Building And Farm Help

Are you someone who loves the outdoors, isn’t afraid of hard work, and wants a summer surrounded by rivers, forest, and farm life?

Our property sits right on the Whangamoa River, in a beautiful, peaceful stretch of countryside close to the top of New Zealand’s South Island. We’ve been hosting WWOOFers for about 8 years, and people often plan to stay a week and end up staying months — it tends to have that effect on people.

What you’ll be doing:

    •    Building projects — decks, sleep-outs, and similar
    •    Farm fencing
    •    Cutting and splitting firewood
    •    Painting
    •    General property clean-up and maintenance

This is not a position to learn these skills — we’re looking for someone who already knows their way around power tools, fencing, and basic building work, and can get stuck in with minimal supervision.

What we offer:

    •    Your own private, self-contained cabin with shower, toilet, fridge, and kitchen
    •    Wi-Fi
    •    Swimming, fishing, and trout in the river right on our doorstep
    •    Hiking tracks nearby
    •    A private beach about 30 minutes away
    •    Beautiful native birdlife
    •    Farm dog to keep you company
    •    A relaxed, independent rural lifestyle

We trade 3 hours of work a day for your stay. We’re flexible on length of stay — we genuinely enjoy having people around, so if it’s a good fit, you’re welcome to stay as long as you like.

Please note: meals aren’t provided — you’ll have full use of the kitchen in your cabin to self-cater.

Paid work available:
Beyond the work-for-stay arrangement, if you’re skilled and want to earn some extra money, we offer paid project work at $25/hour. This is genuinely independent work — you need enough knowledge and experience to take on a project (farm fencing, deck building, landscaping, chainsaw work) and get it done efficiently on your own. If you can sharpen a chainsaw, that tells us a lot — it shows you understand your tools, not just how to use them. Good painters need a real eye for detail; anyone mechanically minded is welcome to help fix things around the farm; there’s also lighter landscaping work available on quieter days.

Whatever you’re looking for, there’s a place for you here — some people stay simply to relax and enjoy the lifestyle, while others work 6–7 days a week and earn $ Either way, we value maturity, independence, and a good attitude above all.

If a summer of rivers, birdsong, and hands-on project work sounds like your kind of adventure, we’d love to hear from you. Send us a message telling us about your building/DIY experience and a bit about yourself.