It has been an interesting first two weeks, out of four, house sitting for my friends - well... someone has to make sure the house doesn't run away! :)
A pleasant and spacious bush property bordering the Murray River in northern Victoria. I have known the owners for some time and they were, rightly, concerned about leaving this isolated house whilst they visited WA for a month and asked if I would sit.
Having been a bush nomad for over three years I am fully self sufficient and have thus camped in my caravan on their back lawn taking advantage of their power and water which is a nice change from having to carry my non potable water from the river or dam in the forests where I usually reside. I have no desire whatsoever to use their house, that is their space and although I have keys and take a wander though every few days I feel like an interloper.
All is good and I'm a happy bunny and I'd house sit for them or other friends again BUT...
Despite the comparative luxury of P&W and private property I do miss the bush and the ability to make a camp my "home". This, I think, is an intrinsic need for humans and most mammals; we need a place to make our own, a place we can modify and adjust to our whims in order we feel safe and relaxed and I cannot do that here... in the home of another. I am and feel like a caretaker and that's fine for a short time but is not the way I wish to live.
I'll certainly house-sit for friends again but it is not something I shall seek - I am very comfortable, I have yet again discovered, as a nomad who makes his home where he chooses.
Radar said
03:31 PM Apr 8, 2022
Life sounds just dandy.
Now go and stand in a corner for few moments for not asking to be excused.
DMaxer said
03:33 PM Apr 8, 2022
Nice to hear from you and I am glad you are safe and well.
Gets a bit boring having to read opinions that i agree with or not having anyone to disagree with me.
One big happy family again.
Whenarewethere said
04:00 PM Apr 8, 2022
We had a close friend we new for decades & who sublet with us long ago. She had her own home but house sitted in Sydney. Unfortunately now is permanently house sitting above... or below!
Once you build up the contacts you will have endless work & some seriously nice homes to sit.
the rocket said
05:49 PM Apr 8, 2022
Whenarewethere wrote:
We had a close friend we new for decades & who sublet with us long ago. She had her own home but house sitted in Sydney. Unfortunately now is permanently house sitting above... or below!
Once you build up the contacts you will have endless work & some seriously nice homes to sit.
Yes, beforecovid lockdowns we were asked back again and again. But covid has crueled that now. You know what, i am with you mike, sure is better living and doing what u want , when u want And answerable to no one. Oh, well, except strop.
oldbloke said
11:49 PM Apr 8, 2022
DMaxer wrote:
Nice to hear from you and I am glad you are safe and well.
Gets a bit boring having to read opinions that i agree with or not having anyone to disagree with me.
One big happy family again.
https://youtu.be/iWHhhKQZkwM
86GTS said
06:06 AM Apr 9, 2022
With a few different mosquito born diseases around at the moment along the Murray we avoided the area on a recent 3 week trip.
We love being by ourselves in the bush too, there's nothing like it.
Broken Bucket Tank for the 3rd time on our next trip, not many mozzies there.
Mike Harding said
06:58 AM Apr 10, 2022
86GTS wrote:
With a few different mosquito born diseases around at the moment along the Murray we avoided the area on a recent 3 week trip.
Broken Bucket Tank for the 3rd time on our next trip, not many mozzies there.
Japanese encephalitis: yes it is a worry but I looked it up decided the risk was very small especially if one applies Rid or similar and burns a mozzie coil or two:
Broken Bucket: I know it well :) Has the windmill/pump been repaired, if not what are you doing for water?
Cuppa said
10:58 AM Apr 10, 2022
We never started out to become house sitters or caretakers & when we discovered the joy of staying in one place for an extended period of time it was a revelation & has changed our travel patterns. Mostly our 'sits' have been in remote areas - just the two of us - just how we like it. Mostly wet season sits to provide us with a solid roof over our heads & indoor cooking. Living in a Tvan in tropical wet seasons would be no fun. Many folk seem ok with short sits of just days or weeks. For us it seems too short to bother with. The shortest we've done was 5 weeks - it suited at the time giving us a nice place to live in , in central Broome, and a chance to have some dog time, one of the things we miss most on the road. The longest - a farm sit for 'as long as you want' was a good place to sit out all the Covid travel restrictions for over a year.
Mostly the sits have been something we fit between mobile travel (we now differentiate between mobile & stationary travel :) ) and have never just been about being a 'place to park', almost all have been about taking advantage of opportunities we could not have whilst mobile, to experience different (to us) country & situations in greater depth. Until now we have never been keen on 'back to back' sits, but are currently coming to the end of another wet season caretaking 'sit' & will be moving straight to another not too far away (1 day's travel) for a 12 month period living deep in the rainforest in a modern off grid house built just 5 years ago. Too good to turn down. Not often the chance to be in such a diverse & dynamic but also oppressively bug ridden environment, within a comfortable indoor living space becomes available!
One thing about longer sits is that it gets around the sense of being an intruder in another's home. It really only feels like that close to the beginning & end - so perhaps another reason we are not keen on short sits. Power, water, & internet are our primary requirements, we have never sought payment but have been happy in our current situation to be provided with everything we need to live from loo rolls to tucker to fuel. 6 months here has been a great experience of seeing Cape York as tourists never do & has not cost us a single cent & to boot I have tractor & front end loader experience, RFDS med chest key holder approval, commercial size zero turn mower operating , generator management & servicing, ARO (aerodrome reporting officer) credentials to add to my capabilities, along with a fair bit of networking within the Cape's small but widely distributed population.
We had never come across house-sitting until we had a couple house sit the small farm we had at the time. They cared for it for 18 months like it was their own whilst we did our first lap of the country over a decade ago, even saved it during the Black Saturday bushfires. In many respects, whilst we obviously get something out of 'sitting' we have never lot the sense of 'paying it forward' that we also bring to each sit, and feel it is a great lifestyle & means of maintaining interest in our time on the road beyond just a holiday.
86GTS said
06:40 PM Apr 10, 2022
Mike Harding wrote:
86GTS wrote:
With a few different mosquito born diseases around at the moment along the Murray we avoided the area on a recent 3 week trip.
Broken Bucket Tank for the 3rd time on our next trip, not many mozzies there.
Broken Bucket: I know it well :) Has the windmill/pump been repaired, if not what are you doing for water?
Yes the windmill at the dam was a handy auxiliary source of water.
I don't think it would have been fixed as it doesn't serve any stock watering purpose.
We'll be filling up with water at Nhill, along with 4x15 litre water bottles in the ute.
It should last us a week with careful use.
Wikicamps mentions a water tank at the dunny but we can't remember one?
We first went to BB in 1982, it hasn't changed much in 40 years.
It has been an interesting first two weeks, out of four, house sitting for my friends - well... someone has to make sure the house doesn't run away! :)
A pleasant and spacious bush property bordering the Murray River in northern Victoria. I have known the owners for some time and they were, rightly, concerned about leaving this isolated house whilst they visited WA for a month and asked if I would sit.
Having been a bush nomad for over three years I am fully self sufficient and have thus camped in my caravan on their back lawn taking advantage of their power and water which is a nice change from having to carry my non potable water from the river or dam in the forests where I usually reside. I have no desire whatsoever to use their house, that is their space and although I have keys and take a wander though every few days I feel like an interloper.
All is good and I'm a happy bunny and I'd house sit for them or other friends again BUT...
Despite the comparative luxury of P&W and private property I do miss the bush and the ability to make a camp my "home". This, I think, is an intrinsic need for humans and most mammals; we need a place to make our own, a place we can modify and adjust to our whims in order we feel safe and relaxed and I cannot do that here... in the home of another. I am and feel like a caretaker and that's fine for a short time but is not the way I wish to live.
I'll certainly house-sit for friends again but it is not something I shall seek - I am very comfortable, I have yet again discovered, as a nomad who makes his home where he chooses.
Life sounds just dandy.
Now go and stand in a corner for few moments for not asking to be excused.
Nice to hear from you and I am glad you are safe and well.
Gets a bit boring having to read opinions that i agree with or not having anyone to disagree with me.
One big happy family again.
We had a close friend we new for decades & who sublet with us long ago. She had her own home but house sitted in Sydney. Unfortunately now is permanently house sitting above... or below!
Once you build up the contacts you will have endless work & some seriously nice homes to sit.
Yes, beforecovid lockdowns we were asked back again and again. But covid has crueled that now. You know what, i am with you mike, sure is better living and doing what u want , when u want And answerable to no one. Oh, well, except strop.
https://youtu.be/iWHhhKQZkwM
With a few different mosquito born diseases around at the moment along the Murray we avoided the area on a recent 3 week trip.
We love being by ourselves in the bush too, there's nothing like it.
Broken Bucket Tank for the 3rd time on our next trip, not many mozzies there.
Japanese encephalitis: yes it is a worry but I looked it up decided the risk was very small especially if one applies Rid or similar and burns a mozzie coil or two:
Victorian gov - Japanese encephalitis
Broken Bucket: I know it well :) Has the windmill/pump been repaired, if not what are you doing for water?
Mostly the sits have been something we fit between mobile travel (we now differentiate between mobile & stationary travel :) ) and have never just been about being a 'place to park', almost all have been about taking advantage of opportunities we could not have whilst mobile, to experience different (to us) country & situations in greater depth. Until now we have never been keen on 'back to back' sits, but are currently coming to the end of another wet season caretaking 'sit' & will be moving straight to another not too far away (1 day's travel) for a 12 month period living deep in the rainforest in a modern off grid house built just 5 years ago. Too good to turn down. Not often the chance to be in such a diverse & dynamic but also oppressively bug ridden environment, within a comfortable indoor living space becomes available!
One thing about longer sits is that it gets around the sense of being an intruder in another's home. It really only feels like that close to the beginning & end - so perhaps another reason we are not keen on short sits. Power, water, & internet are our primary requirements, we have never sought payment but have been happy in our current situation to be provided with everything we need to live from loo rolls to tucker to fuel. 6 months here has been a great experience of seeing Cape York as tourists never do & has not cost us a single cent & to boot I have tractor & front end loader experience, RFDS med chest key holder approval, commercial size zero turn mower operating , generator management & servicing, ARO (aerodrome reporting officer) credentials to add to my capabilities, along with a fair bit of networking within the Cape's small but widely distributed population.
We had never come across house-sitting until we had a couple house sit the small farm we had at the time. They cared for it for 18 months like it was their own whilst we did our first lap of the country over a decade ago, even saved it during the Black Saturday bushfires. In many respects, whilst we obviously get something out of 'sitting' we have never lot the sense of 'paying it forward' that we also bring to each sit, and feel it is a great lifestyle & means of maintaining interest in our time on the road beyond just a holiday.
Yes the windmill at the dam was a handy auxiliary source of water.
I don't think it would have been fixed as it doesn't serve any stock watering purpose.
We'll be filling up with water at Nhill, along with 4x15 litre water bottles in the ute.
It should last us a week with careful use.
Wikicamps mentions a water tank at the dunny but we can't remember one?
We first went to BB in 1982, it hasn't changed much in 40 years.