note for WWOOFers

This note is for WWOOFers who may be interested in coming to our places.

We are not a farm needing to sell every week. We are not able to provide documentation for 'second year working visa'.

We host because we need some help to make changes to our home food gardens and for artistic projects. We host because we enjoy meeting people and hearing their languages and ideas.

See the WWOOF guidelines about how much work is expected of you. In hot weather we prefer to work early and rest during the hot part of the day; young people may prefer to sleep in but it's not practical in hot weather. We do not work the same length of time every day. Time depends on project and weather. There are always jobs like weeding and other maintenance, but we try to focus work on projects and get ideas from WWOOFers. Helen works in an office Monday to Friday so we will do some garden work with her on the weekend. There will be days off, after you've been here a few days, and there will be end-of-day short tourist drives.

You will have privacy and wireless internet. You will be a part of our family while here, we ask you to respect that and contribute to basic things like kitchen work. Happy cooks welcome. We often go straight to the supermarket when WWOOFers arrive, to discuss food interests and concerns.

WWOOFers need to have the WWOOF book and should show that to their host on arrival. Also their passport. This is important to keep the WWOOF organisation safe and working and also means we have information about you in case of any injury or illness. WWOOFers should have health insurance.

WWOOFers need to have sensible practical clothes. Strong shoes or boots are important for safety and good work. You need practical work clothes (two sets at least). Working clothes get dirty and are damaged — we can take you to a charity shop where you can get good items for $5 a piece if you don't have suitable clothes. If you are a visitor to Australia,  you can throw away old work clothes when you leave the country. You need a hat, especially in summer and whatever skin colour.

You need to be aware of the seasons and weather where you are going. This is the page for weather in my area, you can use that site to check on other places.

You can travel to our place on the Sydney suburban train network, Sydney Trains. Look on here for South Coast line, we meet WWOOFers at the last station, Bomaderry. Three hours on the train, no food for sale on the train, but there is a toilet. View of the ocean from left side seats.

We expect WWOOFers to arrive clean, happy and positive. If we meet someone at the train who does not look right, we will interview in the time before the train leaves to go back to Sydney to establish whether you are OK. I write this because there a very small number of bad people travelling as WWOOFers. We will be able to identify a bad person before taking that person home.

This recent happy photo was possible as two WWOOFers were arriving just as two were leaving. Thanks for everything Julie, Nico, Florie and David!