Restaurants, Roadhouses, and Farm Job Leads
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For the first time since I left the Fruitshack, I have stayed in one place for at least a week. As far as planning and work prospects, however, things have been eventful since my last post.
When I last wrote my plan was to start on the banana farm once a spot opened up - hopefully quickly - and work nightwatch for accommodation in the meantime. The nightwatch bit went smoothly, and I even got three days of work at a banana nursery my first week at Scotty's. I spent the whole day rearranging small banana plants on a plastic tray so that they had more space to grow. If it sounds boring that's because it is; but the money is good ($20 an hour), so I'm not complaining.
Prospects for the actual banana farm didn't look great though. I found out that backpackers on the wait-list were only getting on the farm once someone left. Considering there were only about a dozen people from Scotty's on the farm, all of whom wanted to get their three months farm work, spots rarely opened up. Kyle, the one guy ahead of me (guys only replaced guys, girls only girls) was due to start at the beginning of May, but the next male worker from Scotty's wasn't leaving until early June.
| Molly, one of the two cats at the hostel, taking a nap...the atmosphere is relaxed, but it can get pretty boring if all you have is nightwatch duty |
No way was I waiting another 5+ weeks just to get on the farm. Several locals had told me tons of farms were hiring; problem is that you'd need a way to get there. I figured if I wanted to get on earlier my best best was another working hostel, either in Tully or Innisfail. An even better option would be to continue work on the banana nursery. The money was tax free (although backpackers can apply to get a solid chunk of their tax back once they leave Oz) and rent at Scotty's 50 dollars less. The hostel charges banana farm workers $200 a week, whereas the normal weekly rate is only $150. The farm workers pay more because of transport to and from the farm, as well as free laundry for work clothes. (when I use dollar figures I mean Australian Dollars; 1 USD is 1.08 Australian Dollars currently)
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| I didn't exactly want to wait for another month just to get work on a banana farm, a notoriously difficult backpacker farming job, especially if there was lots of work to be had elsewhere. (the bunches of bananas are bagged for protection) |
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| Carrying the bunches of bananas, known as banana humping (don't ask me why!). This is actually considered one of the good jobs to have on the farm. |
Unfortunately the nursery didn't need any extra help the following week, so I needed a plan B. I had sent out my resume to several job postings in Western Australia and the job site called me about a roadhouse position. A roadhouse is typically a restaurant/convenient store (and sometimes hotel) in a remote area catering to travelers. This particular one was in a small town 600 kilometers northeast of Perth. My main duties would be managing the cash register and cleaning. The job paid over $20 an hour (more on weekends), full time, with accommodation for only $90 a week.
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| Western Australia is the largest state in the country, covering nearly one million square miles - one third of the country and 3.5 times the size of Texas - yet it only has 2.5 million people. 92% of those people live in the southwest corner of the state, in or near Perth. The rest of WA is the definition of remote. |
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| If this animation works it should show you the size of WA relative to Europe, Japan, Texas, and New Zealand. As its own country WA would be the 10th largest in the world, just behind Kazakhstan and ahead of Algeria. |
What a great chance to save up money! The job site passed along my resume to the manager, who was due to give me a call. Only problem was I didn't hear from her. The following day I found out from an employee at the site that a candidate had applied in person. No way I, all the way in north Queensland, could compete with that - I would have taken me a solid two days of travel just to get there.
At that point I was pretty down and frustrated with the job search. Thinking through my options, I even considered taking up a teaching job in East Asia and giving up on working in Australia. I have been considering teaching in China for some time, and if I couldn't find anything decent in Australia then maybe it was a good time to move on.
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| Maybe it was time to take a teaching job again? |
A few days after the roadhouse job fell through I got another lead on a job through the same site. It was a roadhouse in north Western Australia, between the towns of Broome and Port Hedland, both small but the only signs of civilization for hundreds of kilometers in either direction. The roadhouse itself is literally in the middle of nowhere along the highway - people stop there because it is the only place to stop along the drive. The money was good ($24) and accommodation cheap ($100 a week). Work would likely be full time - but not guaranteed. The job site employee also said the husband - a couple owns and runs the place - could be hard to work with, but as long as you followed directions past backpackers had gotten on fine with him.
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| The second roadhouse where I considered working. You can check out their website here. |
It wasn't as good an option as the first roadhouse, but better than anything I had going at the moment. I talked with the wife, who told me when was best to fly to Port Hedland. Kayak advertised flights at $520, expensive, but I'd save more than that in a week. Problem was that when I clicked on the link on Kayak and went to Virgin Australia's site, the flight I had been eyeing no longer existed. Not only that, but the other flight was over $1000! A week out the price was lower, but still close to $700.
In the meantime I got a couple of shifts at Miller's Bar and Grill, a restaurant across the street from Scotty's. Several backpackers have worked there in the past, so it was easy to get a bit of work. During my second shift the manager asked me if I would like to come on for more hours - about 30 a week. A few employees had just left and since I had experience in restaurants I didn't need much training.
Instead of flying out to Western Australia to take a job along the side of the highway (and nothing else) with people I had never met, I decided working at Miller's seemed my best option. That meant I could no longer do night shift, but at $20 an hour it would only take 8 to cover rent. If I could find something, even temporarily, during the day - Millers isn't open for lunch on weekdays - I could really rake in the cash.
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Front of Millers Bar and Grill. My hostel is only a two minute walk.
Not bad for commute time!
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So far I have been working at Miller's about a week. I will not get 30 hours this week because I need to be trained how to open and close the restaurant. I may get more like 20-25 hours. But starting Tuesday I got more work at the banana nursery. I think it will just be through Friday, but even so I will be able to save up all that I make there. I'm hoping that I can find other temporary work next week. Locals sometimes call the hostel looking for a backpacker to do a bit of cleaning or gardening. Even if I only do that sort of thing 2-3 times a week the money will be good. If that is the case I will probably stick around Mission Beach for a couple months before moving on.
A bit of a long story, but a lot has happened over the last couple weeks!
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