Hello surfers! We (my partner Cameron Yarnall and I) have been off couchsurfing for a while as we were housesitting while we looked for a house. We have finally settled in to our own place and are ready to have some surfers again!

We love meeting other fellow minded travellers and hearing about the places we haven't yet seen, and being reminded that life is not all about the daily grind of work, eat, sleep! Due to the high number of requests we get (we had over 70 surfers stay in the last few months of 2015 alone!) we are now only accepting requests from surfers that have
1. Hosted before themselves
2. Read our profiles and think we will get along. I will know by the wording of your request if you have read my profile or not, this is a way we filter yes/no's because we can't accept everyone!

We also only host around once a month, this means we don’t get burnt out and we’re better hosts as a result :) so sorry if you write a great request, sometimes we just can’t fit it in!

~~I only accept requests using the request function, not a message!~~

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

Having returned from a long trip (a little while ago now) I'm keen to help some travellers out with local knowledge for a change (which I am realising is pretty average, so don’t get your hopes up). And providing a comfy bed for weary heads of course. We travel on a very tight budget so I understand how valuable a free place to stay is!

We do work 9-5 Monday to Friday, so we often can't come out and do things, and like to wind down at home, we are what I would call 'hands off' hosts! So we probably won't have time to show you around, but if we are going somewhere we will be sure to take you as well if you are keen! (we sometimes go camping/hiking etc)

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Did a bit of couchsurfing in Japan and a few other places here and there, always great experiences, sometimes very "interesting"! Been to meet ups all over, there are some really great ones in big cities, I thoroughly recommend going along to a few that have a good following, Beijing was great if you are headed there! We have hosted over 100 people since May 2015, but have had the last few years or so off as we were housesitting/renovating

Interests

Being out in the wilderness, hiking, setting up the tent somewhere remote with a great view, exploring, animals, horse riding, astrophotography, snorkelling and diving, gardening, growing my own food, auroras and bioluminescence (and trying to capture both on my camera!), baking, reading (lots), learning new things!

• animals
• fish
• photography
• festivals
• holi festival
• beer
• baking
• running
• boating
• reading
• traveling
• cars
• fishing
• hiking
• camping
• hunting
• snorkeling
• sailing
• boxing
• rock climbing
• swimming
• languages
• ocean

Music, Movies, and Books

The only time I can remember having a favourite movie was when I was about 10 and it was Fantasia, so I think it will have to remain my favourite movie forever

Favourite TV shows.. The Killing, Louis Theroux, Top of the Lake, The Wire, The Fall, The Honourable Woman, House of Cards, Breaking Bad, True Detective, Narcos, Vikings, Black Sails, and most importantly, anything David Attenborough

Love to read-when I was young I read more than 365 books in a year. Recommend me some! I have recently enjoyed Food Rules by Michael Pollan

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Sunrise on Adams peak in Sri Lanka after climbing the 5000 steps to the top

Being the first (update, maybe the second!) foreigners to cross the border from Myanmar to India since WW2

The moment the lanterns were released at the festival in Chiang mai

Holi festival in Rajasthan

Staying at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, a truly humbling experience!

Hiking in the Khumbu region of Nepal, the hardest and most rewarding experience of my life! The top of Kala Patthar and Gokyo Ri was truly breathtaking

Riding an Enfield through Ladakh and luckily coming away with no injuries even though we were complete rookies and completely unqualified for the machine!

Swimming with whale sharks in the Philippines

Standing on top of the sand dunes in the Gobi desert, Mongolia

Call to prayer time in Istanbul on the Bosphorus

Swimming with humpbacks in Tonga

Standing at the highest point in Bryce Canyon when it was minus 16 for sunrise with nobody else in the park

Teach, Learn, Share

I would love to learn sailing skills so that we could work on a boat for an ocean crossing. Learn how to make really good pastry and/or bread. Learn how to brew my own beer/cider and make my own cheese!

Love to hear about your travel stories of despair/hilarity, those ones about 50 hour train rides, running out of toilet paper, squashed in vehicles with ten more people than are designed to be seated in it, you know the stories! And we can share many with you ;)

I can help teach you how to take pictures of stars and/or auroras if it is the right season and I am going out aurora hunting! I can teach you how to make Banoffee pie (a Scottish favourite) and lollycake (a NZ favourite). We love hiking, so would love to join you/you join us on some hikes in Tassie

What I Can Share with Hosts

Well if you have made it this far you have actually read some the information on my profile (or you're an experienced scroller ;) ) We get many many requests every day, it is appreciated if you have taken the time to read my profile and realise there are two of us, and title your request to 'Shelley and Cam'. Any requests not titled both of us will be denied (but you don't need to send it to both of us :) ). I know it is a hassle to read profiles but believe me I have had to do it maaaaany times before too! It means we don't get two requests from everyone, and don't have to answer repetitive questions people can easily find if they actually looked at our profiles, and gives us a rule for saying yes/no to all the requests easily. You should also probably be interested in the person whose house you are trying to stay in, I could have 'I am an axe murderer' in my profile and I'd still get 20 copy paste requests a week!

~~You are also much more likely to get hosted if you have hosted at home before!~~

I'm tired of getting requests from people who have obviously run out of money and looking for a free place to bludge from and have googled, 'how to do Australia for free' and found couchsurfing. If you have no interest in giving back to the community, I have no interest in supplying you with free accomodation at my expense. HOWEVER, I do understand that it is super expensive here, all you need to do is put a tiny bit of effort into your request :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, Cambodia, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Netherlands, Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom

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