Australia

Gungahlin, ACT – No Pets, Just Views

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog , , , ,
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

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog, Tails Of Tales , , , , , , ,
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

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog , , , , , , , , , ,

Thornleigh02

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

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog, Tails Of Tales , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Algester1

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

BillQuinn_20171208

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

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog , , , , , , , , , ,

MtO2

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 →

Bill The Housesitter dot com Video #9: Dog Training Lite

Overheard Productions General Pet Care Advice, Housesitter Blog, Tails Of Tales , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

wp_20160913_011

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

Nothing really much to say here except that it’s a delight to spend time with these two dogs, and we use a few little training tips every day in play and walking time.

Here’s what some of it looks like.

20160911_092107

My 2016 Dance Card Is Now Full

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog, Uncategorized , , , , , , , , , ,

C__Data_Users_DefApps_AppData_INTERNETEXPLORER_Temp_Saved Images_1450088863_calendar3

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

As of this morning, Bill The Housesitter is now booked until at least 5 January 2017.

I have some dates already booked in for the first half of 2017 – see my Availability page for full details.

However, all dates are now spoken for in 2016, and hopefully will stay that way, the various good gods-willing, and if the creeks don’t rise and the crops don’t fail. 😉

In fact, I’m even taking two weeks for myself and having a holiday in Queensland, NSW, ACT and Victoria. This is something I would not even have considered towards the start of this year.

But while some cruel and even tragic* things have happened this year, on balance, it goes well. Good things are happening, and a little time for #1 is in order.

BillTheHousesitter-calendar2016
Full as a goog, as my old mum would say!

Continue reading →

Bill The Housesitter dot com Video #8 Part B: Wide Open Dog Park

Overheard Productions General Pet Care Advice, Housesitter Blog, Tails Of Tales , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Jelly_Rachel_01

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

One of the great joys (of the many to be had) when you housesit is when you strike upon a winning formula with two new furry friends from the get-go.

I’m here in beautiful Capalaba, south east of Brisbane, a short drive from the coastline including Cleveland, Raby Bay and Redland Bay, with Wynnum and Manly a little to the north. It’s then a hop, skip and a jump to the ferry terminal down south for the islands: Stradbroke and Russell to name just two I can think of without consulting a map!

RABYBAYEASTWEST
Raby Bay. Image courtesy of www.peterbellingham.com

Continue reading →

[Reference] Wavell Heights, Brisbane (One very expressive sharpei cross and a low maintenance budgie)

Overheard Productions Housesitter Blog, Tails Of Tales , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

20160618_191133

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

My house-sit in Wavell Heights was one of a few I’d lined up while still in Sydney, so it was great that a few people like Samantha and Dan were prepared to take me on, sight unseen, before I had even arrived in the great south east of Queensland back in February 2016.

(And it’s also a testament to the value of collecting these references, and I offer my sincere thanks to everyone who has provided them for me.)

Like a good one-third to two-thirds of the places I visit, I’d never heard of Wavell Heights before I lobbed there in June 2016. Put a gun to my head and there’s no way I could have pointed to it on a map of Greater Brisbane.

Gus-sleep
Like most of my canine companions, Gus had zero interest in the Tour de France.

Continue reading →

Bill The Housesitter Video 7: Postcard From Burleigh Beach

Overheard Productions General Pet Care Advice, Housesitter Blog, Tails Of Tales , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

20160724_171820

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

It’s been a while since the last blog post and video here. So long that I’m currently under roof #12 for calendar year 2016.

This evening on Burleigh Beach, as I was trying to simultaneously drink in all the scenery and document it to within an inch of its life, I realised this was prime video material.

Et voilà!

I can’t tell you how much I adore drifting up and down the Burleigh promenade. Yeah, it’s tourist central, but this is mid-winter.

I adore it.

A hive of activity, people of all ages, nationalities, and descriptions. And I have more conversations and shared moments here on one evening’s walk than in some whole weeks elsewhere. Continue reading →