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Évaluation d'hôte
100 %
Last replied
29 juil. 2025
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100.0 %
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Infos
Description
We are a friendly middle aged couple living on a lifestyle block in beautiful North Otago. Patrick is a retired teacher and Sara is an architect, working from Oamaru. Patrick is recovering from a stroke and usually comes to work with Sara because he has some physical disabilities that he needs support with. We are both relaxed, easy going, intelligent and well read.
Sometimes our good friend Barry lives with us. When he stays with us he works remotely in IT and is Patrick’s personal butler and chauffeur.
Types d'aide et opportunités d'apprendre
Pratique d’une langue
Compagnie pour pers. âgée
Jardinage
Bricolage et construction
Aide à la maison
Entretien général
Centres d’intérêt
Fitness
Activités en plein air
Nature
Randonnée
Soin des plantes
Livres
Musique
Histoire
Dessin et peinture
Langues
Jardinage
Architecture
Cuisine et alimentation
Art et design
Bricolage / artisanat
Ferme
Événements/vie sociale
Culture
Films et télé
Echange culturel et opportunités d'apprendre
Our place is really beautiful and we live a simple kiwi lifestyle. We have travelled overseas and love to meet new people because we are both pretty social.
Our property is in a tiny village which used to be a gold mining town. There are no shops. There is lots of history in the area and lots to see and do. Sara is crafty and likes to sew and make things. We have a small vegetable garden and have started to grow lots of nut and fruit trees. Sara likes to preserve fruit and bake.
Our property is 6 and a half acres or 2.2 hectares. In the winter we sometimes have snow which is exciting. We often enjoy sitting around an outside fire. We have an outside wood fired oven set up so that it can heat an outside bath which is fun when the weather is nice . There are no street lights here so the star gazing is amazing.
Aide
What we are mostly looking for is lively conversation and a friendly face in the mornings and evenings - this is what is important to us.
Patrick is recovering from a stroke and is really keen to return to foreign language learning to help him rebuild his brain and recover his speech. Patrick knows basic French, German and Russian. He is also interested in Spanish. Patrick suffers from fatigue so it would be great to have a hand around the property with some gardening and mowing. We would be looking for someone who can provide some social engagement, or some language practice and a couple of hours in the garden or house daily. It would be great if you can work independently at home on tasks as we can't always be there to supervise you.
Langues
Langues parlées
Allemand: Débutant
Français: Débutant
Russe: DébutantCet hôte propose un échange linguistique
Patrick can speak beginner French, German, Spanish and Russian. Patrick is also interested in Greek, Latin, Arabic and Hebrew. Sara can speak intermediate German. Sara would love to learn to speak Dutch. We both speak English but Patrick is from Scotland so he has great accent. Patrice has a mild speech disability after having a stroke but still loves intelligent conversation.
Hébergement
We have a cosy sleep-out with a queen size bed and nice bedding. The sleep-out is solar powered and has a deck with a great view. It is private from the house and has it's own outside toilet. (No smoking or cooking in the room please but you can make a hot drink there). If you are travelling with someone who you don't sleep with, we can offer a second cute sleep-out which is usually Patrick's office , where the language lessons happen. Because our house is really small we also have a shared outdoor dining room and living area where we spend most of our time. (The sleepout is too far away for WiFi).
In the evenings we often watch a movie or documentary. We like to cook but nothing really fancy - it is mostly home grown vegies and local meat. We sometimes make our own bread. We preserve a lot of fruit from the garden.
Eating food informally with friends and neighbours is a big part of our weekly routine. We often have friends to stay for a night or two. Sara does most of the cooking for the evening meals because she knows what Patrick can eat. Because of this we find it difficult to host vegetarians or people with special diets.
You would need to make your own breakfast and lunch, keep your room clean and change the sheets when you leave. :). We will provide all the food and you can help us with the shopping if you like.
We don't own any animals, but we do have a pet cat called Wendy. Most of our neighbours have animals. Sometimes they graze sheep on our paddock.
Autres infos...
The place we live in is called Livingstone. We live a half hour drive from Kurow and Oamaru and are close to Danseys Pass. We have a couple of bicycles to use and we are near the Alps to Ocean bike route. We go to Oamaru a couple of times a week for shopping and socialising. Our area is well known for its fossils and interesting geology. We are close to the Waitaki Valley and there is a river you can swim in nearby. There is no public transport but we can arrange pickups. Nearby us within about a half hour drive you can fish, kayak, sail, ski, swim, go to the pub and ride a bike.
Informations complémentaires
Accès Internet
Accès Internet limité
Nous avons des animaux
Nous sommes fumeurs
Familles bienvenues
Possibilité d’accueillir les digital nomads
Sara sometimes works from a home office - it has good internet connection via an aerial. We have an an A4 black and white printer at home and an A3 colour scanner and printer in Oamaru. We have had several friends work from here over the last few years.
Espace pour garer des vans
We have a large property and you can choose a fun place to park your own vehicle. We have a 'long drop' toilet in the garden. We may be able to provide power - we can discuss this with you.
Combien de volontaires pouvez-vous accueillir ?
Deux
Mes animaux
Sheep
Sometimes the neighbours graze sheep on our land.
Wendy
Very friendly - loves to be patted, a lot.
Feedback (3)
They communicated very well during the planning phase of the placement, and I knew that we were going to have a mutually successful experience. As arranged, they supported us with work in the garden and in the house and we have also had some lovely tourist adventures together.
At all times we have… read more
They enjoyed having some time to themselves which… read more
Photos
Feedback
Ce sont des évaluations supplémentaires en option lorsque les membres laissent un feedback. La note moyenne pour chaque option est affichée.
Exactitude du profil:
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Échange culturel:
(5.0)
Communication:
(5.0)
They communicated very well during the planning phase of the placement, and I knew that we were going to have a mutually successful experience. As arranged, they supported us with work in the garden and in the house and we have also had some lovely tourist adventures together.
At all times we have… read more
They enjoyed having some time to themselves which… read more
