Regional work or harvest work for 2nd year visa

SONIC2008

Hey,

Does anyone have any tips on fruit picking and the likes for the 2nd year visa extension. My friend and I both female are looking for fruit picking jobs and are having no luck with working hostels. We also ring harvest trail every day and local harvest labourers but they never have anything available. I've been looking at the seasonal calednders and anytime I ring working hostels within a region with fruit in season the just say they have too many backpackers, or they only accept people with a car, which we don't have.

We are a bit stuck for time, obviously a big mistake not planning this better! We've handed in our notice at work and hope to go somewhere Sunday, the question is where!? If anyone has any suggestions of where we may have a good chance of getting a fruit picking or packing job I would appreciate it.

I'm not ready to go home yet!

markymark21

Mate just do wwoofing or helpx. With this you spend your 88 days helping out on a farm or property. You work for free but they give you food and accommodation in exchange.

Me and the girlfriend did it and it was one of our best experiences in Oz. We killed and and processed all our own meat, hunted kangaroo, skinned pigs and made home made cured sausages, looked after cooks, grew our own fruit and veg and generally were just exposed to a self sustainable way of living that was brilliant to be a part of.

eoindoyle_syd

markymark21 wrote: »

Mate just do wwoofing or helpx. With this you spend your 88 days helping out on a farm or property. You work for free but they give you food and accommodation in exchange.

Me and the girlfriend did it and it was one of our best experiences in Oz. We killed and and processed all our own meat, hunted kangaroo, skinned pigs and made home made cured sausages, looked after cooks, grew our own fruit and veg and generally were just exposed to a self sustainable way of living that was brilliant to be a part of.

I compare the "harvest trail" or "fruit picking" as being close to slave labour. I never did it and always gave myself only my 1st WHV to get sponsored.

But from the stories I have heard, people usually have a great time WWOOFING. I now recommend this to people who want to get their 88 days.

1) Its voluntary
2) You will gain skills and new experiences
3) You are (usually) not overworked or taken advantage of
4) The people you stay with are usually honest genuine people and really appreciate the help
5) There is nearly always work and you are not caught up not in hostel scams

Unfortunately you wont save but it wouldn't cost very much either.

Sounds like you had a great experience markymark, not for everyone but certainly an adventure. Fair play.

http://www.wwoof.com.au/

Jbpc

eoindoyle_syd wrote: »

I compare the "harvest trail" or "fruit picking" as being close to slave labour. I never did it and always gave myself only my 1st WHV to get sponsored.

But from the stories I have heard, people usually have a great time WWOOFING. I now recommend this to people who want to get their 88 days.

1) Its voluntary
2) You will gain skills and new experiences
3) You are (usually) not overworked or taken advantage of
4) The people you stay with are usually honest genuine people and really appreciate the help
5) There is nearly always work and you are not caught up not in hostel scams

Unfortunately you wont save but it wouldn't cost very much either.

Sounds like you had a great experience markymark, not for everyone but certainly an adventure. Fair play.

http://www.wwoof.com.au/

Thanks for the help man, gonna defo look into wwoof. Im in a similar boat myself as SONIC2008. Me and a mate just arrived in Perth (Joondalup) last week and are looking to do the regional work pretty soon. We dont have a car so it looks like we may have difficulty getting some work and we were kinda depending on the regional to save a bit of dough If any one has any other suggestions they would be very helpful

Thanks guys:)

hussey

markymark21 wrote: »

Me and the girlfriend did it and it was one of our best experiences in Oz. We killed and and processed all our own meat, hunted kangaroo, skinned pigs and made home made cured sausages, looked after cooks, grew our own fruit and veg and generally were just exposed to a self sustainable way of living that was brilliant to be a part of.

Off topic - but that sounds fantastic, I would pay to be able to do some of those things!

SONIC2008

Thanks for your replies! Yeah unfortunately I'm not really in a position to work unpaid as I have to try save a little bit of money. I think we just have to take the plunge and go somewhere we think has work. It's so difficult to chose with the unpredictable nature of fruitpicking!

eoindoyle_syd

SONIC2008 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies! Yeah unfortunately I'm not really in a position to work unpaid as I have to try save a little bit of money. I think we just have to take the plunge and go somewhere we think has work. It's so difficult to chose with the unpredictable nature of fruitpicking!

In that case I guess simply try find out what fruit is being harvested at this time and where! If you land in a place at peak harvest you are sure to land paid work.

Maybe some people here can advise whats in season for harvesting in March?

Good luck

rightyabe

hussey wrote: »

Off topic - but that sounds fantastic, I would pay to be able to do some of those things!

Had to laugh when I read this:D I'm sure there is plenty of small time farmers in rural Ireland that would happily take a few $ off ya to experience this. Just swap kangaroos with badgers or foxes, the rest you can do in Ireland;)

AnthonyCun

Stay away from Harvest Trail, they are full of ****. Where in Oz are you? I did my farm work in Central Queensland. Was a great experience cutting veg. There's a facebook page called http://www.facebook.com/gattonbackpackerss?ref=ts&fref=ts
It's a place called Gatton, about 1 hour from Brisbane. I think the season there is from March to October. Look in the notes page and you'll find all the contractors and numbers.
Good luck

SONIC2008

Thanks Anthony, that's the kind of stuff I'm looking for. We are in sydney but we are available to go anywhere in Australia. I'll look into that site at the weekend and hopefully get something out of it.

mminor

jobshop in perth is a good place to start.

Think the website is www.jobshop.com.au

SONIC2008

Thanks everyone, I managed to get work through a friend of a friend who was staying in a working hostel near stanthorpe in Queensland. Only 84 days left!

chrispym

SONIC2008 wrote: »

Thanks everyone, I managed to get work through a friend of a friend who was staying in a working hostel near stanthorpe in Queensland. Only 84 days left!

Hey sonic I am in the same boat as you need to get farm work sorted asap... By any chance do you know if there is any more work up there as need to get something for me and the girlfriend ?

Jbpc

We're still having a few problems getting any regional work in WA. Anyone got any leads or websites we could try?

thanks folks