Judy & Ray

“We feel like we know you already!” A recommendation from a fellow traveller and Facebook messenger connected us with Judy and Ray for our first WWOOFing experience.

Married for 20 years, the two met at the local yacht club where Ray served as Judy’s oldest son’s sailing instructor. Judy was regularly called in for meetings because of Nick’s rebellious behaviour. After seeing her around the club so often, Ray developed a crush and foolishly asked the 12 year old if his mom was single and got no information - what 12 year old has any idea about his mom’s dating life?! Luckily, Ray trusted his gut and asked her out anyways.

The two found a mutual love of sailing and cooking, owning several restaurants in town together before retiring to sea life. Ray spent 6 years building their boat Fiddlestix, creating a home to take them around the Australian coast.

Judy and Ray have owned their property for about 15 years, but for the first 12 they would spend 9 months sailing and only 3 months at home. Only recently have they started working on the property. They joined Workaway back in November and have so far hosted people from France, Germany, and the Netherlands - I was honored to be the first American girl. Having sold Fiddlestix, the two have several boats and caravans around the house in the process of restoration.

Ray went to school back in the UK for hospitality management but decided in order to be a better manager, he wanted to work in each role to get a better understanding. He fell in love with the kitchen and ended up being in the restaurant business for the majority of his career.  A girl and a caravan brought him to Australia and he’s been an Aussie for almost 50 years!

Judy loves sewing, line dancing, and baking. You should see some of the cakes she makes! We had the pleasure of tasting her delicious scones and muffins during morning tea. Having over 27 jobs throughout her life - running a newspaper, front of house at restaurants, nanny - just to name a few.

The two were great hosts and taught us a lot about organic farming. Frog and toad! (Australian slang for “hit the frog ‘n toad/safe travels”).