Back to the farm..

Me and Becky have just arrived in Colignon – an orchard around 40minutes drive outside of Mildura - in order to complete our final 20 days of farm work to reach the golden number, 88! It’s all downhill from here, yet at this moment in time it still feels like an unbearably long battle.

At the time of starting the farm work, I had been in Gold Coast for one month. Not really long enough to decide if the second year was necessary but I saw an opportunity to do the work with my gal, who had been in the country and little longer than I had and therefore had less time to work, and so took it. The thought of farm work is horrendous, so why not ease it a little with company? So we moved to Shepparton and began the work immediately. It took us 4 months to get our first 68 days completed. It will have taken us 5 months by the time we finish.

The work is tedious and sweaty and gross. If I had my time over would I do the work again? This is a question I’ve presented to myself about 100 times over the past 4 days as I get settled back into farm life. But please allow me to clarify, that is not to say I regret a moment of it – we’ve had some fun, met some pretty awesome people and experienced a lifestyle I would never have imagined otherwise. However, at this stage, I’m unsure as to whether I even want the second year.

But, as I’m sure you’d all agree, to get to 68/88 days and ditch the idea would be ridiculous. You can use the second year anytime before hitting the age of 30 (which is actually scarily close when I try to make some sort of life plan for myself). So onward I go, currently working with pomegranates..

Much like the entirety of the human race, I really struggle with the periods of adjustment and change. After an interesting two weeks staying in Melbourne, I’m questioning why I would leave such an environment and such people to sweat it out for another 3-4 weeks. While in Melbourne, I caught up with friends from home, friends from Aus and got to know new friends. We travelled to some beautiful places, played stupid pc games and generally had a lovely time. And that is despite the expected frustrations of living in a 6 bed house with 14 people and a communal attitude I am extremely unfamiliar with as an only child (JOEY DOESN’T SHARE FOOD).

To add to this, recent events have occurred that really reminded me of the fragility of life and how fleeting our time here is. As anyone who knows me will already know, I absolutely SUCK at sticking out situations that make me unhappy. Which I often see as both a strength and flaw within myself. It has cost me a fair bit of money in the past, but I’ve always prioritised what I want to do and what will make me happy. This would probably be more of a strength if I really took time to reflect on what would make me happy, however chasing instant gratification and sense of security/familiarity is where I let myself down.

Which brings me to this precise moment. In the long run – I know that getting this farm work completed will not only allow me to have more freedom with future travel plans, but will give me a huge sense of achievement. But right now? Nah I wanna go back to a city where I can drive an hour and half to beautiful beaches, get a tram for half hour to bars and great food or enter the communal areas and just hang out with likeminded people.

One of the lessons that travelling will hopefully help me to learn is that everything in fleeting and changing and fluid. You can’t yearn for a time that’s gone because in reality, that time no longer exists. People move on, situations change. Even if I were to run away back to Melbourne where I’ve spent the past couple of weeks, I’d not have the same people to hang out with as employment statuses change and people move on for work. That’s not to mention that I myself would have to seek work at that point, as it would no longer be a two week break, but an ongoing situation.

So why is it that those rose tinted glasses remain to make me so unhappy and want what no longer exists? It’s the same sensation I’ve had time after time when returning home from overseas. Why is it so hard to do something purely for my own benefit in the long term? Instead, I want to chase things that make me happy instantly and probably set me further back in the longer term.

One can only hope that age or practise will help me improve on this one, because I’ve done a pretty lousy job up to this point. See you in the hot tub with champagne in 4 weeks when this trial is over.

Farm life

As most backpackers in Aus on working holiday visas will already be aware, if you do your part for Australia and put in some work, they will be kind enough to grant you a second year. That’s right a whole extra year! The requirements are that you complete 88days worth of ‘specified work’ which consists mostly of rural jobs, in ‘regional areas’ which is basically anywhere that isn’t a big city – for more detailed info check out: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/417-

When we first decided that this was something we wanted to do, I trawled the internet looking for advice or reviews of certain areas and really struggled. So here is a little something based on my experience that I would love to share.

I’m currently at the point where I’ve lived in a place called Shepparton for the past 4 months, and have just got 68 of the 88 days signed off. That means that the majority of my year to date has been spent in what I would call a small town (though don’t say that to locals... they will soon correct you and let you know it’s a rural city!).

I feel like we have been blessed in our experience and know that we have had it easy compared to many – as an example of what I mean, Becky and I have worked for one company for the entirety of the past 4 months, the vast majority of this being under the same manager. A combination of making sure we worked hard, were friendly, were vocal about how much we appreciated the work and wanted more and to be completely honest, sheer luck, has made this happen.

So here are some myths I wanted to dispel for those seriously considering farm work:

  It’s 3 months of work

Not a chance. By the time we are finished we will have spent at least 5 months doing this work, which has been the case for most people we have come into contact with. If you’re a casual member of staff, which is highly likely if you are working on orchards pruning or picking, then they can only sign off days worked. This means weekends, public holidays, days where weather stops you starting work – these don’t count. For us, starting work in November and going until late Feb, there were more public holidays than would have been preferred (I mean really, Victoria, who needs a day off for a horse race?) but these broke up the chunk of work, and meant we had time to drive to Sydney for NYE. So I guess it is bittersweet, depending on your stamina for work.

Having said that – it’s not always that way; there are instances where you can get on contracts with companies and they will sign all days contracted (SPC in Shep is good example of this).

However, I still think a realistic mindset coming into it would be to expect to spend 4-5 months completing the work. If that’s starting to sound too much and not worth it anymore? Maybe you should just make the most of your 1 year.

       You’ll be surrounded by other backpackers/like minded people

The whole time in Shepparton we have met less than 10 other workers completing the work for visa reasons. The farms we have been working on have a steady base of workers who work there the entire year. They, understandably, get massive priority over the work available and the managers will often try to ensure they are kept busy. Who can blame them? You’re gonna be history in a month or two and they’re still gonna need people there to do the shitty jobs or the jobs that require a bit more experience on the orchard.

So, thinking of it that way, there’s only really space for you when there is unusually high labour is required. But because of this group of steady workers, they don’t need huge numbers, just some to increase the workforce. This isn’t to mention that many managers have a preference towards Asian workers, who typically work harder and are willing to work longer hours, for less money and don’t complain. That is not me being racist; that is just the reality I saw. So let’s just say managers aren’t scrambling to fill positions with backpackers. You’re going to have to put aside a lot of what you think is reasonable working expectations and just work as hard as you can when given the chance to prove you’re worth the try. Before I finished, I worked 80hours in 10 consecutive days, because I knew the work was running out and wanted to do as much as I could before it ended. (That said, please look after yourself with water and good meals – I didn’t and had a two day recovery period after where I was rough as).

Now – this WILL be different if you choose to live in and get work with a working hostel of course. I’m talking from our viewpoint and we did everything independently. Lived in a houseshare, found the work directly with the manager, got ourselves everywhere we needed to be.

       You’ll be able to save up money for travelling

Hahaha… this was one of my favourite misconceptions I came with. Out of the $7000 I’ve earnt here, I’ve saved around $2000. I know they aren’t awful numbers but when I think about the expenses I’ve had, I should have been able to easily live on $300 a week… So where’d the rest go? Well we’ve admittedly done a few trips to Melbourne and to Sydney for NYE, and spoiled each other at Christmas since we were away from family…

But the main problem we had is that the pay changed depending on the job you were doing. Thinning nashis, picking cherries, male pruning on kiwi trees – these were all contract jobs, paid a certain amount for what you do (i.e. a lug of cherries was $15-20). Then thinning kiwis, female pruning on kiwi trees and picking nashis has all been hourly pay ($21.61 minimum wage for casual staff). So despite having earnt $7000, it’s not been even. Our worst week to date had a lot of rain and not much available work and we walked out with $160 for the week. Whereas hourly paid weeks we’ve come home to $900+. I think this makes it difficult to save since you have to constantly sub yourself for the worse weeks. To sum it up – work is inconsistent, pay is inconsistent... these don’t lead to saving easily.

I mean my $800 speeding fines didn’t help the situation either… but that’s a different topic…

  You’ll be exploited at every opportunity

Now – there are many horror stories out there. However, if you take precautions to make sure no one is taking the piss (avoid working hostels and contractors if at all possible, who have different priorities to you) I honestly don’t feel like everyone is out to get you.

As I mentioned previously, you’re gonna have to leave behind your previous standards of reasonable working situations etc and go with the flow. There are workers out there willing to do it, so if you don’t, you’re not gonna start a revolution, you’re just gonna miss the working opportunity. It’s shit – but it’s the reality, so deal with it or don’t do it.

  It’s hot everyday

Okay so this is more Victoria specific than anything. We have worked days where we have finished early because it’s hitting 40+ degrees and then the next day not been able to go in at all because of rain. We’ve missed more working days for rain than sun that’s for sure. Personally, I don’t mind it because I couldn’t deal with either for the entirety, so mixing it up works for me.

All of that said and done – I have had such a positive experience overall here in Shep (despite speeding fines, some idiot busting my wing mirror off, tonsillitis, a broken toe and countless bruises). I’ve worked harder for my money than I’ve ever worked in my life and I really think that’s been a really good experience to have.

I’ve been working with many Punjabi immigrants to Australia who work harder than anyone else I’ve met in my life, some with their families and children still living in India. It’s been a humbling experience and these people are some of the nicest and most welcoming people I’ve met on my travels. We have really been embraced by them while working there, working through language barriers. Oh and not to forget they’re extremely honest, as I’m coming to learn is a recurring theme with Asians… My favourite quote: Paris you look good now! When you first came to this farm you had some fat *rubs stomach*. There’s a compliment in there somewhere right?

Even if I don’t end up using my second year (which is a serious possibility if they impose the 32% flat rate tax for working holiday visa holders) I wouldn’t regret the 5 months I’ve spent doing this as it’s something I’ve never thought I’d do and will be unlikely to repeat. I've learnt things about the world and fruit production in particular that I had no idea about as well as achieving some sort of personal development. If you can come into farm work with that mindset – then you will not regret it at all. However if you think you’ll work half-arsed for 3 months, save a ton of money and be handed another 12 months – my advice would be to just enjoy the 12 you already have.

The start of the adventure...

Another friendly face on the scene is one of my dearest course mates from university – Zakhiya. She arrived in Australia back in May and I don’t think she’d blame me for saying that her and Australia didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts. But that’s her story to tell, so I’ll just mention it in the relevance to my story… Ziggy (the nickname) left Australia after a few months to visit family in South Africa for a couple weeks to re-centre herself, figure what was going on for her and then come back to Australia for a fresh start. This is where I come into the picture. Me and Zig had been talking on the phone from time to time and basically making rough plans for her return down under. We decided that, hey, y’know what… we were going to enjoy Australia! I didn’t feel ready to settle down and work so soon after arriving in Australia. I wanted to see a bit of the country first and I wanted to encourage Zig to do the same – focus on enjoying Australia and not put the emphasis on working or finding a job so soon.

So here was the plan: Zig would arrive back into Australia, I would drive from Gold Coast to Sydney to pick her up and then we would start travelling together up the east coast headed toward Cairns by late-December/January time– settling only when and where we decided we had found somewhere we actually wanted to settle and work for a while. Sounds pretty sweet right? And the idea was if we didn’t end up working, we would just travel for less time with the money we had but completely prioritise enjoying that time! There is just no point being stuck somewhere miserably job hunting slowly whittling away what money you have, when you could enjoy your time with the budget you have and just leave if you had come to the end. That was the logic we were working on.

The drive down to Sydney from the Gold Coast directly was a monster 10+ hour drive. Let’s remember, I was picking Zig up in Sydney, so this stretch would be a solo journey. Now, back in the UK, I had happily travelled up to Lancaster/Kendal from Northampton alone in one go… a 3-4 hour drive (the time mainly dependant on your drive style). So I knew this kind of time was do-able and sensible and therefore chose to break up the journey into three parts.

Okay, so maybe I’m not being entirely accurate. The drive time was somewhat of a concern, but the main motivation was that I just wanted to get going! I was impatient… I’d been stuck in the same place for almost a month when I was supposed to be adventuring. But I waited it out, in compromise for the company and the adventure ahead. For the journey to Sydney, I gave myself a timescale of 5 days. I chose to break up the journey in Coffs Harbour and then Port Stephens - booking 2 nights in the first and another 3 in the second. YHAs were my hostel of choice due to their guaranteed parking and membership scheme. And then off I went…

However, I did not exactly do thorough research when looking at these places. Let’s start with Coffs Harbour. Coffs Harbour is a beautiful small town with a big roadside banana, many blueberry farms and good opportunities for whale watching. What wasn’t anticipated by myself was that the YHA was basically a working hostel for travellers working on blueberry farms in order to obtain their second year visa. This meant, come 6.30am, the place was basically desolate and then come 5pm, you should dream on if you were thinking of showering or cooking as everyone had just arrived back from their sweaty day at the farm. This would surely spell disaster for a solo traveller with no one around and nothing to do? Cue Lizzie – my company for two days who had simply decided that the second year wasn’t worth the three months misery picking blueberries. The farms loss was certainly my gain. I was lucky enough to arrive the night of a night food market, which gave us entertainment for one night and then the next day we went on a big banana hunt and a long steep walk to watch 5 whales! This was also the location I obtained topless back shot numero dos (see… we really were on a similar level). So, thanks to the company, Coffs was not a complete loss! The nutella and banana crepe was on point and the whales were incredible.

The next day, I partook the next step of the journey down to Port Stephens. The YHA at Port Stephens is not like your normal hostel – it’s beautiful. Set in the surrounds of rain forest, it is similar to the kinds of cabins I’ve stayed in previously in Thailand. Except that they’re not cute double private rooms… They’re dorm rooms. Something about this didn’t work for me. Even the kitchen was a ‘bush kitchen’ and there wasn’t a major social hub. The place wasn’t dead, but wasn’t the kind of buzzing I needed to meet people. The one girl I spoke to in my room had moved here to settle on the promise of work in the hostel – frankly, I thought to myself, I could think of nowhere more boring to settle. Had I thought Coffs previously was boring, Port Stephens was a whole new type of boring. To be fair to the place, there was probably more to do. But parking was difficult everywhere and nothing that was given to me as an idea at check in really resounded with me. The place is popular for dolphin/whale cruises – well I’d seen those for free in the previous location so why would I pay for an hour or so cruise for the same experience? And as for the location – there was simply nowhere to walk or get to without driving or taking a bus which was irritating.

The one thing I regret I didn’t partake in was the sand dunes – you can go on organised tours and sand boarding etc. If I had gone with friends or found some there, I probably would have occupied a day doing this. But as the only people I’d encountered seemed on a different level and completely content to sit at the hostel all day, I missed this. After staying one night, I thought to myself, fuck this. Why am I wasting time alone and in this shitty place when I can get one night refunded and check out two nights early. So I booked myself into Bondi YHA (a placed I’d dreamt of for years) and set of the very next day.

A trait that I love and hate about myself equally is that if I’m not happy somewhere or doing something – money becomes of little relevance and I’ll change it. It has gotten me in some messes previously – booking a flight out of a ski resort in France the day after my family left leaving me to no transfer or accommodation for a night being my most memorable fuck up. But it is this trait that really accelerated the next stage of this mad journey that took some unexpected changes in direction to be explored next time… I guess if I were to learn anything from this it would be:

Lesson number 3: do what feels right to you. If something feels wrong – change it. Everything happens for a reason in my opinion and you’ll end up where you’re supposed to be. Your happiness has no monetary value so if you’re in a financial position to sort yourself out – why waste a single day somewhere that you aren’t meant to be.

Welcome to Australia

So after two months of life down under, I have finally found time and inspiration to open up my laptop and capture some of the emotional whirlwind that this has been so far. Travel blog? Somewhat… Capturing all my emotional break downs and epiphanies along the way? Possibly… The only thing I can guarantee is that this is going to be all real and all me. This is new for me – I’d normally just stick to the travelling part, the funny stories. Those will come too! But I feel like this is such a rollercoaster and there are things I want to capture that fall outside of what I’d normally comfortably publish for all. For those of you who know me and don’t get to see this side of me for whatever reason, may I respectfully ask you keep all judgement to yourself :) We all make mistakes and I told you so or you’re a mug comments help no one and neither does unrequited advice ;) God it’s ridiculous that I even have to write that but here we go then:

I arrived in Gold Coast after 3 weeks in Singapore, 6 days before my birthday, ready to start my one year working holiday in Australia - the trip I’ve been dreaming about for years! The sun, the beaches, the cities, the partying, the Aussie hunks… All of it. The reason I’ve saved so hard and been religiously watching Home and Away and Bondi Rescue… and how did it feel? Euphoric? Too good to be true?

Nope it felt wrong. I was in the wrong place. I should be somewhere else... Okay, so perhaps I should rewind a little and fill in some more info for you guys.

I’d spent the previous 3 weeks in Singapore, where my Dad and his family lives, seeing a boy there who I’d met 6 months previously on a diving trip and had been talking to on a daily basis since. The last few weeks before leaving the UK, I’d barely even thought about Australia because of my apprehension and uncertainty about seeing him. But it was great! We went on a diving trip together (which he got me through… stupid seasickness..), we ate together, we stayed in fancy hotels together, we drank together. All seemed to be great until one day he just dropped off. He wasn’t interested in answering my messages or seeing me, despite knowing we had limited opportunity to actually spend time together. You have no idea how frustrating that is – I was infuriated! It’s one thing to ignore me when I’m halfway across the world, but when I’m literally 20mins away from your front door? Are you serious?

Now, I’m sure you’re thinking, great just move on. He’s clearly not serious? And yes you’re right I probably should have moved on. But I was invested and genuinely thought we had a shot at something… so eventually he met with me and we had the conversation that needed to happen about the future and how hard it was going to be. And don’t get me wrong, it would have been hard. His job would have meant he would be at sea maybe 6 months at a time with 1 month on land between. Add to that, the cultural differences: a Singaporean Malay muslim boy and an English Buddhist girl – doesn’t take a genius to spot where the difficulties could have arisen. That’s how I saw them though – difficulties. Not roadblocks, but difficulties. Turns out I was alone in this thinking – but we agreed to a little more time. Everything was about to change, I was moving to Aus, close enough for weekend visits, we had til December when he’d be gone with work to figure out if it was worth the heartache. So that was agreed upon after a long night talking and lots of chicken nuggets and cigarettes.

And now we are back up to speed as about a week after this, I flew out to the Gold Coast. The first few nights were difficult. There was nothing stopping me being with him, in the same country as him, before his job made that impossible, yet here I was in Australia? The guilt was real. The feeling that I was just in the wrong place was crushing at night as I try to sleep.

And as you may have detected by the underlying bitterness in some of my writing - after less than two weeks in Australia, yet again, he drops off the edge of the world. Things became difficult after my request for a Skype call on or around my birthday (I mean gee.. how unreasonable...) until one day just no replies - even to this day may I add. Should I have seen it coming? Yes! Would I change a thing I did? Well, maybe I wouldn't be so wounded a second time around, but that's what experience teaches you I guess. I wouldn't change a thing I did, but my emotional reactions will be different in similar situations in the future.

So my feelings of guilt and being in the wrong place were completely misspent. I feel like I robbed myself of that glorious 'finally' feeling I should have had, by investing too deeply in someone who didn't invest half as much. But this is what I realised: it doesn’t matter how beautiful the surroundings, how hard you work to get there or how privileged you are to be there, if you’re not living in the here and now, the present moment, you can always find misery.

Lesson number one: try not to concern yourself with where else you could or should be, but make the most of where you find yourself. I’m not saying not to dream of better places, but don’t dwell on places that you can’t get to right now. You do nothing but rob yourself of happiness this way.