Hello. We are Simon and Monique from Adelaide. Back in 2018 and 2019, we took a 'Mid Life Gap Year' overseas and around Australia, after getting married in January 2018. We used both House Sitters UK and this website during our travels to house / pet sit, which we thoroughly enjoyed! We got to see places we may not have thought to visit and met some wonderful people and animals that we will never forget. We have decided to do house sitting as a way forward to enjoy our holidays, at an affordable cost, plus spend time with some more wonderful animals in locations we might not otherwise visit.
Our time overseas was mostly in Europe - we completed the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, an 800km hike through Spain, spent some time in Portugal and Germany, then a few months of house sitting in various places around the UK which we loved. We also spent 2 months travelling around Kenya, including volunteering at a small school for 2 weeks helping to build a small library - which was a wonderful and rewarding experience. Our last stop was volunteering at a school in Cambodia for 4 weeks teaching kids of all ages English, which was also an amazing experience. We then spent 6 months travelling around Australia, mostly along the East Coast up to the Atherton Tablelands, across to Darwin then back down the middle to home. During this time we also did house sitting, as well as volunteer work through the Workaway website (such as farm sitting on the Sunshine Coast, and working on a garlic and ginger farm near Byron Bay).
Prior to getting married, we both had fairly stressful working lives (Monique in corporate local government and IT Consulting, Simon as a police officer both in the UK and Australia). After our travels, we have simplified our lives, focusing on sustainable living, and are now experimenting with an early retirement.
Before leaving Australia we lived in a small rural community in the bush (where Simon was posted as the police officer), surrounded by sheep stations, fantastic scenery and abundant wildlife.
We are both animal lovers, having had a variety of pets between us which we brought with us into our relationship and created a harmonious animal family. Monique had a beautiful little dog (who sadly passed away a few years ago at age 13), Simon cared for an orphaned goat for 6 years, and also kept chickens whilst stationed in the bush, and a stray cat that adopted us! Simon also has past experience with small pets including rabbits, guinea pigs and hamsters.
Plus since doing house sitting, we have looked after pets of all shapes, sizes and ages, and we've loved looking after all of them!
We are both very active people, Simon is a long distance runner, and Monique enjoys long walks - exercising animals that are active is always a pleasure!
We are both vegetarian (but totally ok with feeding animals meat etc as required), non smokers, clean and tidy and enjoy gardening. We are both responsible and trustworthy and feel we are ideal people for you to entrust with the care of your home and animals. Our own beautiful home in a seaside suburb of Adelaide was rented to some fabulous tenants (we self managed), whilst we were travelling. We also rent out our home occasionally on AirBnB with fantastic reviews. We therefore understand the importance of respecting and looking after other people's homes. Please see reviews for our past house sits on both the Aussie and UK house sitting websites.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Reviews (11)
We can’t thank Monique and Simon enough, they are such lovely people, and did a superb job of caring for our house and dog when we went overseas recently. Our dog is still looking for them around the house and clearly misses them. He has a couple of quirks which they embraced and took him out with them on many adventures. We got back to find the house in immaculate condition, the dog happy and healthy, even the post sorted into categories and left out, They went above and beyond what we ... MOREWe can’t thank Monique and Simon enough, they are such lovely people, and did a superb job of caring for our house and dog when we went overseas recently. Our dog is still looking for them around the house and clearly misses them. He has a couple of quirks which they embraced and took him out with them on many adventures. We got back to find the house in immaculate condition, the dog happy and healthy, even the post sorted into categories and left out, They went above and beyond what we expected, we can’t recommend them highly enough. They are fabulous communicators, both before and during the trip, and made the house sitting experience a pleasure for us. We would have them back in a heartbeat, no doubt we’ll be getting in a queue for their services. Thank you!
JANE (Port Lincoln SA, Feb 2024 - 2 weeks 1 night)
Thanks so much for your kind feedback, we really enjoyed our time in your beautiful home, and Sampson was gorgeous to be around, a real privilege to get to know. We miss him! It was really lovely to meet you and Sharon too, hope to see you again! Thanks so much. X
Absolutely fantastic! Simon and Monique took such great care of our two bordoodles. The dogs love them both, they kept in touch just the right amount and we really appreciated the photos of two very happy dogs! The house was immaculate on our return and we will definitely be looking to have them come again.
ANDREW AND KERRIE (Grange SA, Dec 2023 - 1 week 6 nights)
Thanks so much for your lovely feedback, we had an amazing 2 weeks, and would love to sit again! It was a privilege to stay in your beautiful home and hang out with Flynn and Bless.
Monique and Simon with the perfect Housesitters!. Extremely pleasant to deal with great communication and took wonderful care of my cat, Fish, house and garden. Very clean and tidy and left the house spotless which was so lovely to return home to. Would definitely have them sit again in the future and highly recommend them to look after your home.
KATE (Kensington Gardens SA, Oct 2023 - 1 week 1 night)
Thanks so much Kate. We loved our time in your beautiful home, and Coco was lovely to look after. Hope to see you again 🙏
Monique and Simon are definately worthy of this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating all round. A lovely, friendly and easy going couple, they did a fantastic job looking after our home and animals who were both terribly sad after the loss of one of our dogs only days before they arrived. After meeting them we went on holidays knowing that we were in good hands and we were right. Our home was in perfect condition when we returned and Minnie ... MOREMonique and Simon are definately worthy of this ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating all round. A lovely, friendly and easy going couple, they did a fantastic job looking after our home and animals who were both terribly sad after the loss of one of our dogs only days before they arrived. After meeting them we went on holidays knowing that we were in good hands and we were right. Our home was in perfect condition when we returned and Minnie and Wally in great spirits. Thanks again Monique and Simon
CHRISSY (Nightcliff NT, Aug 2019 - 2 weeks)
Thanks very much Chrissy, we loved hanging with Wally and Minnie in your beautiful home, was a fabulous couple of weeks. X
Monique and Simon were excellent, they communicated very well and I felt comfortable leaving our home and animals in their care. Coming home the house was clean, tidy with bed linen washed and a very happy dog ... who may be missing Monique and Simon a bit! They are welcome back anytime.
KELLY (Holloway's beach QLD, Aug 2019 - 5 days)
Thank you Kelly, we had a fabulous week, just went too fast! We loved hanging with all your beautiful animals, and was great to meet you. Would love to come back again if the timing worked! X
Monique & Simon recently looked after our home and little dog, Jaydee for a long weekend. A lovely kind and thoughtful couple who took great care of Jaydee and left the accommodation in immaculate condition. I would certainly highly recommend Monique & Simon and would be happy to provide any additional information if needed. Thank you.
KATHRYN & MARK (Yungaburra QLD, Aug 2019 - 3 days)
Thank you Kathryn and Mark, we had a lovely weekend looking after sweet little Jaydee, and exploring Yungaburra! Hope to see you all again one day! X
From the moment we spoke with, and met, Simon and Monique, we were confident we had made the right decision and choice for them to mind our home and our two precious Westies - Jock and Pippa - while we travelled overseas on holidays. Their enthusiasm and confidence to handle all that we expected from them came naturally and was executed flawlessly while we were away. An occasional picture of Pippa and Jock and their activities kept us in touch with them, and we never once worried about their ... MOREFrom the moment we spoke with, and met, Simon and Monique, we were confident we had made the right decision and choice for them to mind our home and our two precious Westies - Jock and Pippa - while we travelled overseas on holidays. Their enthusiasm and confidence to handle all that we expected from them came naturally and was executed flawlessly while we were away. An occasional picture of Pippa and Jock and their activities kept us in touch with them, and we never once worried about their welfare, knowing that Simon and Monique were totally devoted to them, and the dogs very much at ease and loving their time with them too. We felt a kinship with Simon and Monique with quite a few things in common, which always helps when you inviting strangers into your home for the first time, and then leaving everything in their hands while away. However, I like the saying that "a stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet," and that's how we felt with Simon and Monique. Upon our return the house was spotless, the dogs happy - I think - to see us, as they had grown fond of them, and everything in perfect order. Simon and Monique bring a mature, confident and eager-to-please attitude to the role of house sitting which is nice to behold, as it's a rare quality, and we have had other house sitters in the past who didn't. As such, we highly recommend, and rank, Simon and Monique as among the best house sitters we've ever had sit for us and we would warmly welcome them back any time, and I know Jock and Pippa would too. We met as strangers, and parted as friends, and that's the best outcome one could ever hope for.
DAN (The Gap QLD, May 2019 - 3 weeks)
Thanks so much Dan and Kathryn, what a lovely, warm and kind review! It was great meeting you both, and we loved every minute looking after Pippa and Jock and your beautiful home. We'll stay in touch! X
Monique and Simon were wonderful to communicate with from the very first contact until our last meeting today. They were warm and approachable and very sensitive to the fact one of our dogs had died only weeks prior to the sit. This made leaving Ringo quite painful for us to leave him (due to long standing plans to visit my elderly mother in Cairns) as we knew he would have some separation anxiety. Monique and Simon were so receptive to his needs (and ours) and he bonded quite quickly with them ... MOREMonique and Simon were wonderful to communicate with from the very first contact until our last meeting today. They were warm and approachable and very sensitive to the fact one of our dogs had died only weeks prior to the sit. This made leaving Ringo quite painful for us to leave him (due to long standing plans to visit my elderly mother in Cairns) as we knew he would have some separation anxiety. Monique and Simon were so receptive to his needs (and ours) and he bonded quite quickly with them I think mainly because they were so warm and friendly. We came back to an exceptionally clean house and a happy and relaxed dog (not easy dealing with a slightly confused 14+ year old dog). We wouldn't hesitate recommending Monique and Simon as housesitters and pet minders and would love them to sit again for us in the future if they're free!
ADELE (Trentham VIC, Apr 2019 - 1 week 3 days)
Thank you again Adele and Michael, it was an absolute privilege to look after Ringo and your beautiful home. Would love to come back again! X
We knew from the moment we met Simon and Monique that we made the perfect choice.
They looked after our poppets for almost 4 weeks and did an amazing job. We received constant little updates with pictures and videos. The House was spotless on our return, even the lawn was cut and the Garden looked lovely.
We wish them all the best for the future and they are already being missed.
SANDY (London England, Aug 2018 - 1 week 2 days)
From House Sitters UK
Monique and Simon are lovely, we highly recommend them. Excellent communication throughout and thoroughly professional. We left them in the care of our brand new puppy and we felt confident and grateful that they were looking after Rosie with love and care. The house was absolutely spotless upon our return. We wish them all the very best on their adventures and hope that they might be able to house sit for us again in future.
AMY (Bedford England, Jul 2018 - 1 week)
From House Sitters UK
Monique and Simon, great people who looked after our home and Pickle fantastically. Excellent communications both before and during their stay, I would not hesitate to recommend them and wish them all the best for their travels around the UK
NEIL (Ottery St. Mary England, Jul 2018 - 1 week 1 day)
From House Sitters UK
Happy pets!
A house sitter provides loving, full-time, home-based pet-care while you're away.
Couple
We can’t thank Monique and Simon enough, they are such lovely people, and did a superb job of caring for our house and dog when we went overseas recently. Our dog is still looking for them around the house and clearly misses them. He has a couple of quirks which they embraced and took him out with them on many adventures. We got back to find the house in immaculate condition, the dog happy and healthy, even the post sorted into categories and left out, They went above and beyond what we ... MORE
We knew from the moment we met Simon and Monique that we made the perfect choice.
They looked after our poppets for almost 4 weeks and did an amazing job. We received constant little updates with pictures and videos. The House was spotless on our return, even the lawn was cut and the Garden looked lovely.
We wish them all the best for the future and they are already being missed.
