We are a married couple with two ‘grown up’ children both working. Andy is 52 years old and has just retired after serving 30 years in South Wales Police. Christina is 41 and has been in the police service for 13 years, but would rather travel the world with Andy so is taking a career break for a couple of years! We are financially secure and have been landlords with our second home that we have been letting to tenants for the past 3 years. We live on the beautiful Gower Peninsular in South Wales, just wish we had more sunshine! We have kept pets all our lives including dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, hamsters, gerbils and goldfish. Our current ‘babies’ Nessie and Hamish will be looked after by their grandparents whilst we travel! We understand the importance of knowing that your ‘babies’ are ok whilst your away and will keep you informed of their wellbeing whilst your away if that is what you would like. We have looked after our friends pets, on numerous occasions whilst they have been away this has included a small holding with cattle, pigs and chickens. We love to travel, walk in the countryside go to the theatre and enjoy good food and wine. Andy is a keen ornithologist and Chris is a frustrated marine biologist! We have been Whale and Dolphin watching in Tenerife, Cardigan Bay, Iceland, Caribbean Islands, Thailand, Great Barrier Reef, Maderia, Cyprus, Moray Firth Scotland and not to forget alligator and crocodile hunting in Daintree National Park, Queensland and the Florida Everglades, if there’s a boat trip Chris has to gone on it!! We are non-smokers, Chris is vegetarian and Andy does try hard and can be if you prefer vegetarians in your home. Andy spends a lot of his time gardening and doing DIY in the house, Chris loves to cook and keeps fit by swimming in the local pool. We both love cosy evenings in and reading a book or the weekend papers, which often take Andy the week to read!
We are currently on a round-the-world tour for 12 months we set off in April We began in California then headed to Cook Islands, Tonga and Fiji before arriving on the East Coast and plan to tour around Australia in an anti-clockwise direction hoping to visit; Broome, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Tasmania and Sydney. We would hope to be in Sydney for Christmas/new Year before flying to Auckland, New Zealand. We plan to spend about 2 months in NZ visiting family and touring North and South Islands. Finally we will make our way back home via Singapore, perhaps Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong depending on how much time and money we have left! This is a loose plan, is flexible and the places we visit and times will vary depending on amongst other factors any housesitting stays arranged. We hope to experience local culture and lifestyle, a number of housesitting assignments could give us this opportunity. We love to explore and have travelled widely including, Thailand, Caribbean Islands, Canary Islands, America, Australia, Europe not forgetting to mention Wales! but still have a lot of places on our list. House sitting enables us to travel more!
We have worked continually from leaving school and feel that we have earned a couple of years off!We are animal and nature lovers and have experience of keeping a wide range of pets. We care dearly for the natural environment and are members of the Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales. We have also been members of the National Trust and Royal Society for Protection of Birds for many years. We are home owners and landlords having a second home for the past 3 years. We understand the importance of respecting people’s property. We are currently still police officers but will be retiring in 2014 so are security conscious and understand and embrace cultural and spiritual beliefs and lifestyles. We have travelled widely, keep fit, and are keen to maintain a healthy lifestyle.