The instructions are coming at us like a torrential downpour: The dogs are to be given a slice of sausage this size twice a day, the swimming pool needs daily cleaning, the garden irrigation system tap number one should be left on for fifty minutes, and tap number three for only twenty minutes. Oh, and the “teatails” need to be ironed…
I pause my frantic note-taking and interrupt Shirley’s ongoing list of tasks.
“Wait, wait — please slow down! What teatails? What tails need ironing?”
We’re just getting started on our new gig as housesitters in Australia — more precisely, in Castlemaine, Victoria.
How to end up housesitting in Australia
When we flew to Bali and the Gili Islands for two months, we also needed an exit ticket from Indonesia. Along with a visa, this is a requirement for entry into the country.
We didn’t have a return ticket to Finland since we planned to keep traveling for six months.
Or at least, that’s what we thought at the time.
Neither of us had ever been to Australia before—it’s not exactly a place you visit on a short holiday. But now, we had time.
We dreamed of seeing Sydney’s famous New Year’s Eve fireworks. However, we quickly realized that dream was light-years out of reach for our budget. Maybe Melbourne could be the “poor man’s Sydney”?
So, we booked flights from Denpasar, Bali, to Melbourne.
We didn’t bother making any grand plans in advance and instead decided to go wherever the wind (and our whims) took us. We figured we’d only stay in Australia for a few weeks — given how expensive it is — but fate had other ideas.
On Gili Meno, we met a friendly Aussie group. Through Pete, we “inherited” a cozy hotel room on the island. But then, just a few days later, something unexpected happened.
We got a message from Shirley and Fred.
“Hey, you’re coming to Australia soon, right? We’d like to extend our holiday. Would you be interested in housesitting for us?”
We deliberated for approximately three seconds before replying, blissfully unaware of what we were signing up for:
“Sure, why not?”
New Year’s celebration in Melbourne
We land in Melbourne in the early morning hours, bleary-eyed after an overnight flight.
“4 a.m.: Burst into laughter over my travel companion’s immigration form.
Q: Your address in Australia?
A: Bayview on the Park.
Yes, that’s actually the name of our hotel, not a declaration that we’re sleeping in a park.
I think.”
— My Facebook post, December 30, 2017.
We eventually find our way to the Bayview on the Park Hotel and check in — or at least, we try to.
First, we spend a couple of hours waiting in the lobby while the receptionist fumbles with the bookings. At one point, they even seem to forget we’re there. We’re not the only ones being treated to this premium welcome.
(Side note: This hotel doesn’t even exist anymore, so no hard feelings if they’ve moved on.)
No big deal, though. We grab a couple of beers while we wait. Cheers to that!
Welcome to Australia: Decided to grab beers at the hotel bar (yes, me too, because this might be my one and only chance to drink Victorian beer).
We asked for recommendations—something with a bit more flavor, perhaps?
The bartender started listing alcohol percentages instead. Apparently, the higher the ABV, the better the beer.
In the end, we settled for a middle-of-the-road lager.
Luckily, Aussie wines are familiar territory, so tomorrow we can celebrate New Year’s Eve with something more to our taste. 😉”
— My Facebook memory from the same day.
Our actual New Year’s Eve celebrations consisted of wandering around the city and having a couple of drinks at a pub along Melbourne’s famous Chapel Street in the Yarra neighborhood.
Dinner, however, was a bit of a non-event. Most restaurants seemed to be closed for the evening, but fortunately, we’d had lunch earlier. A quaint little café had lured us in with a cheese platter advertised in the window.
It didn’t take long to discover that both the cheeses and the café’s owner were French. For the first time in ages, we had the chance to dust off our French skills. Turns out Melbourne has quite a sizable French community.
One of them is Claire, a colleague I met on a work trip to Vietnam. Sadly, our schedules didn’t align — we left for Castlemaine on January 2nd before we had the chance to meet up.
Housesitting in Australia: A crash course in watering everything
We had a lively reunion with the couple we’d met on the Gili Islands. Now, we were in their home in Castlemaine, Victoria.
I filled an entire notebook with the instructions Shirley gave us.
It quickly became clear that this wasn’t going to be a vacation.
Nor would there be much time to make significant progress on our own work.
(While Ismo was on a sabbatical, I was still juggling part of my business remotely.)
Before Shirley and Fred set off on their next holiday, we shared a kangaroo meat dinner.
Afterwards, we went out to see the real kangaroos. They stood by the roadside, staring at us with what felt like thinly veiled judgment.
Shirley also introduced us to the local brewery restaurant, aptly named The Taproom. That turned out to be the only time we visited it. Later, we’d be too busy watering everything but our throats.
“We arrived in Castlemaine yesterday and started learning how to take care of the house, the rental cabin, the chickens, the dogs, the swimming pool, and the garden.
In the evening, we went to see kangaroos—and also ate some.
Today, our amazing hosts left for their trip, leaving us on our own.
It’s an incredible place to be housesitting, and now we really feel like we’re in Australia!”
— Facebook memory, January 3, 2017
Housesitting in Australia: Watering everything, including chickens
The house is large, but that’s just the beginning.
The garden is enormous, and the weather is hot — so there’s plenty to water.
In the yard stands an Airbnb rental cabin, and its tenants change every couple of days.
We’ve also taken the responsibility of cleaning it and welcoming the guests.
The pool in the yard is for the guests, so it naturally needs to be cleaned every day.
Despite the scorching heat, the pool water somehow remains mysteriously ice-cold. Being the pool boy is not exactly fun.
I sacrifice myself daily by diving into the freezing water because otherwise, I can’t reach the far end of the pool.
I can tell you, the debris piles up quickly. So, the next time you see a hotel pool attendant, remember to appreciate them!
The garden care has been made relatively easy. The irrigation system only requires us to turn on the right taps at the right times, once or twice a day. Only a few trees and bushes need to be watered with a hose, thankfully no need for manual watering.
Watering plants is nothing new for me, but this is the first time in my life I’ve watered chickens.
Before leaving, Shirley instructed us that when the temperature rises above 35°C, we’d need to spray the chickens to keep them from roasting alive. (Mmmm… grilled chicken…)
Naturally, during our few weeks here, the super heatwave hit.
Shirley and Fred messaged us a few times, asking if we were managing okay. We assured them we were fine and kept on with the watering chores.
Pete also drove by to check on us with his friend, just for fun.
Neat without ironing, almost
The Aussies seem to enjoy cold waters. Our Airbnb guests swim happily in the pool.
We stick to the rules and keep away from the pool area and backyard when the guests are there.
Some of them, however, want to get to know us. With one couple, we became friends and they later visited us in Helsinki. While we’re still in Victoria, they take us on a day trip to Bendigo.
Most of the guests, though, are invisible. They leave behind lovely thank you notes and often some leftover food or half a bottle of wine.
We collect the thank you gifts and get to work. We usually have a few hours before the next guests arrive, which gives us just enough time to get everything done.
We do laundry and change the bed linens, vacuum, mop the floors, clean the grill, and shine the dishes, even if they’ve already been washed by the guests.
Of course, the bathroom needs extra attention. Shampoo bottles must be aligned perfectly, and after vacuuming, we check carefully to make sure no single hair is left behind — on the mat, or the bed for that matter.
Dishcloths and sponges must be replaced with fresh ones, and the spice jars and other food containers filled.
The towels are the trickiest part. Different sizes for different purposes, all placed in the right spots, neatly folded, and in the correct number according to the incoming guests.
But what are those “tea-tails”? — Of course, tea towels, as they’re pronounced Aussie-style!
The small towels that need to be ironed, along with the pillowcases.
The large towels and bed linens didn’t need ironing, though.
There were plenty of mouths to feed, but no shortage of food
The chicken ran out of food, but luckily there was a knowledgeable pet store owner in the village. We explained whose chickens they were, so the shopkeeper knew exactly which kind of feed to sell us, based on Shirley’s chicks’ ages.
The couple of little dogs were easy to look after, though they occasionally managed to escape. Mostly, we spoiled them by feeding them a bit too much.
Playing heads and tales
One day, I wondered what the little creatures were playing with. It seemed like they were fighting over fish, one dog holding the tail while the other bit the head, pulling it in opposite directions.
Where could they have found a fish on this dry land?
But no, it was a lizard.
Thankfully, we managed to save the lizard.
Apparently, there were also porcupines visiting the yard. They would need to be carried back behind the fence, gloves on. Luckily, we were saved from this operation.
In the greenhouse, there was a black widow spider, which added a bit of excitement to picking the tomatoes.
Predators lurking in the trees – Buying dinner or becoming one?
Huge cockatoos squawked in the trees in the yard, and there were warnings about predatory birds attacking people along the nearby road. These latter birds made our trips to the shops a little more thrilling.
Luckily we didn’t have to walk the dusty paths to the shop that often.
Sometimes we went to buy meat, cheese, and wine.
There wasn’t much else needed, as we had plenty of vegetables from the garden and, of course, eggs. Mixing smoothies was a daily habit.
We were also encouraged to trim down the overflowing food storage by eating our way through it.
Although there was a lot of work, it was a nice counterbalance to our writing work.
Relaxing.
Cliché or not, it’s rewarding when the results of your work are immediately visible in a tangible way.
It was nice to be settled and stay in one place for a few weeks, feeling like we were at “home.”
The best part was getting food from our “own” backyard, cooking it peacefully in the big kitchen, or grilling outside.
Then, sitting on the terrace to enjoy the beautiful sunset and the quiet.
P.S.
Being a house-sitter in Australia can be quite labor-intensive, but it’s also rewarding and beneficial.
We could have stayed longer, but we politely declined.
Not because of the workload, but because free accommodation (and partially free food) helped us to improve our finances and allowed us to stay in Australia longer.
We wanted to travel around the country, and we managed to visit every state, even if just briefly.
What was initially planned as a two-week tour of Australia turned into two months.