Guide to Immigrating to Australia
It's called "Guide to Immigrating to Australia" and it contains everything you need to know about immigrating to Australia written by a guy who immigrated here in 2001.
I've met and received emails from so many backpackers & online friends asking me if I could help them get here and never had any easy answers for them, I don't even know myself how people get here because I'm an Aussie citizen, so I'm so glad I found this, especially since it's all legitimate, I hope you find it useful.
Guide to Immigrating to Australia
Click here for Full Post!
Work Around Australia....job offer!
Well I finally found a job at Westaff (see Call Centre: Directory Assistance post for more details) and they just sent me a letter asking whether I knew of anyone else who is currently seeking employment for a "Work your way around Australia" job and I thought I'd let you guys know about it since you guys are probably reading my blog for that very reason :) I'm staying in Melbourne at the moment cos I love it, but I'll definitely be doing this next year! This is a legitimate job, with a legitimate company and you'll need a legitimate working visa :)
Here are the details:
Work your way around Australia
Do you know anyone currently seeking employment?
This may be the opportunity they have been waiting for:
- Earn up to $1,000 per week
- Attractive tax subsidy
- 3-12 month contracts available
- Free travel to work areas
- Assignment bonus on completion of contract
- Subsidised accommodation
- 5:00am-12:30pm (lunch time), 6 days per week
- All training and safety equipment provided
Travel Australia whilst earning good money, meeting new people, and working
in the great outdoors.
Rotating Contract:
October-December: Emerald, Queensland
January-March: Nangiloc, Victoria
April-June: South Australia
July-September: Griffith, New South Wales
Contact me with your full name, contact number and email address, and
anything else you want me to pass on (although I don't know for sure, I'm
assuming from the ad that its fruitpicking work) and I will pass your details on
to my bosses:
Send your details to: jobs_australia@ches.ws
(Until end of September, then hopefully I'll remember to remove my email
address!
Click here for Full Post!
Found a Home... and a Pet Snake
Well I finally found a place to call home (for now!).
I now live in the city (30min stroll to where I work), and just across the
road from the Queen Victoria market, and 2 doors away from one of the "Bev
& Micks backpackers". The location couldn't be better, I'm serious! And
all for the bargain price of $110 per week plus electricity, adsl, and phone
rental. I live on top of a tattoo shop, with an easy-going dude who works in the
tat shop, and who has a pet snake.. :)
We each keep to ourselves except the occasional shared-meal or takeaway, and its working out great. I've been here about 3 weeks.
Here are the other sites I checked on a daily basis to find long-term share accommodation in Melbourne:
Click here for Full Post!
Call Centre: Directory Assistance
Working in a Call Centre
Location: Melbourne City
Pay Rate: $14ph inc tax
Work Visa: Required
Employer Prefers: 3-12 months
Hours: Shift Work, I got 11am-7.30pm but there are heaps of different hours, and the later at night, the easier the work and the more pay you get
Staff: 300+
Bring:
- pen, writing pad
- mobile phone or watch for breaks (no lateness tolerated!)
- something to read in-between calls
Indoors work:
- Catch everyone else's diseases via the air conditioning system
- Sitting on your butt all day
- Sometimes so flat out that you don't get a chance to stop talking or go on a
loo break, and other times so quiet that you get tense from boredom.
- Being another nobody in a see of monkey faces :)
What to expect:
I've worked in different call centres over the years, but the one I'm working for now would have to be the easiest (on the brain), and the most likely kind of job that backpackers will apply for since the harder call centre roles usually require a good english accent. I can't imagine any backpackers actually doing the same job that I'm doing now.. it's hard enough trying to understand what towns/cities/business names and last names over the phone when you actually know your own country and speak the same accent, let alone if you were foreign, however we did have a couple of Indian workers there and the place looks pretty multicultural but I wouldn't recommend this job to backpackers for that reason alone, there is nothing more frustrating than having to ask the customer 4 times exactly what he was saying because you didn't understand their pronunciation or spelling.
That being said, for Australians backpacking around their own country like myself, you might seriously want to consider doing this as a job, it's one of the easiest, most pleasant jobs I've ever had. You feel like a mini-private
investigator, hungrily seeking the desired phone number in the shortest amount of time.
Whats involved: Answering phone calls constantly all day (8hours) with an
hour break (2 x 15, 1 x 30).
Each call goes for 8-27seconds. (about 700-1000 calls a day) No phone call should be over 30 seconds but sometimes you can't help it, and most phone calls will be about 15 seconds when you get the hang of wildcard searching. When starting out, they don't mind that each call is about 1 minute, because you are still getting used to knowing what Woy Woy is, that some phone books are in the wrong state, and that many things are spelt several different ways, and that the customer usually has no idea of the exact spelling or exact name of the business.
Firstly, you have 3 days training, this is to familiarise yourself with the company, its products, the programs on the computer, what you're supposed to say, and tips on how to look things up faster. (Residential/Business/Government/Police/Hospitals/Shopping Centres, etc)
The first week you'll say your own greeting every time: "Hi this is NAME at COMPANY Directory Assistance, what Name Please?", but once they get organised, they'll get you to record it, so that when your phone auto-answers, it says that bit for you so that you save a bit of your voice box!
I think I could do this job for about 6-12 months before I got bored with it, but will see!
You don't need to be a very fast typist, but it helps. I can type really fast but people with half-my-typing speed could still come up with names faster than me when we were doing speed tests simply by using wild cards (instead of typing the whole word, such as McDonalds in Sydney, they would type Mcd. Syd. and get
it faster)
I'm contracted with Westaff at the moment, so get about $17an hour even when I work on weekends (which is every weekend at the moment), but once I go full time with Pracom, the wage will go down to about $14 an hour (which is crap), but the weekends will get paid heaps more, sundays double time so that my wage will probably work out the same. Usually people who work for temp agencies get offered permanent work within 6 weeks, however its been longer than that and apparently that's normal for Westaff.
There is stacks of work and stacks of opportunity for overtime - I could work
overtime everyday if I wanted to.. so if you learn to love the job and don't
have a life outside of work, then this job is perfect for saving up. (If ya
don't catch everyone's filthy colds and flu's)
Here's how to find work where I am.........
Apply at CK, apply at Westaff, and if you can find a way, apply direct to Pracom (then you go on the books straight away - if thats what you want)
I've noticed that CK get paid a bit more than Westaff and usually get put on permanent quicker than Westaff.
You will have to have previous customer service experience (not necessarily call centre), Westaff wanted me to say that I'd be available for 12+months, they also wanted me to prove that I wouldn't find myself bored in a position like that based on my past experience (since my past work was much more involved than this position).
Apparently Virgin Blue get paid the same amount and are also great to work
for, so if you want to work in Richmond, instead of the City, it might be worth
taking a look at getting work there instead (still a happy, young, friendly
environment).
Or you could try for Telstra but I can't think of a nice word to say about
the robot staff that lead you to believe they have to cut you off straight away
(not so, as many ex telstra staff work where I am now). The service sux and I
hate calling it, I hate the computer, and I hate the snappiness of the voice on
the other end when you finally get one :)
Maybe Optus would be good too, never really thought about them.
The company Three only hires in India.
Click here for Full Post!
Long-Term Stay Backpacker Hostels - Melbourne
Aargh, where is that cheap room that I so desire!! :(
Here's what I've found so far...
HOSTELS & ROOMING HOUSES
Elgin Lodge (Females only)
Address: 77 Elgin Street, Carlton 3053
Telephone 61 (3) 98594862
Email elginlodge@dodo.com.au
Website: www.elginlodge.com
Weekly rate from $155-
No Meals/ Self Catering
Carlton College
Address: 93-103 Drummond Street, Carlton 3053
Telephone 61 (3) 96640666
Email: admin@carltoncollege.com.au
Official Website: www.carltoncollege.com.au
(link not working currently)
Unofficial: http://www.lygonst.com/caltoncollege/index.htm
Weekly rate from $100 (dorm) - $250 (single)
CMC- Carlton Melbourne College
Address: 743-751 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053
Telephone: 61 3 93473238
Web address: http://www.carltonmelbournecollege.com.au/
Weekly Rate: $180.00 for a 52 week lease (fee includes all utility expenses)
Centrally located, Students enjoy modern facilities, rooms are fully furnished
and are equipped with fridge, heater, and provision for internet/ telephone
connection. Free use of the gym too. They may only take students? If I get
desperate and need to pay $180pw for accommodation, then I'd definitely consider
this place, but will have to confirm with them whether a non-student is allowed
to stay. :(
All Nations City Backpackers,
Melbourne, Australia
Address: 2 Spencer St.
Web address: none
Weekly Rate: can't remember... think about $180.
Free Gym Membership and they help find you work. One of the sites that reviewed
it said there was a maximum stay of 35 nights, but staff said nothing of this
when I went in
Click here for Full Post!
Job Seeking in Melbourne - Grrr!!
My background is in computing, internet, helpdesk, call centre, data entry and hospitality, as well as the recent fruit picking/labouring type positions. The things I "won't do" is outbound call centre work, door-to-door sales or be those pestering people at supermarkets and walkways.. but those jobs seem to be the only thing that you can get 'easily' here.
I've sent my resume to more than 50 employment agencies who deal with temp work. I've been visiting backpackers places to look for the promised job-boards, only to be told that either I'm 'not allowed to look because I'm not staying there' or that most backpackers get work by 'walking into places'... not really great advice since you don't know where to go when you are new to town, and what kind of jobs can you 'walk into' anyway? cafe & dishwashing jobs I'm guessing!.
Some good advice I was given by one hostel (St Kilda Coffee Palace), was to call all the agencies rather than email them - yeah I think he's right. Even though I hate making phone calls and I can't really afford to call all around with $9 in the bank and no cash on hand.. it still seems like the best way to make yourself known. I'll give it a go tomorrow.
I found a great little magazine for backpackers called JobMap, applied for all the positions in there excepting the outbound/door-to-door jobs, and am yet to hear from any of them, excepting one.. I got an interview, but before I got off the phone she noticed how "great my accent" was, and when she realised I was Australian, said I couldn't apply for their jobs because they need those on a working visa for tax reasons.
*WAH!!!!*
I'm still hopeful that sometime this week, I'll be employed... stay tuned!
Click here for Full Post!
Review: Chapel St Backpackers
This is the first backpackers that I had a look at in Melbourne. It ended
in tears.
Unfortunately my experience wasn't a good one and I ended up going back to
my car for a little cry of frustration when I left.
I found the place easy to find, then parked my car and walked up to the backpackers. The first thing I noticed was a girl walking out and throwing her cigarette butt out the door. I then approached the door which was locked. Someone came to the door and let me in and asked "are you here?". I said that I wasn't but I wanted to find out about it. The guy joked "I'm just the doorman, not really".
I approached the front counter which had about 3 people there already talking, so I sort of 'hung back' waiting for them to finish whatever they were finishing. I looked around the room and was happy to spot a job board. Yippee, jobs!
The group stopped talking and all stared at me. I guess it was my turn to be served. The lady asked if she could help me and I said that I was just wanting to find out about prices for a room and about jobs for backpackers. She said that it was $23 per night for a 4-bed dormitory. I wrote it down and asked if I could have a look at the job board. She snapped "No!". I looked at her with confusion. She explained that the job board was for guests-only. I said that I needed to get a job before I can stay somewhere, that I'd been here for a week without finding work, that I thought it would be easy to find a job in Melbourne.
The guy who had opened the door for me earlier said "If you want work, go to China cos that's where the jobs go to". What the... ! I said that I would go to China if I had more than $9 to my name... The lady behind the counter then said that I should walk into places with my resume.
Left feeling humiliated and stunned. Had a good sook in the car and then stopped looking at backpackers for the day.
Click here for Full Post!
Short-Term Stay Backpacker Hostels - Melbourne
In no particular order...
- The Nunnery 1800 032 635 Fitzroy 116 Nicholson
Street $26 Review/Pics/Book - Hotel Bakpak Melbourne 1800 645 200 Melbourne
167 Franklin Street $24 Review/Pics/Book - Toad Hall (03) 9600 9010 Melbourne 441
Elizabeth St $22 Review/Pics/Book - Hotel Spencer 1800 638 108 Melbourne 475
Spencer St $20 Review/Pics/Book - Victoria Hall 1800 670 611
Melbourne 380 Russell St $20 Review/Pics/Book - Elizabeth Hostel 1800 611 897 Melbourne
490-494 Elizabeth St $20 Review/Pics/Book - The Greenhouse Backpacker 1800 249 209 Melbourne Level 6, 228 Flinders Lane $26 e-Mail
- Friendly Backpackers
1800 671 115 Melbourne 197 King St $25 e-Mail - Base Backpackers (03) 8598 6200 St Kilda 17 Carlisle St $26
Review/Pics/Book - Coffee Palace Backpackers (03) 9534 5283 St Kilda 24 Grey St $18
Review/Pics/Book - Oslo Hotel For Backpackers (03) 9525 4498 St Kilda 38 Grey St $22
Review/Pics/Book - Olembia Guesthouse (03) 9537 1412 St Kilda 96
Barkly Street $23 e-Mail - Pint on Punt (03) 9510 4273 St Kilda 42 Punt Road $20 Review/Pics/Book
- The Ritz for Backpackers (03) 9525 3501 St Kilda 169 Fitzroy St $18
Review/Pics/Book - Chapel St Backpackers (03) 9533 6855
Windsor 22 Chapel St $23 e-Mail
And there is a large list on this site, including
descriptions, prices & photos:
http://reservations.bookhostels.com/backpacking/
Click here for Full Post!
Picking Cabbages
Pay Rate: $15.07ph inc tax
Employer likes backpackers (who get to work on time)
Hours: Winter 5-6 days per week
Pickers: 6+
Packers: 6+
Employer provides:
- machete (sharp knife with wide blade)
Bring:
- waterproof gloves (dishwashing gloves ok)
- thick socks
- rubber boots
- raincoat
Outdoors work:
- Required to turn up even when raining
- Cabbages are full of water and you can get covered with water as you're throwing them around
What to expect:
You start the day by cutting cabbages for about 20 minutes, one cabbage per plant. Depending on the sharpness of the blade you are given, sometimes you get it right from the start, other times, you may need to cut it 2-3 times to get the right cut.
You then remove the outside cabbage leaves that got cut, and, turn the cabbage upside down on the row to let the excess water drain out.
Each time you cut a cabbage and turn it over, you need to make a head-count of how many you've cut as each bin, when filled contains 50 or 100 cabbages.
After you have a fair amount of cabbages up the row, someone drives the tractor and the pickers pack the boxes. This requires someone to be standing up on the tractor catching them and counting them into the box, they have to be packed so that the required amount of cabbages all fit in the box, so it requires some logic as to how to place them. The pickers on the ground pick up each cabbage, throwing it to the next person closest to the tractor, and then throwing it up to the picker in the box.
I thought it was great working there because as I was female, I was given the job of tractor driver so my day was made much easier and it hardly felt like working at all, but if there was more than one female or if the boss was there, I'd say that the boss would probably get the cushy tractor job or the females may take turns or whoever is the sorest or sickest :)
Depending on what company you are cutting for, you either leave the greater outside leaves on, or strip them all off for a nice looking bare cabbage. (of course you'll be told prior to doing this which type they want).
If the cabbage has become rotten, then it gets slashed a few times with the machete and tossed into the tractors path.
Tips:
(1) Bend the cabbage plant over to view the root part of the plant, then slash as hard as you can with the machete at the base of the plant.
(2) Usually everyone swaps places each box or 2 to save back pain!
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
Picking Broccoli in Victoria
Pay Rate: $15ph inc tax
Work Visa: Required
Employer Prefers: locals or longer-staying backpackers (2months)
Hours: Winter 5-6 days per week
Pickers: 6
Employer provides:
- wetpants
- knife
Bring:
- waterproof gloves (dishwashing gloves ok)
- thick socks
- rubber boots
- raincoat
Outdoors work:
- Required to turn up even when raining
- Sometimes ground is muddy (like quick sand)
- Sometimes broccoli is frosty (hands get freezing, feet get cold)
What to expect:
You walk behind a tractor containing 3 large boxes in a line of other workers. You size-pick broccoli (one broccoli per plant) by slashing it with a knife. The quickest way is to slash the plant below the cut, then hold it in your left hand while you slice it again with the right-hand at the cut required (see supermarket stores to see where it should be cut, but you'll learn on-the-job anyway). Then you pull off the stalks and leaves (leaving a few of the smaller leaves closest to the top for presentation).
Tips:
(1) Being that the ground is sometimes frosty, sometimes it is difficult to cut the broccoli, especially if your knife isn't as sharp as it could be (you're responsible to sharpen your own knife). To make it easier, you hold the broccoli with your hand, bend the plant as far as you can, and then make the slice, it cuts a lot easier.
(2) You can pull off 3-4 stalks at a time using your entire span of your fingers. Your hands will ache for the first couple of weeks, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be faster than any other pickers out there who only do 1 stalk at a time.
(3) Don't worry about presentation of the stalks, the broccoli doesn't have to have a smooth base (this worried me for the first few days and I was always ages behind the tractor while I was trying to "pretty-up" the broccoli, wasting valuable time, and making me go slower because I had to "throw" the broccoli further and always look up to see where the boxes were.
(4) There are 2 pickers to a box, and you only throw into the other boxes if you are asked or if you can see they have much less in it. Never throw the broccoli into the boxes if you are too far away, walk up and place it in so that you don't have to damage it.
(5) You feel like you get the hang of it on the first day, but it actually takes a couple of weeks for the process to become automatic.
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West (cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
Picking Butternut Pumpkins
Pay Rate: $12-$15
Employer likes backpackers
Hours: 1-4 days every now & then
Pickers: 2+
Employer provides:
- secatares (like scissors)
- my employer provided a space-like suit (chemical suit) to stop us getting love-grass and other weeds all over us, but that's because his farm was completely infested with weeds taller than my head
Bring:
- THICK garden gloves (just in case you get the 'weed farm')
- Normal gloves are easier to use if you get a clean farm and can be purchased for less than $2 at local shops
- rubber boots
Outdoors work:
- Work even when hot or rainy
- The weeds are the only bad thing about this outdoors work
What to expect:
It's one of the easiest jobs around believe it or not. All you do is find the ripe (non-green) butternuts which are all above ground, and using the secatares provided, you cut the stems off each of them (leaving approx an inch of stem on the pumpkin) and place them in small piles up the row. (well the farm I worked at did this, expect each farm may differ!).
After you have cut off all the pumpkins and made the piles, the farmer got his mini-tractor with just one box on the back and drove up the rows to each pile, then got out and helped us pack them into the box.
We left the really big ones as they are too big to sell, but took a couple of them home to the backpackers hostel to share with everyone.
The hardest part of the job is throwing & catching the pumpkins, but as they are butternuts, they aren't nearly as heavy as jap pumpkins (those halloween beasts!), so it doesn't kill you that much. I had sore legs the next day and bruised breasts from my fellow male pickers' hard throws, but I would definitely do this job again, and definitely recommend it as a job for backpackers.
Tips:
(1) Wear long-sleeves in case of weeds
(2) Invest in gloves, the guys were too 'manly' to wear them at the start, but ended up giving in to protect themselves from weeds and dirt, and the stems when catching.
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
Picking Zucchinis
Location: Woorinen South
(15 mins Swan Hill, 10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: $15.70ph inc tax
Employer loves backpackers
Hours: Winter 5 days a week
Early season: every 2nd day
Pickers: 6
Employer provides:
- pocket knife
Bring:
- gloves
- sharp pocket knife if you have one
- raincoat
Outdoors work:
- Required to turn up even when raining
What to expect:
You start the morning by following the tractor with your car or you get a lift in the work car with other workers to the patch.
The farm I worked at (Mumfords) made this job a pleasure, I've heard terrible stories from other zucchini pickers about getting sore backs, legs and having to carry 20+kg of zucchinis around, but Mumfords has a rotating belt, so as long as you keep up to the rest of the pickers, you can just put 1-2 zucchinis on the belt as soon as you've picked them, and as you are standing up to do that, you're back gets adequately stretched after each pick that you don't get sore.
When you reach the patch, the tractor and belt is setup first, which is a good time to take note of what size you're picking (by asking someone!). Then you go to your delegated 1-2 rows and chop off the zucchinis using the knife you brought or the one provided by the farm. You leave a bit over an inch of 'hard zucchini'. Each plant may have from 1 to 6 zucchinis to chop off. Then you 'wipe' the flower off the plant and place it on the belt. Easy. Anyone would get hang of the job within minutes (unlike broccoli which takes weeks).
I guess the most important mistakes made by backpackers is missing the zucchinis while trying to keep up with everyone else. Sometimes the zucchini is hard to see from above but easy to see from another angle, so it's important to get in the habit of checking the plant thourougly to ensure none is missed, as if they are picked even a day late, they can become too large to sell.
Tips:
(1) Don't miss any zucchinis.. check under the leaves, don't leave any behind.
(2) Stand up often so you don't get a sore back.
(3) Get the cut right the first time to save having to do a 2nd cut
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
Working at the Nursery
(30 mins Swan Hill, 5-10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: VERY basic - Less than $12
Employer loves backpackers to do the crap jobs
Hours: 8 hour days, 5 days a week
Has work on-and-off all year round
Bring:
- gloves
Outdoors work:
- They don't usually work when it rains, but will still work in the scorching heat (and there is no shade at all!)
What to expect:
They have 6 full time workers that have regular jobs such as tying buds onto trees to make a different variety of trees, but they hire backpackers to do the crap jobs, such as weeding, hoeing, planting trees, etc. That being said, I absolutely loved it there and was there for about 3 months, but I was one of the very few that loved it. I wanted a work-out to lose weight and basically, the nursery was a paid work-out.
Most of the time, each week is different, depending on what needs to be done:
- In the Summer, they put the seeds in tiny plastic pots and then cover them with dirt and place them in the greenhouse.
- When the plants are ready to be planted in the 'real world', you will spend a few weeks just planting them which kills your hips, thighs, and butts (re: why I loved it so much and why a lot of the skinnier people hated it hehe)
- The plants grow and so does the weeds, they try to keep it under control early, but sometimes it's a matter of other priorities, until you're left with the weeds from hell suffocating the poor little babies, so out come the backpackers again, on their hands and knees, pulling out weeds in-between each plant (which are planted about 3 fingers away from each other and there are more than 50,000+ of them!).
- Then out comes the hoes where you scrape away (if you're lucky) or fiercely hoe away the weeds from the plants.
- The little babies grow, and then each tree needs to be stripped of all it's leaves to allow tying to take place, so out come the backpackers to 'wipe down' each plant at the rate of 1 plant per second to get rid of the leaves.
- When the plants are bigger, the 'full-time' staff get out there and do their tying tricks (if you're staying a while like I was, you'll be taught how to tie buds onto trees too). It doesn't take long to get the hang of it, a few hundred trees should get you sorted ;)
- When the time is right, the trees are 'cut' just above the tape, to allow the new 'variety' to grow out.
- After 21 or so days, the tape from tying needs to be taken off each plant, so out come them trusty backpackers again to come pull the tape off the trees.
- And when the trees are 'all grown up', they need to be dug-up and potted
And so the process continues again.
Tips:
(1) You do work harder for less money, but when peaches run out in this neck of the woods, some money is better than no money, and those who don't 'do the nursery' end up a lot poorer than those that do.
(2) Give up smoking, you'll need the energy and stamina, and poisoning your body with nicotine can really cut your productivity down (as I found out the hard way!)
(3) Be reliable and be a consistently good worker, and you'll be asked back when the others are not.
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
Grand Hotel - Nyah West
Station St
Nyah West VIC 3594
Telephone: (03) 5030 2403 (Max & Vicki)
$70 pw + $5 per day transport
Click here for Full Post!
Nyah Village Caravan Park
Murray Valley Hwy P.O. Box 191
Nyah West VIC 3594
Telephone: (03) 5030 2284
Click here for Full Post!
Picking Peaches, Plums & Nectarines
(15 mins Swan Hill, 10 mins Nyah West backpackers)
Pay Rate: $15.70ph inc tax
Employers likes backpackers (who get to work on time)
Hours: Summer 5-7 days per week, 6-7am starts
Pickers: 20+
Packers: 20+
Employer Provides:
- Shoulder Bag or Bucket
Bring:
- gloves if you have sensitive skin
- wear long-sleeved tops to protect from sunburn
Outdoors work:
- Required to turn up even in scorching heat, however on the 40+ days, employer may take pity and have an early day or request you start earlier
What to expect:
You start the day by meeting at the packing shed, then you jump in your car (if you have one) and follow the tractor up to whatever field they are picking that day.
Most of the farms have both Peaches and Nectarines (and Plums), and all are picked the same way but the farmer or a fellow picker will show you what you have to pick. Sometimes you size-pick, sometimes you colour-pick, and other times you do a last-pick which means you pick everything off the trees.
You pick by handling the fruit lightly and slightly twisting your hand and placing it quickly & carefully into your bag or bucket. When your bag is full or getting heavy, you walk to the tractor and empty them into the boxes.
Some peach/nectarine trees are tall and may require you to use a step ladder, they aren't large ladders, a law change a while ago required that the step-ladder be no more than 3 steps high. When picking plums, I had to carry a larger ladder around with me, and go up about 4-5 steps. The ladder is not really sturdy and I quit after the first day.
Size-Picking
It depends on the fruit on the trees and what the order is that they have to get completed for the day as to what size you need to pick, and almost everyday seemed to be different, so you have to concentrate until you get used to the different sizes by sight/feel. It's actually quite a bit difficult to get used to because the pickers who have been doing it for years like to pick on everything you're doing and even when you are doing it right, they may pick up fruit in the bin and say it's too small, too green, etc. The most common sizes at the farm I worked on was slightly larger than a tennis ball.
Colour-Picking
It depends on the variety of peach/nectarine as to what colour you pick. Some of them aren't picked until they are completely red, some of them mostly red, and some don't even turn red so you pick them when they are "no longer green".
Stripping/Last Pick
When the trees have been picked a few times, there may be only 5-10 peaches/nectarines per tree to pick. Easiest job of them all as you just pick the lot, dropping the rotten ones and small ones on the ground (some farmers may want the small ones for something but none of the farms I worked on did).
Tips:
(1) I'm not sure if it's because of the chemicals they put on the trees, or whether it's something on the fruit itself, but it caused me to have extreme sensitive skin, rashes all over my hands and arms. Wearing long-sleeved tops and covering myself constantly in talcolm powder helped.
(2) You have to be extremely careful not to handle the fruit too hard as when it's put in the cold room, you're fingerprints will show up as black markings and the fruit has to be chucked out.
(3) Try and pay close attention to exactly what they want picked, get them to put it in your hand so you can measure it in your palm rather than just showing you.
(4) Some farms have a terrible weed problem, causing rashes all over your body, and some of the weeds are prickles that stay in your skin, wear clothes that cover you as much as possible, there really is no avoiding the weeds if you happen to get a farm that has a problem. I found taking an anti-histamine like Claratyne or Zyrtec helped with the inflammation a lot.
Bill and his loyal companion and a picture of the nectarine trees
Me (Penny/Ches) on a tractor on Caffreys farm, Woorinen Sth
Pickers from Korea 'Jackie & Jade' in Nectarine trees
Accommodation:
- Grand Hotel Nyah West(cheapest option - $100pw inc transport)
- Nyah West Backpackers (right next door to Grand Hotel)
- Nyah Village Caravan Park
Click here for Full Post!
