Kiwi House Sitters

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Platinum (36mths+)
House Sitting Preferences
  • 2 - 4 weeks, 1 - 2 months, 2 months +
  • Dog(s), Cat(s), Bird(s), Rabbit(s)/Guinea Pig(s), Chickens/Ducks/Geese, Farm Animals
Preferred Locations
  • Anywhere in New Zealand

John & Ernestine

65, Retired Transport Contractor

67, Retired Nurse/Midwife Unit Manager

Note: For the short to medium term we will not be available for house/pet sitting in New Zealand as we will be in back in Australia enjoying our new home. Yes there will be travel back and forth but on an ad hoc basis. By all means if you would like us to house sit contact us, you never know your luck, we could be getting itchy feet again! :)

Ernestine and myself are a retired couple, very animal friendly, brought up on or near dairy farms, orchards and plant nurseries; our family had boxer dogs as pets, working dogs and many cats. Interests in massage/touch therapy and bodywork, photography, aviation, boating/kayaking, hiking, travel, 4WDs, adventure motorcycling, travel and more travel. Can speak dog, cat, sheep, cow (and a little bull where necessary ;-), chicken and some horse (used to ride as a kid). Don't mind mowing lawns if they are not too large and time consuming or if there is a ride-on; gardening limited to watering, looking after the vege garden, occasional weed pulling and keeping things tidy. Ernestine (being an ex-nurse/midwife) is meticulous in her housekeeping; I generally look after the outside, having strong handyman skills. I can operate machinery, including farm machinery, and am well able to look after farmlettes, hobby farms and lifestyle blocks.

We are very conscientious, scrupulously honest with high personal standards, very tidy and clean. We don't party, or smoke; while generally gregarious we also like our own company (we are quite low maintenance). We are active, healthy and of good general fitness - we like to take long walks in the forest or on the beach.

As for the pets and animals - we are very conscious of behavioural issues that may arise from the changes that occur when their families are away and we come to stay, dogs in particular are very sensitive to this. We make sure that as much as possible we maintain the same rules and habits that they are used to, and give them lots of attention and love. We find dogs will bond very quickly, especially after 3 days or so and after a week (sometimes less) we are their new family.

We emphasis good communication before and during the house/pet sit - we try and write little stories via WhatsApp or similar of our daily adventures with our charges so as to reassure everyone that all is well and that their furry family is being well looked after.

We are available for a Skype/WhatsApp/Zoom interview - or if we are in range, quite happy to come along personally to say hello and introduce ourselves.

Reviews (17)
John & Ernestine looked after our house for 2 months while we took a lazy road trip. We could not be happier with John and Ernestine. Throughout the trip, communication was fantastic and the place was in immaculate condition when we returned. It is important when travelling to have confidence in the house sitters and we were totally impressed with their attention to detail. John and Ernestine had a great interaction with the neighbours as well. We can highly recommend John and Ernestine to ... MORE
 
ANNE (South West Rocks NSW, Apr 2021 - 2 months 1 week) From Aussie House Sitters
John and Ernestine are fantastic house sitters! Charlie was very well cared for and the communication with John during the sit was fantastic. Highly recommend these to to anyone.
 
ANDREA (Ngaio North Island, Dec 2020 - 2 weeks 3 days - 1 of 2 endorsements from this owner )
John and Ernie were amazing house sitters, highly recommended. They are great communicators and left the house in pristine condition, Ernie even baked us a banana cake with our old bananas (was lovely, kids loved it ). They took wonderful care of our pets, including my very anxious Boston terrier. They bring their own supplies too (condiments etc). Again, highly recommended, Cheers
 
CHRIS (Khandallah North Island, Jul 2020 - 1 week 1 day)
Being this was my 1st experience with house sitters I was a little apprehensive but wow, John and Ernestine were fantastic. Right from the start the communication was excellent and having met this lovely couple any fears were quickly gone. I then I came home to an absolutely spotless house and pets that were so content they were not even excited to see me! As an example of the above and beyond- my 19yr old cat decided to stop eating so Ernestine went and got him the most expensive food ... MORE
 
DAVE (Tauranga North Island, Jun 2020 - 7 days)
John and Ernistine are a very friendly and caring couple who went above and beyond to ensure our house was well looked after, our pets cared for and made a fuss of and daily communication was excellent. We left them with what turned out to be a challenging puppy - who acted like a teenager. They went above and beyond including researching and enforcing training techniques to help our Puppy learn how to be a good pup. We had a grandmother in town who loves visitors and they visited her to ... MORE
 
ETHAN (& DANIELLE) (Whitianga North Island, May 2020 - 4 weeks)
Apologies for late review - but highly recommended!!
 
ANDREA (Wellington North Island, Apr 2020 - 2 of 2 endorsements from this owner )
John and Ernie were absolutely fabulous. Right from the outset their communication was wonderful and as this was our first time having someone housesit for us we really appreciated there support in this process. Their care of our pets was above and beyond. Always sending us photos and messages of their escapades. We would have no hesitation in recommending John and Ernie to housesit. They looked after our dogs, stock and our home as if it was their own. We are very thankful to have found ... MORE
 
MIKE AND JANELLE (Coromandel North Island, Mar 2020 - 4 weeks)
Ernestine and John were a great couple and did a wonderful job looking after our home and plant nursery. They both went out of their way for us and their kindness was sincere and warmly appreciated. Our home was extremely well kept by them which gave us great peace of mind during our weeks away. We are happy to recommend John and Ernestine as a couple who took pride in treating our home as their own Fantastic.
 
BRENT (Prebbleton South Island, Jan 2020 - 1 month 1 week)
We can't recommended Ernie and John more highly! They looked after our labrador Sasha and our house for three weeks over Christmas. Sasha was clearly well loved, with multiple walks per day and I not entirely sure she wanted us to come back. John and Ernie updated us (almost daily) on Sasha activities on Whatsapp, including pictures which we just loved. The house was immaculate when came home and the gardens clearly well tended to as well. To be honest it was like two cleaning fairies moved in ... MORE
 
LYNDALL AND PAUL (Christchurch South Island, Dec 2019 - 3 weeks)
First class, really professional couple. Sometimes you meet strangers for the first time and then feel you could just yarn for hours. Massive thumbs up from us on Portland. Thanks to John and Ernie, nelly was showered with love and attention..... what more could you ask for???? Thanks again.... would %100 recommend xx
 
GEMMA (Portland England, Sep 2019 - 1 week) From House Sitters UK
We couldn't have asked for more capable sitters than John & Ernestine. Our animals were superbly well cared for and our house & garden were immaculate upon our return. The communication (including photo's) during our time away was excellent and meant that we could relax fully knowing that everything at home was being taken care of. Our Labrador will certainly miss her trips out and the constant tennis ball throwing - she had a wonderful time and even whimpered at the door when they left. ... MORE
 
HELEN & AL (Codford, Warminster England, Aug 2019 - 2 weeks) From House Sitters UK
Ernestine and John are 5 Star House Sitters. Communication is easy and prompt and their personal and genuine interest in caring for our "Lilly" dog made our departure much easier than previous departures. We returned home to one very happy dog, an immaculant house AND a delicious home cooked meal (which was very much appreciated after a very wet and long trip home). John & Ernestine, Thank You, you are welcome to come and stay/House Sit for us anytime. Until we meet again, Safe Travels. ... MORE
 
CHERIE & ALAN (Mount Tamborine QLD, May 2019 - 5 days) From Aussie House Sitters
With two dogs, two cats (with attitude!) and six fish tanks, John and Ernestine wowed us with their genuine ability to bond with our animals, and displayed an obvious love in what they do as alpha carers. We specifically asked for regular updates on how things were going back home and received daily communications together with comforting shots of our fur-babies. John and Ernie readily agreed to run us to and from our local train station at the beginning and end of our travels and even ... MORE
 
JILL AND MICHAEL (Fishermans Reach NSW, Apr 2019 - 2 weeks) From Aussie House Sitters
Knowing that John & Ernestine were taking care of Poppy and our house was a huge weight lifted for us, considering we had never had house sitters before. We came home to a changed Beagle, which is not an easy thing at all. Poppy had stopped jumping up on the lounge, which we had been trying to do for some time. She is even walking much better on the lead and listens to commands. We can certainly see the amount of time, care and love she has had while we were away for the 3 weeks, and we are ... MORE
 
TAMARA (Beaudesert QLD, Apr 2019 - 3 weeks) From Aussie House Sitters
John and Ernestine were fantastic housesitters and we are so grateful to them for looking after our home and our rather challenging cat for 2 weeks. We really enjoyed meeting and spending a little time with them prior to our short trip, and felt very confident that our home and cat were in safe hands. When our cat became quite ill, John and Ernestine recognised that she needed professional treatment and communicated with us on a daily basis as they followed the vet's advice. We arrived home to ... MORE
 
NONIE (Nelligen NSW, Mar 2019 - 4 weeks) From Aussie House Sitters
John and Ernestine have recently looked after our house and two small dogs for 3 weeks. They are a great couple who take their responsibilities seriously and were reliable, honest and great communicators. Our girls were very well cared for and didn't appear to miss us at all. Both are rescue dogs and have a few challenging behaviours that were managed very calmly and sensibly. The house was clean, garden looked great and we're very grateful for the care they took.
 
JOHANN (Robertson NSW, Mar 2019 - 3 weeks) From Aussie House Sitters
I was incredibly nervous about leaving my pets with people I didn't know for the first time, however could not have asked for a more incredible couple to look after them! John and Ernestine went above and beyond to ensure my two dogs and cat were well looked after - along with the rest of my house and gardens. From making the effort to meet me and my pets the couple of weeks prior to the house sitting dates right through to daily contact, updates and photos of what the dogs and cat had been up ... MORE
 
SAMANTHA (Belfast South Island, Dec 2018 - 6 days)
 
Peace of Mind

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With a house sitter looking after your pets, house and garden - you can really relax. Happy days.

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