Beachfront tourism accommodation in Hervey Bay, QLD Australia. We can send through details of our online listings and reviews for our holiday accommodations on application. You can read about our guests experience and opinions about their stay and how we are as hosts.

We have positions for 2 long-term helpers at the holiday apartments and 1 to 3 mixed-term helpers at our home. Our next vacancy is for now until Sept 19. We can be flexible for an earlier arrival and later departure. Please let us know your dates of interest and we will see if we can accommodate a visit from you.

December is a great month to visit as the weather is so nice and the early part of the month is low season in Hervey Bay. For workawayers wishing to come during the Christmas season, we are looking for a longer commitment during the school holidays which spans from December 12 to January 27. Christmas is really fun as we hire a santa and you helpers are the elfs. Jayesh goes up and down the Esplanade in the vintage cars and you give out candy canes to the people on the street. We are super busy and if we have enough help we try to do games for the children on the beach and "pizza/marguerita night" for the guests. You can also view our calendar for availability through the year.

Our speciality is assistance with language skills and teaching exotic vegetarian cooking. Many helpers have told us that we have the best meals they have experienced in Australia. We have one to three extra helpers at our residence who assists with duties around our home including cleaning, making lunch for the holiday apartment helpers and looking after the animals.

We have 8 holiday properties and many wonderful international guests. We provide internet, kayaks, bikes and fishing gear, which helpers are also welcome to use.

Queensland

We host one to three helpers who stay in our residence at the back of our holiday rental cottage. There is a private room with a double bed and shared bathroom and a cute little caravan that is being totally refurbished with two single beds and shared bathroom at the back of the garden on a 1/4 acre block. We also have an outdoor hot water shower. This position is for general household work and helping to look after the 4 really exotic birds, pet parrots, lizards, chicken (some of them lay blue eggs) and the two dogs. This involves cutting fruit and vegetables for the birds and cleaning their cages each morning. The puppies have pumpkin. broccoli, cauliflower and carrots "steamed" mixed with their dry food served warm. hmm. However, they will rapidly love you more than us!!

For helpers who are interested in specialising in the exotic breeding birds, we are able to sign off for 2 days of work per week for your 2nd year visa. The birds are quiet in the evening but they really love to sing in the morning so this position is for early risers only!! They can get chatty at different times of the day so if this is problematic, this post will not suit. The dog food is made from fresh meat and vegetables and cooked in a big batch every 5 days or so. The dogs are fed once a day in the evening. This position also involves help with collecting eggs for the guest and for the household, menu planning and cooking lunch for the other 2 helpers who live at the holiday apartments. You will make shopping lists, sometimes come shopping with us and ensure everything in the fridge is fresh and kept in an orderly manner. Cooking dinner is a bit more of a shared event between hosts and helpers. We do ask that each person loads their own dishes in the dishwasher and count on everyone to participate in keeping counters and table tops clean.

The apartments have one private room with bunk-beds that suit 2 singles or 2 friends. These helpers also have a private bathroom. This is not an en-suite but is newly renovated and for your use exclusively. Helpers at the holiday apartments are responsible for helping with the cleaning. This is a newly renovated building and kept to very high standards and so it is a pleasant work environment. Experienced cleaners can complete one apartment together in 1 - 1 1/2 hours. This involves making beds, cleaning the accommodation and setting out fresh towels and supplies for incoming guests. The linens are outsourced for cleaning and ironing but the towels are washed on-site when it is quiet.

Some days there can be a maximum of 3 apartments to clean and some days there can be none. Work is generally between 10am when guests check-out until 2pm when guests check-in. On the days when we have no departures, we ask that you would spend a little bit of time refilling cleaning products or ensuring that your work equipment is in order. Part of your work is to make sure the outside of the building is kept tidy and the gardens are watered daily.

English and French

For helpers at our residence: Accommodation is a double bed with closet in an air-conditioned / heated room with a ceiling fan. We also have the "new" caravan at the back of the property with proper single beds inside if you prefer a bit more privacy or if we have 2 helpers at once who would like to stay together. There is a large outdoor seating area as well and an outdoor hot water shower for nature lovers! Views of the waterfront from the living room.

For helpers at the apartments: Shared accommodation is provided for 2 singles at the apartments. There is a TV with DVD player and movies are provided every Tuesday. There is a private bathroom which was built 18 months ago. This is exclusively for your use. There is a full size fridge, BBQ and pizza oven. Most of our helpers come to the house for their meals, however, you can have some supplies at the apartments. We generally have a helper at our home, so we encourage you to come to the house so you can all have company and speak in English together. As we are vegetarians, we only occasionally provide meat which must be cooked on the BBQ at the apartments. There is also a large covered free BBQ area on the beach across the street from the apartments which is a nice spot for an evening meal. There is unlimited free wifi both at our residence and at the apartments. There is reverse cycle air conditioning and heating in the bedroom as well as a ceiling fan.

This position is best suited to outdoor types who would love to spend their free time kayaking or cycling, swimming or walking on the beach or who may just enjoy reading a book on the waterfront or visiting with other helpers on the back patio. If you find the climate too hot, it can sometimes be nice to just get away and put the a/c on high and watch a DVD!!

We find that the best times are when helpers come a bit early for dinner and everyone can have a nice chat in the kitchen while the dinner is being cooked. It really enhances the experience for everyone if you are friendly with the guests and other helpers and prepared to speak only in English. On many occasions we have had helpers who have been invited to the homes of some of our guests because of the lovely rapport that they developed.

Your accommodation is across the street from a great swimming beach and a lovely shaded bike path that stretches 14 km along the waterfront. There are free gym stations and tennis courts along the pathway for those who would like to incorporate fitness into their stay.

Hervey Bay is the gateway to World Heritage listed Fraser Island. We are a short 30 minutes by barge. This is the largest sand island in the world and is a lush rainforest with unique eco-systems. Fraser Island is on most international visitors "must see" list. Most young visitors try to go there for a 2 or 3 day trip to experience the whole Island.

Hervey Bay is also known as the whale watch capitol of the world. From July to November the whales come to have their calves and play in the bay. We also have dolphins, dugongs and turtles. This is a renown spot for excellent fishing. You can throw in a line from the pier 10 minutes away or from the jetty across the road if you fancy fresh fish for dinner!

We are also a departure point for Lady Elliot Island. This is at the southern end of the Great Barrier Reef and is among the best snorkelling spots in the world. Lady Elliot is also quite famous for the birdlife on the island. Access is by plane only. We can assist with your holiday plans and recommend which islands or attractions you may like to visit.

Some of our helpers have taken overnight trips to Rainbow Beach about 2 hours south, to see the cliffs of coloured sands. If you get up early enough the next morning, you can go to Tin Can Bay to feed the dolphins.

It is also a 2 hour drive south to the Sunshine Coast where you can visit Steve Irwin’s Zoo or the Hinterland. This is a beautiful mountainous region famous for it’s scenery, cheese and quaint towns.

From November to March, Bundaberg to the North has the turtle hatchery with evening tours to see the turtles come to lay their eggs and later in the year, view the hatchlings making their way to the sea.

Hervey Bay has a new large Water Park. Entry is free and it is about a 20 minute bike ride along the Esplanade to go and have a splash on a hot afternoon.

You will likely get used to watching tide times and will know when to head off to Scarness for a swim if you want to join the "groupies" who make it part of their daily routine. These are very friendly, often elderly locals who welcome some friendly interaction. If you enjoy being out and about you will find this to be a very welcoming town.

We are about a 10 minute walk in one direction and 20 minutes in the other direction to shops and weekly markets in the small hub districts of Urangan and Torquay. This is a lovely little seaside tourist destination about 3 1/2 hours north of Brisbane and 30 minutes from Maryborough which is one of the oldest settlement towns in Australia.

We are happy to answer questions and offer further information if required. Please be in touch if you like a bit of a routine and would enjoy working autonomously. Personally I find it easier to make plans and take advantage of my free time when I know my routine and what I will be doing the next day. Prefer long term helpers for these positions as you will receive full training. We occasionally have extra maintenance work so for 2 week stays you would also be most welcome to apply. Come and work on your English skills, meet other helpers, learn Indian and fusion vegetarian cooking, exchange travel and life stories, experience the QLD culture of living in the outdoors and on the beach for a while!

Thanks kindly for your interest, Lisa