House and Pet Sitting Service
We look after your home and pets as if they were our own
Are you looking for a caring, responsible and experienced house/pet sitter? Look no further. We are Paul and Sandra, a reliable and organised 45+ years old couple offering house/pet sitting services.
To secure our housesitting services, email us with your requirements, dates, location etc at [email protected].
We used to live in our own beautiful home in inner-city Sydney, Australia until September 2016, when we farewelled our corporate careers to build our own business and travel the world – seeking out new adventures, learning about different cultures and experiencing life after children. We now live a minimalist lifestyle, having sold or given away most of our possessions to charities, friends and family. Travelling with carry-on backpacks only gives us great flexibility and enables us to move from place to place with ease.
We are both animal lovers who used to have our own pets when we were younger: Paul had two scatty but adorable Dalmatians, Spot and Tammy, whom he puppy-trained as well, and two red-eared turtles named Ernie and Bert. Sandra had a moggy rescue cat with beautiful green eyes called Lluna, who lived a long and happy life. Currently, as we are travelling, we don’t have any pets, sadly. But we try to stay at short-term rental accommodation (or do house sits) that do, giving us the chance for plays and cuddles with our hosts’ furry children.
Having owned homes in Australia and New Zealand for a combined 21 years, we know how to look after your home and outdoor space. We pride ourselves on a clean and tidy home. We are able to fix basic common issues around the house (for example, changing light bulbs or fixing a dripping tap) and would be happy to do basic outdoor maintenance (for example, cleaning the pool or general gardening).
Prior to our lifestyle change, Paul used to work as a Product Manager for Dimension Data, a global IT company. Paul loves running long distances (he has completed approximately 30 marathons and countless other races around the world). Originally from New Zealand, he speaks English and basic Spanish.
Sandra was born in Germany, and besides her native tongue, she is fluent in English and an intermediate Spanish-speaker. She used to work for Commonwealth Bank, Australia’s largest financial institution, for 11 years, most recently as Management Consultant. She is into yoga, meditation and swimming.
We both love the great outdoors, exploring our locations on hikes and by bicycle. Latin Dance brought us together, and we still dance occasionally.
Our experience
We’ve been officially house and pet sitting since 2017. We find most of our house sits through house sitting websites like Kiwi House Sitters (when we are in New Zealand), Aussie House Sitters (when we are in Australia) and Trusted House Sitters (when we are in other parts of the world). Though we also (continue to) house and pet sit for friends and family.
House sits 2020
| Period | Duration | Location | Experience |
| Mar 2020 | 6 days | Ashburton, New Zealand | Looked after the home (with basic gardening) and a 10 year old Jack Russell/Fox Terrier Cross named Tilly |
| Jan 2020 | 10 days | London, UK | Looked after the home, and two dogs named Riff Raff (4 year old Cockapoo) and Heather (11 month old Romanian rescue puppy) |
| Dec 2019/ Jan 2020 | 7 days | Munich, Germany | Looked after the home, and two rescue cats named Fini and Flori |
House sits 2019
| Period | Duration | Location | Experience |
| Nov 2019 | 6 days | Prangins, Switzerland | Looked after the home, a German Shepherd named Rolo and a German Shorthaired Pointer named Zara |
| Feb 2019 | 15 days | Hope, New Zealand | Looked after a lifestyle property with three dogs (two Border Collies and a Doberman), four cats, five chickens, two cows and a horse - Repeat sit |
| Feb 2019 | 2 days | Hope, New Zealand | Looked after the home and a 14-week old puppy named Dexter (German Short-haired Pointer Cross) - Repeat sit |
| Jan 2019 | 29 days | Dunedin, New Zealand | Looked after a property with a sizable garden requiring maintenance over the Summer |
| Dec 2018/ Jan 2019 | 19 days | Dunedin, New Zealand | Looked after the home (with basic gardening), two dogs named Rusty (Australian Terrier Cross) and Lucy (Fox Terrier Cross), and a tabby cat called Nonu |
House sits 2018
| Period | Duration | Location | Experience |
| Oct 2018 | 17 days | Hope, New Zealand | Looked after a lifestyle property with three dogs named Jackson, Abbey (both Border Collies) and Ruby (Doberman), four cats named Angel, Stevie, Furby and Daisy, five chickens and two cows |
| Jul/Aug 2018 | 34 days | Hope, New Zealand | Looked after the home (with basic gardening) |
| May/Jun 2018 | 22 days | Swannanoa, New Zealand | Looked after a 2.7 hectare/6.7 acre farm and home, a German Shepherd named Dora, 17 sheep (growing to 21 as several lambs were born under our watch), countless chickens, turkeys, ducks, guinea fowls, and numerous other birds in five aviaries (including peacocks, cockatiels and finches) |
| May 2018 | 15 days | Christchurch, New Zealand | Looked after the home, two Samoyeds named Tashi and Shaila, and two Birman cats named Simba and Coffee |
| Dec 2017/ Jan 2018 | 27 days | Auckland, New Zealand | Looked after the home (with basic gardening) and a Jack Russell named Ollie |
House sits 2017
| Period | Duration | Location | Experience |
| Dec 2017 | 7 days | Tokoroa, New Zealand | Looked after the home, a Maltese named Zara, and two cats named Shadow and Panda |
| Nov/Dec 2017 | 15 days | Auckland, New Zealand | Looked after the home, a cat named Furby and a Beagle named Bella |
| Nov 2017 | 12 days | Ruakaka, New Zealand | Looked after the home (with basic gardening) and a Siberian Husky named Mia |
Working with us
Our house/pet sitting services are free of charge. We are flexible and tailor each engagement based on your specific needs. To give us all peace of mind, we use a questionnaire/house sitting agreement that covers all essential questions we and you may have and captures the specifics of each house/pet sitting engagement.
If you are interested in our services please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We would be very happy to arrange a video call (via Skype, Facetime or other means) to speak to you in person.
References
We know, as pet and homeowners, you will be most interested in our references. Our references demonstrate that we are reliable and trustworthy people, who will look after your home and pets as if they were our own.
Through Trusted House Sitters
Through Kiwi House Sitters
From former housemate, neighbour and real estate agent
- Georgette HALL’s reference letter
- John LEHMANN’s reference letter
- Tina O’CONNOR’s reference letter
Other references
Police check documents are available upon request
Our availability
The COVID-19 pandemic has created significant uncertainty and led to all our planned house sits from March 2020 onward either cut short or cancelled altogether.
Given New Zealand’s recent move to alert level 2 (and likely move to level 1 in the next few weeks), we have started looking for house sits again. Please get in touch if you are looking for a house/pet sitter in the following regions/periods:
- New Zealand in July-September 2020
- Australia in September-November 2020 (assuming Trans-Tasman travel will resume for the Spring school holidays); and
- New Zealand in December 2020/January 2021.
To secure our housesitting services, email us with your requirements, dates, location etc at [email protected].
While we travel, we usually have an internet connection at our nightly accommodation. We make every attempt to respond to any message or contact within 24 hours.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Last updated 3 June 2020
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