Meet Sophie and Christopher Warren a family of 5 who run a luxury eco-cottages business in Kangaroo Valley NSW, and have been WWOOF Australia Hosts for 5 years.
They harvest water, solar powered and measure their food miles, energy consumption and carbon footprint. They have 90 citrus trees, aromatherapy exhibit plants & a sustainable firewood plantation. Sophie and Christopher’s ethos is to encourage guests to become connected to nature and make environmentally positive changes. They have planted 1000’s of trees resulting in diverse birdlife & a return of wildlife. For WWOOFers we need assistance in our aromatherapy garden, native garden & orchard, chopping wood, and helping with chickens etc.
We thought we would ask them a little about themselves.
What is it like living at Kangaroo Valley, NSW, Australia.
Very warm friendly community, everyone looks out for one another you can’t walk down the street without stopping 5 times for a chat!!
What made you decide to create your Business ‘Eco Luxury Cottages’?
We wanted to share this beautiful spot with others, it was a great way to bring up our young kids (now teens and young adults) while being at home and on land. Very important to respect the earth and teach others that you can have a luxurious stay with a small carbon footprint.
Tell us a bit about your aromatherapy garden.
Lots of different natives and some herbs – lemon scented tea tree is amazing, guests can’t believe the strong smell when you crush the leaves. we use it (not our own) for cleaning in the cottages. We also have rosemary, lavendar, chives and lots of old fashioned roses.
What would be a typical day for a WWOOFer?
Letting out and feeding the dozen chooks, collecting eggs, collecting fruit and making marmalade, setting fires in cottages, raking leaves, is normal, but we often get a project going that suits the WWOOFers if they are here for a while. We had 2 aeronautical engineers who designed and built a 20 m bridge with recycled materials off the property through a flood zone – it’s stood the test of time, as has our friendship with the two French wwoofers who we spent a weekend with in La Rochelle France last year!
What is the weather like and what is the best time of the year to visit?
Definatley September to April is great. Winter is a bit cold and foggy but suits some.
Is there any particular piece of clothing, if any you would recommend be the number one item to bring with them?
A broadbrimmed hat! but we often buy them one. Oh, and Winter pjs if here May-Aug!
What will you teach WWOOFers during their stay with you?
My husband has a PhD in guest persuasion teaching guests to be responsible whilst here, and he loves to discuss environmental issues
What has been the best memory to date an experience you have had as a Host with WWOOFers?
Seeing a very shy young man with absolutely no English and used to living in the poor suburbs of Paris become fluent and now studying business at uni here!
What is the main Airport I fly into to visit you? Sydney
Crystal Creek Meadows has sustainable tourism certification and we donate time to share our sustainability knowledge with our community and through My Green Butler with tourism providers around the world and our valued guests.
Things to do in Kangaroo Valley https://www.crystalcreekmeadows.com.au/things-to-do-kangaroo-valley/
If you would love to go WWOOFing and you’re not a WWOOF member yet, Join WWOOF Today! https://wwoof.com.au/join-wwoof/
