Fit active couple, late 50s. Love gardening, nature and animals. Happy to also consider short stays, (less than one week) and at short notice,as we are traveling by bike through Italy and France

About this sitter

Mark and I live in New Zealand. We both retired and have been renovating an old cottage.We enjoy cycle touring and like to travel by bike through Europe in the northern hemisphere summer. Occasionally we like to stay a while in one place. Meet with some locals and explore the area, and practice speaking other languages!

Why they want to house sit

We would like the opportunity to live in a village as a local and explore an area fully whilst taking a rest from traveling by bike, and enjoying some walking, home comforts, gardening and animal contact!
We used to have a small holding with farm animals and pets so we know how hard it is to get away for a holiday, and how important it is to know that everything will be well looked after while you take a break.

Their experience

Before retiring we ran a small farm. We had dogs and regularly looked after a friend's dog. I have always worked in farming, and now I regularly look after a 60 acre farm with boar goats 3 dogs and hens while the owners are away. I keep 2 horses on that farm. We no longer keep pets because we like to have the freedom to travel, so now we just have to enjoy other people's pets! We help look after the neighborhood cat...who seems to have a preference for our garden!

What can they bring to the assignment

I have 40 years agricultural experience across most livestock types. I had a commercial organic vegetable, and free range hen business. I keep 2 horses now. We grow our own fruit and vegetables. Mark was a scientist and worked in environmental consulting before we worked together to renovate this cottage and garden. He is practical and tech-savvy.