If you are reading this then you know us. If you know us then you knew as much as we knew about our game plan here in the land Oz. That plan basically consisted of working a couple months then traveling, working a couple more months, travel a little more, repeating this pattern of work and travel until around September/October when we would be flying home. Plans… they are useless, they are always changing… for example we are moving (I loosely use the word moving) to Adelaide and road tripping there with some guy we found on gumtree (craigslist) next weekend, but before I get there let me start at the beginning.
We spent Australia Day shopping, watching a parade, and going to Mark’s old co-workers place for a BBQ. It felt just like the 4th of July at home. Overall, the day was awesome! Other than Australia Day we have spent every day at the library on the computers hunting for jobs. Everyone we have met here on holiday work visa has told us it will take over a month to find a job. Chances are the job will just be part time so we would be making enough to pay rent and not to save money for our travels. We learn there are at least 200 people applying for every job and several recruiters clearly stated they don’t have time to read through all the resumes. If you don’t know someone it’s going to be a while before you get a job. Also, many places don’t hire people on their holiday work visa because we are only allowed to work for an employer for 6 months, reason being to encourage people to save and travel. Almost everyone we have met is on the holiday work visa looking for work. The few people we have met that are working have lived in the same city most of their time on the visa and have done very little traveling. We didn’t come to live in a city for a year; we can do that in Chicago, NY, LA, etc. We want experiences, we came to see Australia! We started to wonder if this is really how we want to spend our last big travel trip. And then I stumbled on an article about how backpackers aren’t finding work, proving to be the toughest year with the highest unemployment rates. Yah about that plan, something is going to have to change.
Next plan of action: we decide we will go work on the farms, less people wanting to convert to the farm life, right? We read online before we came that picking fruit was a great way to make money and meet new people. Alright cultural experience of meeting new people, picking fruit under the hot sun here we come! Not so fast… there’s a waiting list for every farm we could find. Apparently we are not the first that have resorted to this. We did talk to a lady that was interested in having us come work at her sheep and rare pig farm. Yes, you read that right they breed rare pigs. We wouldn't work for pay, but rather to live on their farm with their family and be provided meals. I should mention there are lots of people she is considering for this… people are willing to go work for free because they can’t find work and the cost of living is so high. A case of corona is $74, an avocado is $5, basically everything is double the price at home. It is a big ball of craziness.
We were fed up with the job hunt and spending all of our time at the library so we decided a change is a coming. Around this exact time we both get an e-mail from our summer bosses asking us to come back. We make much better money at home and we love our summer jobs. We decided we will go home in May, and therefore not worry about working here but just seeing as much of this country as possible. If short term work comes along awesome, if not that’s okay! You’re probably thinking “What?! You’re quitting the hunt after just a week?” And my answer is “Hell yeah, and we couldn’t be more excited about the future.” We found a guy on gumtree (Australian equivalent to craigslist) who rented a campervan and is heading to another city called Adelaide. Needless to say we are joining him in this roadtrip. At first I had my doubts about spending a week with three strangers and all sleeping in the same tent, but Mark said to me “seriously, you spend your whole summer driving around the US with strangers!” Good point, I’m in! We are driving the Great Ocean Road (their version of pacific coast hwy in CA) and spending a few days in Grampian National Park. We don’t know what Adelaide has in store for us or where our journey is going, but we are looking forward to it! We started the blog back up for our family and friends to keep updated on our travels. Let the adventure begin!
No comments:
Post a Comment