Ian & Julie

As farm owners we had sitters who cared for our home, gardens, stock & pets for 18 months whilst we travelled around Australia in 2008/9. They even saved our home during the Black Saturday fires & put in a huge effort to recover the place afterwards. We arrived home to find everything better than we ever could have expected.
Our farm was sold, a new home purchased & we are travelling again for 'as long as it takes', .

August '23
We have now completed 6 years of travelling (& 5 northern wet seasons) & have established a record of sits in remote areas in wet season conditions in between our dry season travels & have excellent references if required
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Our last sit/caretaking was for 12 months - a unique opportunity to live in the Iron Range rainforest on Cape York, as well as to 'rub shoulders with visiting researchers with expertise in a range of ecological interests. This was from May '22 to May '23.

August '23 - currently we are back home in Victoria for a spell & unavailable for house sitting until mid to late 2024

*HOWEVER*, before you go

We would like it known that we are keen to find a sit or sits (or property caretaking) in Arnhem Land in 2024 so if that is where you are please drop us a line, we would love to talk to you about any possibilities & to establish contacts to enable an extended stay (another Wet Season would be great!).

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Wet season 2018/19 we spent 7 months caring for an indigenous owned eco resort on the NW Kimberley coast 180kms north of Broome whilst it was closed. We arranged this sit several months before leaving home allowing us to offer the owners certainty around dates & thus their planning. General maintenance, including the water bore, garden care & security via our presence were our primary roles.

Following this we completed a 5 week house & pet sit in Broome, caring for a loveable & active 12 month old Labrador, kept the tropical surrounds tidy & maintained the swimming pool.

Wet season 2019/20 we spent 4 months caring for a 40Ha rainforest /nature refuge property close to Daintree Village, Qld, followed by 5 weeks caretaking & tending a property in Portland Roads, Cape York (including some minor handyman DIY & the roles of temporary Auspost postal contractor (for which a police check was required) , & grass mowing for the entire township). Then 6 weeks caring for a property on the edge of the rainforest with a dog, two cats & swimming pool in one of Cairns northern beach suburbs.
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Sadly Covid brought a premature end to our sit in the Northern Beaches, & put paid to our Cape York travel plans for 2020, but we chose to remain in FNQ & secured a farm-sit in Mutchilba where we stayed for 15 months whilst enjoying the peace & quiet, keeping an eye on 20 Brahman steers, a little handyman DIY, mowing grass & watering a few fruit trees now & then & caring for Gina, a gorgeous Collie/Kelpie cross. We were flown to Portland Roads a second time to again house-sit & take on the 'Postie' role for 10 weeks this time, followed by a two week house & dog sit at Cape Weymouth, close by. We returned to the Mutchilba farm for a couple more months & prepared to explore Cape York in our car & camper.

Our exploration of the Cape commenced in June. During that time we were pleased to be asked back to care for the two loveable hounds near Chili Beach again & following further exploration of the Cape accepted the offer to caretake Moreton Telegraph Station whilst it was closed to campers for a 7 month period from Oct'21 through to May'21. Isolated for the entire period we managed & maintained everything from the airstrip (we became Aerodrome Reporting Officers & approved RFDS medication chest key holders), to the 24/7 diesel power generators, to the extensive lawns, as well as all the usual house & garden care. Subsequent to that we were invited to caretake the Iron Range Research Station near to Lockhart River, Cape York for 12 months. An opportunity to live 'embedded' in this unique rainforest setting which we jumped at. Our first 'back to back' sit.
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So what can we offer you as a home/property owner?

We recognise that choosing a house sitter/caretaker involves trust. We take pride in doing what we say we'll do & letting folk down is something we simply could not contemplate. We are a quiet, non smoking, clean & responsible couple who view it as our duty to respect your property & to care for it in the way you, the owner expects. We expect to maintain & leave a property as we find it if not better. Where possible we hope to have contact with the owner(s) on a regular basis throughout the sit to seek guidance if required & to offer reassurance that all is well. We can however be self reliant if regular communication is not possible.

As farmers we had a property in Gippsland's hills for a couple of decades. I gave up nursing to manage it whilst Julie continued nursing. It was a lifestyle we loved & miss, but the travel bug had bitten. We kept around 30 cows, (raising vealers) 60+ sheep, plus a menagerie of goats (whom we milked), pigs & chooks. Most had names. We always had dogs, pets rather than working dogs. We consider ourselves to be 'dogless' doggie people & having an opportunity to live with someone else's dog(s) for a period of time is something we very much look forward to. I grew up with working dogs - my father was a professional working dog trainer so we also have a good understanding of the wide range of dog ownership styles, & respect them.

We can turn our hands to most things. Household maintenance/gardening, & I am mechanically minded . Small or ongoing DIY projects to keep us occupied are welcome,. 'Pottering' without it being too onerous is preferable to 8 hour days. We are familiar with most common workshop tools & machinery as well as chainsaws, brushcutters, ride on mowers (Incl zero turn), 4wd's, quad bikes, motorcycles & tractors/front end loaders.

We do not expect any payment, but rather an arrangement of mutual benefit.

Our4wd + off road camper trailer gives us some flexibility but included accommodation during tropical wet season conditions is essential.

If you feel we may be the people for you we will be very happy to converse further either by messages on this site, by email or by phone with a view to ensuring that we are a good match for your needs.

Regards
Ian & Julie.