In 2016, Larry & Sue left their jobs at a five-star resort on Hayman Island and began full time traveling around Australia. They’re still on the road, happily traveling, working and house sitting their way around this big country.
When we first began full time caravanning around Australia five years ago, we signed up to Aussie House Sitters, unsure if we would get picked to house sit as we had no previous experience. On the contrary, we began receiving more offers than we knew what to do with.
Within a short space of time, we got our first message from Carol, asking us to farm sit her painted horses and chickens on the Mid North Coast of NSW. We arrived a few days early so Carol could show us the ropes, as not having much horse experience we had no idea what painted horses were. Were they some kind of farm art? Nope, it turns out they are beautiful, pedigree horses, so to be trusted with these special pets on our first gig was amazing.
Our main job was to move the horses to different paddocks. How hard can that be right? Open a gate and they trot through? Well, the stallion had other ideas, it literally ran rings around us. Remembering what Carol instructed, I did a bit of shouting and my first whip cracking, while Larry did some running, ducking and weaving. With laughter and relief, we finally moved him through the gate. The horse that is, not my husband.
Feeding the chooks and collecting their eggs was an added bonus. Being a ‘Jack of all trades’, Larry was happy to fix a gate, repair a water leak and build a trellis for Carol's tomatoes. Carol was thrilled on her return and we couldn't have been happier with how our first house sitting experience went.
After our first adventure, we realised that farms were our kind of house sit. With that in mind we accepted our second sit was on a farm with a horse, chooks and cats. Here we learned to look after an off-grid property, checking batteries and solar power as well as caring for the pets each day.
A shouse (shed-house) is where we met delightful old Diesel dog, a field full of cows and a timid rescue cat. One of our best moments house sitting so far was when this rescue cat came out from hiding after 2 days and began snuggling up to us and following us around until we left.
Another sit required us to look after a beautiful dog in North Eastern Victoria. The property was an old olive farm set on a hill with stunning lake views. It was a real pleasure to stay here as the owners gave us homemade preserves as well as leaving home made pizza bases for us to use in their outside pizza oven. I won’t go in to the three monster huntsman spiders and micro bat that were also taking up residence there.
At another off-grid property on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, we cared for Zephyr, a playful dog who loved the beach so we took her often. She became so fond of Larry that when her owners came home and called her name, she went straight to Larry instead.
It’s not only saved us money on park fees but more importantly, it’s given us the opportunity to look after a menagerie of different animals as well as meet their lovely owners.
Many thanks to Sue & Larry for sharing their wonderful story with us!
Get in touch with your own house sitting story and a selection of photos via creativecontent@aussiehousesitters.com.au and you too could be featured on the Aussie House Sitters blog!
We have been honoured to have been able to stay at some amazing homes and meet some amazing people who are now special friends and almost family. Kevin and Pam
Aussie House Sitters is a big fan, and corporate supporter of RSPCA Australia, who do extraordinary work 24/7 for pets and other animals nationwide.
