Darren & Michelle

Travel information

We are currently

Description

Married fun loving couple, friendly ,outgoing, animal loving, trustworthy and very hard working , Looking to experience more of real life away from all the hustle and bustle of urban living and the 9 to 5 chaos.
Love the outdoors and have the energy and ability to turn our hands to anything with a keeness to learn also.
We spent 2 months travelling the Kingdom of Tonga in 2016/17 which was out of this world and met a lot of great people with very different attitudes on life compared to what we're used too.
Also we were extremely lucky on one of our meetings and were asked if we'd be interested in coming back in 2 months time to take care of an off grid tourist resort on a island with ONLY 20 cats to take care of for a further 2 months .
This would involve maintaining the property and keeping the property safe also with 20 cats we would need to catch lots of fish .So after thinking it through for all of 2 minutes we agreed and 2 months later we were back in Tonga after another 3 days of travel . We had the most amazing time here only needing to do maintenance and mostly security of the property and providing 20 cats with food from the sea . We were left with a small boat and outboard with which we managed with to see a lot of surrounding islands and land some big fish ,which of course was amazing.
Probably not for everyone 😁 but we loved it and longed to experience the different pace of life again.
So when we got home we then discovered workaway and not long after becoming a member we were invited back to Tonga through Workaway this time in 2018 and ended up taking care of another island resort as the owners would be away for the first 4 weeks, this time we would be looking after 2 great dogs and many chickens . Again this was off grid with solar as our only power source and water was harvested by rainfall which all needed daily checks so as to make sure we got the most we could out of mother nature .
During our time there we maintained gardens , mowed grass ,strimed weeds, rotovated beds , collected fallen coconuts and all the other stuff that goes with keeping property tidy also raking beaches and collecting washed in corals and weed to use in some way or another . We kept all fales/accomadions clean and maintained. We also created pathways ,veg gardens made electrical ,plumbing,carpentry and plastering repairs including lots of paint work. Also we made a 2km trail through the bush with several viewing points useing only machetes which was alot of fun .We spent a further 5 weeks when the owners came back and loved every minute apart from a week long cyclone which tore all our hard work to shreds .
In 2019 we were invited once again to house sit another resort for 9 weeks , this time in Panama, here we took care of 2 dogs a cat ,chickens ,rabbits and a toucan ,this again was off grid so all the same stuff again that goes with off grid properties but of course all properties are different but I think the owners review covers mostly everything .
Here we left once again with a few more friends but a little more Spanish
Can't wait for the next one
All destinations will be considered .

Interests

Languages spoken

English: Fluent
Spanish: Beginner

Skills and knowledge we'd like to share or learn

We're interested in:  

Languages

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Some knowledge of:  

Helping around the house

Art Projects

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Able to teach about:  

Gardening

DIY and building projects

Babysitting and creative play

General Maintenance

Creating/ Cooking family meals

Life at a Farmstay

Eco Projects

Animal Care

Helping with Computers/ Internet

More details about your skills

30 plus years as an irrigation engineer/ outdoor watering systems and landscaping . Plus 10 years prior in the building trade ie foundations , shuttering , flooring , plastering , block laying , roofing , carpentry , plumbing , electrical and decorating. I am also an excavator and chainsaw operator and have a passion for landscaping especially where water is involved.
Qualified accountant ,administration, organisation and management skills. Cooking and cleaning, sewing, knitting..
HOME SITTING A SPECIALALITY

Age

54 & 48

What else ...

We have our own motor boat so boat handling and fishing and just being on the water is what we love most. Would love to learn how to sail though. We recently built our own lean-to glasshouse and started growing fruit and vegetables, So far so good :) We've also built a pond in our garden with a bridge and decking and have been creative with rockeries and weaving swing seats . We do all our own work on our property which not only saves us money but can be lots of fun and gives us a lot more satisfaction . Our garden is small though and we're now feeling like our work here maybe done. So we now do workaway where we hope to find the perfect destination.
Again we will consider any destination worldwide.

Some more information

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  Smoker

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  Driver's licence

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  Allergies
  No

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  Special dietary requirements
  No