Having moved on from Raetihi and straight on to a new house sit, this is my current residence, which finds me on a dairy farm in Gordonton, and about a ten-minute drive to the shops in the Hamilton suburb of Rototuna. The contract milker is taking care of all the milkings and farm work etc….
Raetihi – Second Visit
After eight days of pretty manky wet weather with virtually no sun, we finally have some better conditions for a few half-decent pictures. Anyway, this is where I’ve been hanging out since January 17th, back at Snowy Waters Lodge in Raetihi, in the Ruapehu district. I was here for about a week in late November…
House Sitting In Glen Murray
My current housesit sees me on a lifestyle block amongst the hills of rural Glen Murray, in the Waikato. I’m here until the weekend then it’s back down to Raetihi. It’s nice out here in Glen Murray. It can be quite remote with the nearest supermarket (Te Kauwhata New World) being a good 40-minute drive…
House Sitting In Whatawhata – Second Visit
My current house sit sees me back on a repeat property for a fortnight. This is my second visit here and for pretty much the exact same dates as last time. This is a rural home in the Whatawhata district, with a quick 10-minute drive to the shops in Dinsdale, Hamilton. It’s good to be…
Farm Sitting In Walton
I moved to a new farm sit just the other day. This property is in the Walton locality, and about 10kms from Matamata. The owners have taken off to London for a few weeks to visit family. I’ll be looking after this place until just after Christmas. It’s a nice modern house, and a tidy…
House Sitting In Hamilton – Fitzroy
After a brilliant week staying in Raetihi, I’m now on to my next property, and this is my current abode. It’s a nice new house in a newish part of the suburb of Fitzroy, in Hamilton. They’re all modern homes around this area, and it’s surprisingly super quiet. You can hardly hear the cars going…
Raetihi
For the past several days I’ve been in Raetihi, a small town located about 12kms south west of Ohakune, in the Ruapehu district. My current assignment is not so much a house sit, but more of a lodge sit. 🙂 Where I’m currently staying is Snowy Waters Lodge, which is an old nurses home. Not…
The Exit Handover
As a house sitter, your last day on a property is just as important (if not more so) than your first day. Absolutely, first impressions matter — but final impressions endure. A successful handover of the house (and pets) back to the homeowners is the quiet, often underestimated, finale of any house sit. And it’s…
When House Sitters Get Rejected
When applying for house sits, rejection is going to be an unavoidable part of the house sitting lifestyle. For every successful application, there will be several others that won’t go your way — especially if you’re competing with dozens of other sitters for the same appealing property. Even with all my 20 odd years of…
Soft Skills And How To Use Them
When it comes to house sitting, reliability, honesty, and a love of animals are the traits most often mentioned — and rightly so. But there’s another side to successful sitting that rarely makes it into the checklists and how-to guides. It’s the “soft skills” — the quiet, human abilities that determine whether an arrangement feels…