Bed and organic board

Self-catering will never be easier - or at least healthier. Well Barn, two recently converted cottages near Totnes in Devon, is enveloped by land belonging to the famous Riverford Organics, pioneer of the veggie box delivery service. So as well as seriously tasteful interior design - underheated oak floors, beams and wood-burning stove - your nearest shop, a couple of minutes' drive away, happens to be stuffed with cracking organic produce - and there's also an excellent lunchtime restaurant. Happily, they're still free for Christmas and New Year.

• From £250 for seven nights in the one-bedroom cottage, and £350 for the two-bedroom. 01803 762 947, wellbarn.com.

Canada: still open

Fancy working a season in Whistler, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics? Or spending a few months waiting tables in Fernie, location of some rather fine powder? Or even just pulling pints in downtown Vancouver? It could still happen if you graduated from college this summer or are in the middle of a post-school gap year - and apply to Bunac before December 5 for one of the remaining 2008 flexible one-year working visas. If you're successful, it lets you work anywhere in Canada without having a prearranged job. It's a rare opportunity for any to be left this late, so cue jokes about joining the Calgary stampede.

• Bunac.org.