Seasonal work: help me!
Trip Start
May 06, 2006
1
75
81
Trip End
Mar 23, 2009
Bundaberg,
Queensland,
Australia
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
For those of you who don't know, if you do 3 months seasonal work on a working holiday visa then you are entitled to a 1 year extension if you want it. I, not being one to rule out any options, have made the decision to go with it along with stories from lots of people about the amount of money they made being a good incentive.
I arrived here on Tuesday evening after a long drive from Brisbane and a hectic morning sorting out my tax number, medicare card (you never know when those spider and snake bites might happen!) and bank account, to find that everywhere was full or closed (at 6pm no less!). After realising that the joke of sleeping in my car might just be a reality that night, I called a hostel to find they had space and they'd get up (!) to check me in. After 1 night there I knew it wasn't for me and so went around the next day searching for somewhere that had a bed and seasonal work available. I finally came across Bundaberg Backpackers who charge an extortionate A$160 a week for a dorm room (keeping in mind I was paying about A$85 a week in Christchurch for my own double room!) and said they had seasonal work available. True to their word I was on the list to work the next day picking cherry tomatoes. At 5:15. Yes, I was gonna have to get up.
Oddly enough I was fine with waking up at 4:45am. Especially since it had been raining constantly since 1am and I figured work would be impossible so would be canceled. However, one of the girls in my room got up to check and was told it was all still on so we all got up and headed down. At about 5:45am we arrived at the farm and waited for the head guy to arrive. And waited. He eventually turned up around 6:15 when it was just starting to get light (feeling my pain yet?! You will.) and set us all to work with our buckets. I found out then that it was contract which meant I was getting A$4.75 after tax per bucket. Great if you're a speedy picker as all the Koreans seemed to be, not so good if you're me and the Irish girls I was with! I had fully intended to pick something where I didn't have to bend but no such luck on this one! After about 5 hours of picking we finally got a lunch break of about 20 minutes before heading back to work. My back and legs were killing me at this point! After 'lunch' we were put on the 'quality section' which meant larger cherry tomatoes but there were less of them and so it took longer to search for them! Grrrr!
We finished about 1:15 so it wasn't a long day and I had collected a grand total of (I think!) 11 buckets in 7 hours. Great hourly rate huh?! Keeping in mind if they think you have too many 'green' or 'red' ones then you don't get paid for the whole bucket. Seriously, who thinks these things up?! So, it's the bucket boys we have to keep sweet. Yes, the bucket boys from Bundaberg. You know, the place that hates backpackers?! Anyway, after finishing the day we had to sit around for another 30 minutes waiting to be picked up at which point I realised the van that had my bag in it wasn't coming back. My bag with everything in it. Car keys, wallet, camera, door key, food cupboard key. EVERYTHING! After getting back to the hostel and waiting around for the office to open they called the farm guy who said he'd lock it in there until tomorrow. Great, but I still can't eat, shower or have lunch for the next day. Needless to say, I was finding it very difficult not to be emotional about this, especially after feeling lonely without my parents, being tired and having done the hardest days work I've done in a very long time! People at the hostel were unbelievably nice and offered to lend me money and make me dinner. Some of whom I'd met on the farm that day, others I'd met literally 10 minutes earlier - I often forget how nice some people can be! One of my roomies came back and let me in so I could shower and then about 2 hours later the woman in the office came in with my bag. I think I told her I loved her but I'm not sure how true that really is! The girls still cooked me dinner which was so nice of them and it was a great way to make friends. However, I would've much preferred to do it the easy way without all the stress!
To be honest, the actual job isn't really too bad and once I get used to the ridiculous angles my body hasn't been in for a long time and the fact my hands will be permanently stained brown I'll be fine. The main problem is the fact that I'm spending pretty much everything I make on paying rent for a not so great hostel with pretty unfriendly owners. I've already paid for a week so I'll at least be here until then but I'm constantly looking for other places to go incase things don't change. You can get jobs with hourly rates which would be perfect and with the car I can drive to places others can't get to but I just don't seem to be having much luck! I know some of you have done this so any advice from you guys would be great! I was given a day off today which is probably a good thing being as I can barely walk and hopefully I'll be back on tomorrow so I can try and make more than 11 buckets - some of them did 30 so I have no idea what I'm doing wrong! It's like a challenge to me now! Unless I start to make a little more money though I'm not sure this slave labour is really worth another visa that I might not even use... so much to think about over the next few days!
Right, time to get on with all the other stuff I need to sort today 'cos I know I won't feel like doing any of it after work tomorrow! Hope everyone is well and any advice would be VERY much appreciated!
