We were lucky enough to be offered this house sit, on the side of Lake Illawara, after the owner had seen our profile. She had not advertised the sit but contacted us directly. No animals involved, just looking after their amazing abode. As you can see the house offered fantastic views across the lake, with a steep garden down to pool and Cabana, and then, direct access to lake and walking/cycling track. A great spot! We would also have the use of bikes, a canoe and even a rowing boat!
As the dates didn't quite work for us the owner agreed to meet and give us the keys, prior to her actually leaving. They would be leaving a few days prior to our arrival. We arrived around 10 pm (dark) to find that the owner had given us one key and there were two completely different locks on the front door and both were locked? After a lot of messing around we decided to see if the key would for both locks and hey presto we were in, then it was a race to switch off the alarm.
We settled in for the night and then in the morning had a good check around the place. However, we found that in-between the owners leaving and us arriving their cabana had been broken into. Fortunately, not much taken, the main item was an I-pod docking station. Apparently, we learnt this was not the first time this has happened. I think this is why they like to have someone around when they are not here. Not a great start!
To make things a little more interesting we have also had some unwelcome house guests the 1st week... the large black furry kind! First night we heard them, I thought someone had broken in! I sent my knight in shinning armour to do a check, he threw on the lights, mumbled a lot but couldn't seen anything, so came back to bed. However, when we got up in the morning there was a lot of evidence around (think they have a big thing for banana's!). On closer inspection of the kitchen, we found lots of poo/droppings on top of cupboards. In a store room under the house lots more evidence too (obviously where they are getting in, although can't find any large gaps anywhere?) Initially, we thought it could be a mouse, but after googling the poo/droppings it was evident we were dealing with the big guys RATS....urk!!!!
We contacted the owner (she is a lovely lady, a huge naturist......no sprays, green products only etc). She informed us she had never had a problem before..... but there are normally two dogs here, which I am sure, would be a deterrent.
She wanted us to deal with the issue humanely as possible. Was against us calling in pest control. Hmm, what to do? We googled how to deal with this critters and found peppermint oil was a deterrent.....apparently they hate the smell (who knew!). We also read that used kitty litter sprinkled liberally around the property would put an end to our problem.
We ran a friend with a cat and arrange to meet and buy her lunch (she had to travel quite away) in exchange for a bag of the aforemention rat eradicator!
Fortunately, between the peppermint and the kitty poo, we were able to deal with the pests in way that was favourable to all. Quite an experience. Who said this housesitting lark was easy!!!
Other than these few problems, we really enjoyed our stay at this beautiful property. The area was wonderful to explore and we made good use of the bikes and canoe. We were invited to get in touch when next in the area as the owners would love us to return. As would we!
