They met 17 years ago in southern California. Jeff flew over from Hawaii for a friend’s wedding, met Karen and decided to move to California. 

Jeff had done care taking before on Kauai and knew that through networking with friends, he could scout out some other Hawaiian care taking opportunities. They found Coconut Island, a 26-acre private island estate in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. (Note: The opening shots of the "island" on the TV show, Gilligan's Island were, in fact, Coconut Island). 

They were responsible for the oversight of several employees and managed/maintained multiple dwellings, two boats, vehicles, equipment and the extensive grounds. The absentee owner had friends from Japan visit the island and they hosted the guests, as well as other special events. Jeff says, “We received a generous salary, including benefits, a two-bedroom two-bath home on the island, and the use of the boats and vehicles. When the University of Hawaii decided to buy the island, we left Hawaii to travel with our two children. 

Care taking was an option we were still considering when we found and subscribed to The Caretaker Gazette and have taken care taking positions out of the Gazette ever since.”For the past two years they have been caretakers for a ten-acre organic orchard in Golden Bay, New Zealand. Jeff and Karen have learned a lot about organic growing. 

The property has plums, avocados, figs, pears, apples, fejoas, citrus and more. It is a small-scale orchard, but provides them with fruit almost year round. Karen keeps the accounts and they both market the produce to small organic shops.Jeff and Karen say, “Care taking has provided us with something we can do together and a pace that gives us the time to pursue our other interests.

Greg, who is the owner of the property in New Zealand, has become somewhat of an uncle to their two children, Amber and Erik. Amber, who for the past year has been modeling in Hawaii, has an open invitation to stay with Greg at his home in Maui anytime. 

The hustle and bustle of Honolulu gets too much for a country girl. Erik may take Greg up on his offers to teach him windsurfing at Hookipa. It's the care taking and home schooling lifestyle that has opened so many opportunities for them. “Greg is seriously thinking of living here year round and while we have the option of staying, if a new and interesting care taking situation was to present itself, our sense of adventure might send us into another chapter in our care taking experience”. To see more about caretaking visit: http://www.angelfire.com/wa/caretaker/