Time to slow down and laugh more.
John and I decided in 2019 that we wanted to slow down and laugh a little more while travelling, so we sold up everything and left New Zealand with everything we owned in 2 suitcases and 2 carry-ons.
We had already done some international travelling when Covid raised its head, so instead of heading back to New Zealand, we opted to do some housesitting in Queensland, Australia. That was almost 5 years ago.
We are South African born New Zealand citizens, who left South Africa in 2001 and have lived and worked in the USA, Bangkok and China, eventually settling in New Zealand. John is retired from education and Sandy from front line ambulance in New Zealand.
We love house sitting as it gives us the opportunity to have a "home base" with some pets to love, giving us a sense of normality and structure to our travels. House sitting is a wonderful chance for us to settle in and relax for a moment.
We are very private people and not social butterflies, preferring to live quiet lives. Having lived in many big cities, we don’t mind being isolated as we are not the “touristy/outdoor/shopping” type. Other than that, we are pretty much boring people, keeping to ourselves. What this means for you as a pet owner, is that we will be spending most of our time at home with your pets. If we are fortunate enough to secure a long housesit, John will go out and do some relief teaching in the area, while Sandy will stay at home. We are very adaptable to our surroundings, house proud, and respect the responsibility and trust that goes with being invited into a home.
Having lived in different countries and "set up house" a number of times, plus being homeowners/renters ourselves, we have a good understanding of what can go wrong in a home, and how to fix it. We like to live in a clean and tidy environment, and don't do well in a cluttered one. We always attend to routine household tasks and maintenance, including keeping the house clean, mowing lawns, watering plants and pool maintenance. John likes to potter around in the garden and do things, while I like to work on our DNA family tree. We are registered on numerous house-sitting websites and have official references through all of them, and are more than happy to share these with you.
I hope that this introduction gives you some insight into who we are. Please feel free to ask any questions.
John and Sandy
