God bless him @IHeartAnimals 
You will find that a lot of people without children go away after school holidays which in Oz is around end of January so NZ might be the same. I hope you make it there but if not, thereās always another day 
Yes, link included. Iāve indeed not found another way than to take screenshots. In my case I had to take a screenshot of every single review - I canāt get more than 1 on the page at a time. So that meant 45 screenshots to paste into a Word docā¦
Had another reply from AussieHouseSitters today: āWe have been inundated with messages, , and I will strive to be back in touch within the next couple weeks as we work through them all.ā
Out of the ones on AHS who DID get back to me, Iāve now heard 3 times that:
- theyāve been flooded with applications
- theyāll take the next few weeks to go through them, shortlist candidates, and make a decision
Thatās a long wait to know if you might make the cut amidst the barrage of applicationsā¦ esp. where booking of flights is involved
In case anyone has suggestions for good Aussie housesitting websites that are not completely FLOODED with sittersā¦, let me know!
Iāve seen some other sites for Australia but donāt want to pay membership fees for every possible website and find out itās the same situation all over again with just a handful of suitable sits and a ton of willing sitters. Plus for Australia, HOās may even list their sits on multiple sites, because none of them are asking any fees of HOs. Itās only the sitters that pay
If you canāt get more than one on a page on the website, you must have your font size up to the max. You can zoom out so each āpageā in the review slider fits. I think thatās like 5 reviews. Then you just have to screenshot each āpageā.
If youāre using the app, Iād suggest using the site for at least this bit.
New Zealand is incredible. I did a 2 week hiking tour of the South Island and it was fantastic. The Milford Trek is one of the most beautiful places in the world. If you can add on, you wonāt regret it.
@Bluehorse the two sites in Australia are Aussie Housesitters and MindaHome. Homeowners generally advertise on both because as you say, itās free for homeowners to register on both sites. The problem with this is, if they find a sitter on one site they generally donāt remove the listing from the other one so that one just stays there, itās very frustrating.
Iāve been on both for six years now and have never been without a sit. Obviously with no limit on applications, they can pick and choose which I guess makes it harder for people from outside of Australia to snag one. Understandable I guess seeing as they are both Australian sites and not really geared towards international sitters so much. At present there would be a big call for Christmas and New Year sits but come end of January there will be heaps also, longer ones. The majority now are for shorter Christmas sits during school holidays. But both sites are great and Iāve had the best sits ever from them consistently, but I also am Australian.
@avidtraveler quite right about the Milford Track, absolutely stunning, as is the South Island as you mentioned.
Yes it is expensive. But I figured I flew all the way down and here and I might never get back, so what the heck. The woman sitting next to me on the plane told me about it. She is a native of Sydney. I was traveling alone and she came to my hotel 2 nights later with another friend and took me out to dinner and showed me around Sydney. Extremely nice people.
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Thatās considered a very short drive in Canada but thanks for enlightening me 
Thanks @ziggy, really useful to hear about your experience with using these 2 sites. And yes, I imagine theyāre indeed mostly geared towards the home market in terms of sitters.
It struck me though that for sits that Iāve been applying for both over the holidays (Xmas) and the few that are listed for late Jan/February, the few HOs who got back to me, all mentioned being flooded with applications.
Iāll check out a Mindahome as well - thanks for that suggestion
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@IHeartAnimals please reach out if you make it to Brissie (Brisbane) and you would like to meet up. I hope you get to visit QLD (Queensland), Australiaās favourite holiday destination. Please DM me if you want some travel tips Welcome to Queensland, Australia
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Ballina is also in another state (New South Wales) whereas the Gold Coast is in Queensland @Globetrotter!
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@IHeartAnimals If as suggested, you head to NZ & want to do any of the multi day great walks or anything similar, youāre most likely out of luck as spots during school holidays etc were snagged within a few hrs this year. You need to book a bunk in the various huts or do them as an out n back day. There are other really cool trail options but you need a vehicle & stay close to say Nelson, Christchurch, etc.
If you do fly over from Aus, donāt expect cheap airfares here in NZ 
! Same with the cook straight ferries as both carriers are facing issues. Urgh!
@Crookie if we make it to Brisbane I would love to meet up. My husband now understands but in the beginning, I would notate things that THS community members have mentioned and he would say āwho?ā Now I can tell him that I get to meet Crookie if we make it to Brisbane
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@TheMapleKiwi very good to know. Thanks for the info
So Iāve been told by another member - my first trip to Australia so perhaps I needed a geography lesson but regardless of location, one of my favorite house sits!
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Itās not your fault @Globetrotter, itās all the east coast towns south of the Queensland border who want to be known as being on the Gold Coast. Itās a marketing ploy for tourists!
Iām from the GC and a passionate Queenslander!
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@Globetrotter Ballinaās a lovely location and glad you thoroughly enjoyed your sit there.
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@temba Ballina certainly is, and far away from the madding crowds 
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Itās very easy to game the requirement of some countries to have proof of a departing flight, just use a website such as www.onwardtravel.com.
Thatās like a rent a ticket which would cancel after a certain time. It wouldnāt work for an insurance claim if you needed it for an accident, hospital etc
@Globetrotter hope you get to experience a typical Aussie Christmas Day while you are here, very different to a northern hemisphere cold Christmas. Hope you love eating 
& sitting by the pool 
or at the beach & being totally casual. Enjoy! 
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