Publicación en Australia,NZ & Sth Pacific Islands House sitters/Swap

Hi everyone, we are a family (mama Maren, daddy Jason, and the 5 year old Jonas), and we are keen to visit Melbourne for a week or so, and explore along the Great Ocean Road for a couple of days. Apart from Jason spending a week in Melbourne about 13 years ago, we haven't really had any experience of Victoria at all.

We would like to swap our home from 10 to 25 January 2015. So, if any family wants to come to the south coast of Western Australia, and lives in or near to Melbourne, then let's get in touch and find out a bit about each other.

So about our place: • our 120sqm strata title house has three bedrooms, plus office, ensuite, bathroom, open living/kitchen/dining, and a small yard, all sitting on 340sqm. The home is under ten years old; • the house is within 10 minutes walking distance from the centre of town, and is located near the end of a cul-de-sac, away from the main highway through town; • our kitchen has a number of modern appliances (but no dishwasher, sorry!!); • we have guinea pigs (which can be given to friends if you don't want to look after them) and goldfish; • our garden has established edible plants (which we can arrange to be watered if you like); • we have lots of books to read; • we don't have a TV, apart from a small ancient one from the 1990's which we just use for Jonas to watch ABC2 for Kids and some videos and DVD's; • we have unlimited wi-fi, but you will need to provide your own devices to access the internet, as we will be taking our own computer; • a skype phone will be available for both skype calls and landline; • the master bedroom has a king size bed; • the other two bedrooms have single beds; • we also have a couple of sofa beds; • there are lots of kids toys for toddlers up to about age 6; • we have lots of board games; • towels and linen will be supplied; • toiletries will be supplied, but you will need to buy any replacements if you run out; • basic food will be supplied, such as tea, coffee, sugar, salt, herbs, spices, rainwater, etc., but you will need to buy any replacements if you run out; • the house has split reverse cycle air conditioning in the living area, but it doesn't get hot enough here to really use it in summer; • a bbq is available; • we have an open 2-person Canadian canoe; and, • two adult bikes and a couple of little kids' bikes are available for use.

Our house is a non-smoking area. The house is not wheelchair accessible.

Denmark is a wonderful little town set amongst tall Karri trees and close to white beaches and blue water surf. Rivers are nice to canoe. The town is surrounded by vineyards, wineries, cellar doors, wellness retreats and a range of boutique food outlets (chocolate, toffee, ice cream, honey, beer, restaurants, coffee shops, etc.) For the kids, we recommend the animal farm, dinosaur/reptile/cockatoo park, beaches, tree top walk, fishing (we don't have any equipment though), cycling, nature park, playgrounds, canoeing, pelican watching, bushwalks, etc. In fact, all good for the parents!!

Denmark, as you can tell, is a tourist town, and it has retained its small town charm in its main street and old buildings. It really is a beautiful place to visit, which is why we chose to give up everything we had over ten years ago to come here.

We are open to considering any accommodation type for swapping with our home. We would prefer that the accommodation provide the following, but we may be able to work around it somehow: • three beds, or a minimum of one king size bed and one single bed; • unlimited wi-fi; and, • air conditioning.

We do not want a house where people have smoked in it, as the odour is very obvious.

We are thinking of a car swap as well. We would prefer to have a car to travel around in, and would be open to discussing terms to allow you to use our car. We would each have to look at our respective car insurance policies and any costs involved. Our car is a 2006 Mitsubishi Lancer wagon.

We will prefer that you are verified in CouchSurfing, or please provide references from people who can verify you.

Lastly, we are open to signing a contract as to what happens if things like supplies run out, breakages occur, car breaks down, and how to handle phonecalls and mail, etc, and also expectations of the condition of the house at the start and end of the house swap. There is much to talk about, so please get in touch if you are interested.

Thanks, Jason and Maren