URGENT : HOME SITTERS NEEDED FOR 1 MONTH IN PELICAN WATERS SUNSHINE COAST.

NB. We are seeking a house sitting couple to take over from our current house sitting couple who are presently looking after our home, but need to leave on 12/10/20. We have been delayed overseas by Covid, having a lot of difficulty getting flights back, and also do not wish to travel long haul at the moment, upon the advice of our GP, given the coronavirus risks. We are looking for house sitters until around mid November 2020 with some flexability in this end date. There will be good induction and support from current house sitters and from ourselves as necessary. Below is the original ad updated for this sit now being extended.

*ABOUT US:

-Early retired professional couple Australian/British, mature age parents to bright, delightful 9 year old twin girls .

-We have a charity in Romania that we established to assist disadvantaged children. We visit our charity from time to time throughout each year ( but this time got detained there much longer due to Covid).

*OUR AREA:

-Pelican Waters is a canal/lake/golf lifestyle area of the beachside city of Caloundra.

-Our home is situated on one of the wide golfing precinct Boulevards of Pelican Waters. The Sebel Resort and its restaurants are literally around the corner from our home, as are The Pelican Waters Golf Links and Clubhouse, also with its popular restaurants and facilities. Our street culminates in an island at the end of the road and is surrounded by golfside canal and a Lake.

-Pelican Waters Shopping Centre is 7 mins drive away and has Woolies, Coles and all the other usual culprits you will find at a suburban shopping centre! There is also a medical centre there, a local vet and a Petrol Station.

-You will find Caloundra shopping centre and Caloundra town centre close by at about 12 mins. The Stockland shopping centre is bigger with restaurants, Kmart, Coles, clothing shops etc. There is also our preferred animal vet across the road from here.

-Caloundra town centre is very charming beachside town- lots of cafes, restaurants, boutique and curio shops in a lovely, green, tree lined central street. Local old fashioned cinema with good price tickets. Beachfront esplanade and fishing, weekend markets and Christmas festivals.

-Golden Beach, Bulcock Beach and Happy Valley beachside with all its fabulous walks to further beaches like Kings beach ( ocean pool), Moffat and Dicky beaches all within 10-15 mins drive. Fabulous cafes at Moffat Beach. Public Aquatic centre at Caloundra, along with a great RSL Club. Boat ramps are plentiful including at the nearby Power Boat Club which has great breakfasts on the Water. Dinners at The Pelican Waters Tavern 7 mins. Ferry cruises available around the area. Day trips to Bribie Island or a little further afield to Moreton and Stradbroke Islands. The Pumicestone Passage alongside Golden Beach is truely a slice of paradise.

-Public Buses 7 min walk from our home which joins at Caloundra Interchange for buses to nearby train station/s ( 20 mins drive).

-Pelican Waters is a short drive to motorway exits easily connecting to Brisbane and to further up the beautiful Sunshine Coast ( Buderim, Maroochydore, Mooloolabah, Noosa).

*OUR HOME :

-We live in a wide street, in a very quiet area that backs onto the 11th hole of The Pelican Waters Golf Course.

-Our home is a large, single storey, 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom home that is light, airy and spacious.

-It has a particularly large ensuite and master bedroom; as well as a very large open plan living area adjoining a large kitchen.

-It is a clean, well organised and well maintained home.

-Wall oven, glass cooktop, dishwasher, double fridge, microwave, coffee machine. There is a great, spacious Alfresco dining and sitting area at the rear of the home with lovely views overlooking the Golf course.

-Our back garden is spacious and pleasant. It is fully fenced.

-We have aircon, ceiling fans, Netflix, unlimited wifi and broadband. Large electric door garage (but it will probably only manage one car inside at the moment as it is half full with stored items and various ongoing projects). Large wall tv in the master bedroom for relaxing in bed with a weekend movie!

-We are fortunate to have a large range of wildlife visit us daily -especially many wonderful birds: Cockatoos, Corellas, King Parrots, Galahs, Fig and Honey Eaters, Lorikeets, Rosellas, Kookaburras, Moorhens, and black swans from the nearby Lake will also visit from time to time. Kangaroos, especially small mobs of young mothers with joeys can be seen very close daily from our backyard and are common on the Golf Course. Pelicans are common at nearby boat ramps and tidal inlets.

*OUR REQUIREMENTS:

- Firstly, we must mention that we had a very negative experience with a house sitting couple who minded this home for us some years ago 2016 for an extended period of time. Damage, neglect, breakages of our and our children's belongings, running up considerable bills; dead plants and gardens, all pet fish dead- to name a few of the problems we faced. It has taken us quite some time to recover from that experience and to return our home to its' original state. So if we seem particular about our requirements; it is because we wish to be very clear and specific about our expectations now, and we are sure you will understand and appreciate that.

-We maintain our home and garden very well. This is a very clean, well organised, well managed and maintained home and garden. It is important to us to live this way and our home, gardens, plants, dogs are very important to us and to our young children.

-It does take time and effort to maintain a home this way. But we see this are part of normal daily chores. We still have more than enough time left for rest and relaxation.

-If you are not a careful, clean, well organised house proud couple- this is not the right home for you to care for.

-Specifically:

A. we are looking for a couple- as we know this dynamic best manages the home and pets, spreads the care of the home, and still leaves lots of personal time.

B. Sensible, reasonable, careful use of utilities: water and electricity. If your usage is beyond reasonable, we will require contributions from you. Real care is needed with use of reverse cycle aircon as it is an energy guzzler.

C. Keep a clean, well organised house: 30 mins daily cleaning of areas on rotation : simple feather dust and cordless vacuum, in addition to the normal chores of maintaining a home well.

D. Plant care and watering: in addition to the normal care of gardens, we require 30 mins of plant watering and checking of plants per day -areas on a rotation. We have lawn mowing service that visits us as necessary.

E. Dog Care: we have 2 x 2 yo old Border Collie dogs: Seamus and Ruby. They are much loved in our family and are completely adored by our young children.

The dogs are puppy schooled, and generally well behaved.

-They are now at the stage where they sleep at least 60 percent of the day and all throughout the night.

-The dogs are mostly outside dogs kept in the large fenced backyard throughout the daytime and are brought into sleep in the laundry overnight.

-Our home sitters' daily routine would involve about 1-1.5. hours of daily dog care.

-This includes:

-twice daily feeding and supervision whilst feeding,

-20-30 min walk (and no longer than this) daily on 3 x days only,

-daily brushing and checking health and for ticks/wounds etc,

-15 mins minimum concentrated play or company time, -picking up dog waste from the back garden twice per day ( it only takes 5 mins each time and we have a long handled shovel and scoop for this),

-giving bones/chews/treats as required and keeping an eye on this from the kitchen,

-giving flea/tick drops on dogs' necks and anti-worm chews as necessary,

- dog washing via mobile home service once per month,

-filling in dog dug earth holes in the backyard,

-bringing dogs inside to bed in the laundry at 8.00pm at night according to an established routine,

-and then letting them outside again at 6.30am in the morning (you can go back to bed after that if you like! ), -and supervising dogs regarding possible cane toads in the evening from about 6-8 pm.

F. Updating us by briefly email once per week.

G. We normally sign a simple standard house sitting agreement with our chosen home sitters, and we will provide detailed notes/calendars/schedules so that you can feel fully informed about your role.

H. Other normal home minding responsibilities such as mail, security, general small repair and maintenance. etc.

Most of all, we would like our home, garden, plants and pets returned to us healthy, clean and in the same manner as your found them.

*OUR DATES:

-Current house sitters must leave on 12/10/20. We have been let down by 2 sitters in the last days who had agreed to take up the position.

We expect a member of our family to take over the sit around the middle of November, but this has not yet been fully finalised.

In these circumstances mentioned above, we would be very happy to loan you our home to enjoy until we are able to return home. It is a great home, in a great area- that really would make a wonderful beachside stay or holiday .

Thank you for your time.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Sorry, this assignment has been closed.