occasional art project (with the kids or mural to be created). Workawayers experienced with horses are welcome especially if you can teach (Ludo is learning to rise to the trot, Pia can do low jumps). (If you are small and light (under 55kg) and an experienced rider, you may also be able to occasionally ride one of our ponies.) Or if you are experienced with young horses, we have a very cute and funny 3yo ex-wild pony.
  If you are 2 people, additional chores will include more gardening, painting, and possibly building, depending on your skills.

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  Langues parlées

  Anglais: Courant
  Espagnol: Débutant
  Français: Débutant
  Italien: Débutant
  Swedish: Débutant

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  Hébergement

  Your room will be a private, comfortable guest studio in the garden (so you can sleep in on your days off without noise from the kids :-)

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  Autres infos...

  Workawayers staying with us will get lots of English language experience - especially from our chatty kids, and I have also worked as an English language tutor so can offer you help too. You can also learn about organic gardening, sustainability and cooking.

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  Informations complémentaires

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    Accès Internet

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    Accès Internet limité

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    Nous avons des animaux

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    Nous sommes fumeurs

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    Familles bienvenues

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  Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads

  Happy to have digital nomads stay and help, in between doing their work.

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  Espace pour garer des vans

  We have space for a campervan (but you don't need to sleep in it! :)

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  Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?

  Deux

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