Housesitter Blog

Gungahlin, ACT – No Pets, Just Views

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The view of the Brindabellas from my 12th floor balcony in Gungahlin, ACT

Housesitting is *not* all beer and skittles.

Sometimes it can be pretty bloody awful. Occasionally brilliant, oftentimes mundane.

So I wasn’t in any hurry to rush back into it after leaving Western Australia in 2023, where a 14 month stay had included a handful of housesits of varying experiences.

I didn’t do a single housesit in South Australia during 17 months there, though I did dodge one particular bullet in what would have been an idyllic setting near the St Vincent Gulf. When I called the homeowner to say I was about ten minutes away from our meeting at a local pub, she replied, “Oh, was that today? I’m not there, and can’t be any time soon.”

OK, but we should meet as the first of your dates is coming up soon.

“Oh, I don’t need you for that one now. Only in a few months.”

Right. Fine.

She then went on to catalogue her dog’s various neuroses and I politely but firmly said she’d be better off with another sitter.

Big fun.

At the end of 2024, washed up on the east coast for the first time for any length of time in nearly six years, I realised I’d be on much firmer footing at a friend’s apartment. She was going off for a lap of the continent of indeterminate duration and her compact unit was going to be sitting gathering dust. We came to an arrangement and on the public holiday Monday at the end of January 2025, I installed myself into Gungahlin in my hometown Canberra.

I say ‘hometown’, though when I was growing up, the Gungahlin area was all paddocks and farmland. It didn’t start to develop as a residential or commercial area until the early 1990s. Now it comprises 16 suburbs and is home to nearly 90,000 residents.

For me, it was a great place to park myself and do very little after a berserk 2024 in which I criss-crossed the country from the Pacific to the Indian three times by road, and a couple more times by air. I’d also gone from the Southern Ocean up to the Arafura Sea in the north plus a return trip by road to Mparntwe/Alice Springs. I visited Perth/Fremantle five or six times for various reasons.

I was exhausted and needed to drop anchor. And I did so for what ended up being a tick over four months, in which time we went from stultifying dry heat to sub-zero temperatures overnight.

Towards the end of my stay, I scored a half dozen mornings like this – a complete whiteout of low-lying fog

The unit was three-fifths the way up an apartment tower block that gave commanding views of the Brindabellas and the lower ranges to the north west in the Yass direction. In the four months I was there, I noticed the shift of the sun from over the Brindies tracking around to the north west at sunset more than I’d ever noticed the solar shuffle in my decades of living in the region.

Sunsets were breathtaking most evenings, but I could never do them justice with my assortment of devices so I didn’t try. Trust me.

At the start of June, my friend returned from her circumnavigation of the continent and left me this reference:

I have just got home from a four month holiday away. Bill guarded the fort for me and I was exceptionally impressed with the great care he took to clean my home and ensure it was pristine for my return. Plus he was thoughtful enough to leave me some milk and bread which I appreciated very very much on my late night arrival at home.

Thank you Bill. You are an absolute treasure and I would absolutely entrust you with all my treasures and highly recommend your services to anyone needing them. Very well done.

Darwin (Karama) – Two Brilliant Canine Companions

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Roy and Moo loving the beach life at Lee Point, NT

If you’ve noticed a large gap in my posts and references on this page, you’re very observant.

I fell off a plane in Darwin on 26 March 2019 for what was to be my last housesit.

Mostly because I hadn’t *needed* to housesit to guarantee a roof over my head for over nine months; from June 2018 I was cashed up and not needing to be sweating for the next housesit for shelter. I chose to honour my outstanding commitments, and also chose to finish a run of five years non-stop in the Northern Territory – the last of the eight state/territory jurisdictions in Terra Australis I’d not set foot on until that day.

And then a funny thing happened. I could afford a much grander lifestyle (and my financial adviser was encouraging me to spend some of my money), when July 2021 kicked in, I could afford an even grander lifestyle thanks to a very generous superannuation pension.

But by then, I was acclimatised to living like a gypsy. I’d embraced the lifestyle. Moving around from place to place had become my normal.


Never say never, famous last words, and don’t put the mockers on yourself. From a combination of laziness and Covid, I stayed in the NT for two years nine months, and as soon as I mumbled the words ‘house sitter’ in the company of others, the offers and requests came trickling in. I had gigs all over Darwin and Palmerston for over two years.

I probably would have left NT in late 2020, despite the relentless march of Covid19 and the territory’s relative insulation from its worst ravages. But a chance Facebook post had me enter into a recurring two-week-on, two-week-off arrangement from December 2020 to July 2021.

Despite many, many housesits in Darwin and Palmerston from March 2019 onwards, this was the one and only written reference I received:

Back in December 2020, I put up an ad on Facebook for a house/dog sitter for two weeks. I work a two weeks on/two weeks off FIFO roster.

Bill answered my ad and come and looked after my two dogs and house for me. I have a very boisterous staffy (Roy), and a little foxy x Jack Russell (Moo). Both dogs are super spoilt and both inside/outside dogs. 

When I returned from work, Bill picked me up at the airport. When I dropped him off I said, if you are interested in sitting again, let me know. To my surprise he said, “Yes!!!!”

Eight months later, Bill has looked after my home and dogs every other two weeks.

I also let him borrow my car as he is THE ONLY sitter I have ever had that has taken my dogs to the beach for walks. This means so much to me. And there is always fuel in the car when I return.

I can go to work, knowing my dogs and home are safe. My dogs are happy and well looked after. My home is spotless, just the way I left it, and Bill even washes his bedding before leaving.

I work a very demanding job, so going to work and not having to stress about what’s going at at home means a lot to me. I barely have to message Bill to even check in with him, as I know everything is fine.

Bill has never accepted money from me even when I have offered it. He is just simply happy to sit for me. So understandably when Bill told me he is going to move on from Darwin, I was a little upset, but I wish Bill all the best with his new ventures in life.

My dogs love Bill, I love Bill. I highly recommend him to anyone that is looking for a clean, tidy and respectable house sitter.

Hope, Moo and Roy

[Reference] Thornleigh, New South Wales – One energetic greyhound and a very attentive moggie

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

Occasionally I return to a suburb to housesit, sometimes for the same homeowner, sometimes for another.

But Thornleigh in Sydney’s far northern suburbs was a first for me: I housesat in three houses consecutively, all within the space of a couple of hundred metres on the same side of the street!

I was initially booked for one residence for a period of seven weeks (reference still on the way for that one), but before I’d arrived, the homeowner had been chatting to friends three doors down, and they booked me in for another couple of weeks to follow directly after the initial housesit.

Then while I was there, we jointly agreed on my filling in for a few days in between at the house directly next door to the initial housesit. This was very handy as late May to mid August, my transitions allowed me to pack my bag and move next door and then subsequently just four doors down. My Opal transport card got to feel extremely neglected.

This reference is from the last of those housesits, looking after a very low-maintenance greyhound who loved her walks and the occasional visit to the dog park, loved that I was around most of the time, but made very few demands of me.

Continue reading →

[Video] Bill The Housesitter’s 2017 Clients – From A to Y

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This is just about a comprehensive collection of all the pets I looked after in 2017 as Bill The Housesitter.

With the exception of a few fish and hamsters. And several chooks.

It literally is a collection from A to Y.

As I was compiling these photos, I realised I’d inadvertently put them in alphabetical location order: from Algester (Qld) to Yeppoon (Qld)!

In housesitting years gone by, I could have told you at any tick of the clock how many housesits I was up to for that year at that point in time.

But 2017 was such an absolute mess, I totally lost track along the way.

Just now, I’ve used a very scientific method (i.e. counting on fingers as this video ran through its paces) to come up with the definitive count for the year: twenty three (23).

From Machan’s Beach (Cairns) in the north to Baulkham Hills (Sydney) in the south.

(2017 housesit locations. Not pictured: Baulkham Hills (Sydney), New South Wales.)

So, with a little favourite music in the background, and arrayed in alphabetical order, here are my feathery, furry, and finned clients of 2017:

Here’s to 2018 and all who sail in her!

Bill Quinn
Bill The Housesitter

Sydney, New South Wales

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[Reference] Scarborough, Queensland – One Very Small Jack Russell With a Very Big Character

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

Scarborough was yet another one of my short housesits, however, at eight nights it was starting to hit median length for my 2017 records.

I was already in wind-down mode in Queensland, with this being my penultimate housesit, divided by a week in my old faithful haunt, the Brisbane City YHA.

The small unit at Scarborough was ideally suited for a quiet, relaxing week before heading back into the city, perched pretty much at the absolute tip of the Redcliffe peninsula. From the front gate, there was a road, some parkland, and the bay. Pretty hard to take.

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Misty the Jack Russell was in that mama bear range of being not too young, not too old. She liked to be around me, but was perfectly happy to keep her own company as well. Though come sundown, the back door was locked because, left to her own devices, she’d be out there chasing down anything that went bump, rustle or squeak in the night.

Continue reading →

[Reference] Wynnum West (Brisbane), Queensland – One lazy, friendly old Labrador and two fairly sociable Bearded Dragons

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

A question I get asked more and more these days is, “What’s been your favourite housesit?”

Try as I might, I never have a good and/or definitive answer for this. There are just too many variants: location, number of animals, sociability of those animals, comfort level of accommodation, TV and media choices in the home, and so and so and so.

I can honestly not pick one.

However, there are other metrics I can easily use to pick ‘The Most Something’ of a housesit and this is one. Namely, it’s been the shortest!

Bearded Dragon2Initially intended to be a little over 24 hours, this short housesit at Wynnum West ended up falling about five hours short of two whole days. The family had forgotten that they had a Saturday morning obligation or two for their kids, and so rather than meandering slowly back from the Gold Coast on a pleasant Saturday morning/afternoon, they came barrelling back up the M1 early, and I’d barely (in two senses of the word) stepped out of the shower when they were back.

25 minutes later I was on the westbound platform at Lindum train station!

Continue reading →

[Reference] East Ipswich, Queensland – Two energetic Kelpie crosses

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

I was a little wary of returning to the Ipswich area after two previous housesits in the region had proven to be… challenging! To put it diplomatically. But, to quote a mantra from my old HR days, there are no such things as problems, only opportunities. Allegedly!

I shouldn’t have worried. This one was an absolute delight.

After seeing my ad on Gumtree, Emily had contacted me earlier in the year, about the time I was in the north of Brisbane and about to head way, way up north of the state. We met on my return in July, and locked in this two and a half week sit spanning October and November.

EastIpswich1I had no other obligations or responsibilities during that time, other than to see the end of the baseball World Series on their fabulous cable sports TV (yay!), reunite with a local social group and attend a few trivia nights, and of course spend a lot of quality time with my two furry clients: Sandy and Piper the Kelpie crosses.

Being Kelpies, they were both of course incredibly intelligent and savvy. Sandy in particular had that amazing quality some dogs have: she honestly knew sometimes what I was about to do before I did it, and would move herself into place accordingly.

EastIpswich3 Continue reading →

[Reference] Berrinba (near Brisbane), Queensland (One very autonomous but friendly Manx cat)

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

Following a trend for taking housesits in relatively far-flung parts of Brisbane, I spent two weeks in the deep south in a suburb called Berrinba with Cinnamon the Manx cat.

To be honest, I hesitated when it came up on my pick list. Just across the freeway from Berrinba are the localities of Woodridge and Logan, which have a reputation for being a bit dicey. If you’re familiar with the work of Jim Croce, and in particular his ballad of Bad, Bad Leroy Brown, then imagine his depiction of the south side of Chicago!

But I suspended disbelief, let my fingers do the walking to Google Maps Street View, and found the pictures of its streets uncluttered by pictures of knife-wielding gangs or cars on fire, and within a few days I was meeting with Annette and Bob.

Berrinba1Cinnamon definitely had the run of the joint, especially since as a 23.5 hours a day inside cat, she was absolutely queen of her domain. Her first couple of days were spent in master’s bedroom, but by and by she started spending more time with me on my sole pursuit for much of the two weeks: the league championship series and start of the World Series of baseball on their glorious Fox Sports cable TV.

For the other half an hour a day, Cinnamon got to have time in the exercise yard (read: small patio and grassed backyard), though we had to skip a couple of days as we were on the receiving end of a mighty amount of precipitation for the duration.

That aside, I spent a couple of days a week with a public relations mob in Logan, but Cinnamon was amply able to keep herself occupied on those days, as that’s what she’s used to her with her pack leaders. Continue reading →

[Reference] Mount Ommaney, Queensland – One very assertive middle-aged Maltese Shih-Tzu

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This is the blog section of the Bill The Housesitter site. See above tabs for ‘About’, ‘Availability’, ‘Contact’ and ‘References’.

Mount Ommaney was yet another of those handy little Tetris pieces of a housesit that slotted fairly neatly into a gap in my housesitting schedule for the fractured mess that is my 2017.

Well, 2017’s not so much a fractured mess, but more like how a favoured author of mine describes the geography and topography of Norway: a landscape that resembles a dropped plate.

So, if memory serves, this opportunity in Mount Ommaney came courtesy of my association with a new housesitting website, and after I applied, it came extremely quickly.

Having gone on numerous cruises previously, my clients were breaking with tradition and jetting off to a region of Bali somewhat removed from the touristy hubbub of Kuta and Legian beaches. Continue reading →