New Beginnings

It’s been a while since I wrote one of these posts last. I haven’t known or wanted to say anything because things have been going so well. I thought if I wrote to acknowledge all the positives then it would end up like the two other serious jobs… and just end. I would lose trust for Australian farmers, and feel jaded about this whole experience, again.

None of this has happened so far (crossing my fingers everyday). Everything has been amazing, actually. I’m finally getting my blog going publicly and I feel relaxed and at ease about my life. 

To rewind a bit, it’s been a bit over a month since I left Comboyne, NSW. This was where I had one bad job and subsequently a great job; both for avocado farmers. The second one was upfront about only needing workers for a few weeks, but it was consistent enough for us to stay around. 

This second farm was also 180-degrees different from the previous work experience. They were kind, generous, honest and changed our perspective on farmers in the area.

Previous to getting that job my partner and I finished our van build (yay!) And, came to peace with leaving the town after a vicious hail storm. The storm left many of the avocado farmers in the area with more bad seasons to come. Thankfully our employers weren’t hit too badly.

So here we are, even with finding good short-term employment in Comboyne. My partner and I knew it was ending and we had nowhere to go.

Miraculously… we found someone looking for workers in Kangaroo Valley, NSW. This was literally the day we left Comboyne. My partner saw the job posting on a Facebook group. It didn’t seem real at all. 

At this point we had three regional jobs fail terribly within seven months of travelling in Australia. More important to this, I had lost confidence in trusting employers. This is the reality of regional work, as I’ve experienced it. I was exploited, discriminated again and lied to. But I never allow these bad experiences to influence my time in Australia. 

Through so many lies and other negative experiences from employers there was no way I could believe we had a legitimate job offer. Especially somewhere as beautiful as Kangaroo Valley—which we had visited earlier on in our trip. 

All of this aside I can say everything is so much better now. I have a good reliable job and employers that I trust. This is all I ever wanted for my regional work, to not feel like I was just another backpacker, but rather for people to understand I’m capable of anything.

My partner and I both have jobs on dairy farms. We mainly milk cows twice a day, but do many other farm work such as helping with calves, weeds, and tractor work. It’s been great to have a physical job and work outdoors, it’s something I’ve always wanted to try out. 

No job is perfect, but this job’s flaws were evident on day one. Milking cows means I get cow poop on me and start time for me is 04:30. But none of these are deal breakers for me.

Another big part of our jobs is that we work on different dairy farms. As in we now get more time apart. Hopefully other people can relate to this, but it’s refreshing to have our own separate time. Because travelling together and spending 24/7 together can be overwhelming at times. 

Aside from working, I have time off throughout the week, while still working full-time hours the rest of the week. On my time off I get to explore the valley, take relaxing coffee breaks, read my Frankie magazine or anything else I want.

Bringing me to my next point, we are still living in our van more or less. We have an en-suite of facilities including a shower, bathroom and a caravan for a full kitchen. And free rent! 

While the work is hard it feels rewarding to be part of a team with so much experience. And I get the benefit to see newly birthed calves almost every day!