Working - - 2wander-yonder

Work? I thought we were on a permanent holiday!

While working maybe the furthest thing from your mind as far as traveling and touring is concerned, it is something you may wish to consider not only as a means to an end, but a way to experience places and for meeting new friends.

When we started our new life we spent the first three months just doing what we liked, kicking back and generally just having a great time. We had some savings and began by living on that but it's silly to be spending money that is best kept in the bank for a rainy day so we decided that we would work for part of each year and see how it went. As it turned out it was a great move and we found that there really is more work out there than you can imagine, especially if you are not too fussy.

Some people have a trade behind them and use that as a way of getting work. Tradesmen are in high demand all around Australia because of the number of large natural disasters that have happened in recent years and because of the lack of available tradesmen in towns because those that were there have taken up jobs in the mining industry.

Of course your living expenses are not going to be high on the road (unless you fill your fuel tank everyday or buy heaps of things you don't need or spend lots on sightseeing etc), so you probably won't have to work all of the time and can set yourself up with seasonal or casual work.

We have found that Grey Nomads (travellers) are a sought after labour resource for a number of reasons including the fact that:

they have a good work ethic;
they have a good grasp of safety and common sense;
they provide quality work;
they don't want to party all the time or turn up for work hung over;
they don't necessarily want permanent work;
they are willing to do many jobs that others are not, etc

There are a number of website's where work or contacts can be found and word of mouth is always another great resource. We have found good information on work at the following website's:

Workabout Australia - Jobs are shown on this website for free but paid members get to see them up to two weeks prior to their being published to the public, and there are other benefits to a paid membership as well.
The Job Shop
The Harvest Trail - This is a Federal Government Website and is well worth a visit.
Travellers at Work
Nomads at Work
Older Workers
No Boundaries

We have both worked (a total of 6 months in the first 14) since we began our new life and we have both thoroughly enjoyed it. Joanne has cooked in an aboriginal nursing home and we have both worked on the wheat and sorghum harvest (both incoming and out loading) and we have thinned apples, all of which we would happily do again.

Thinning apples was great and not like picking which is hard and heavy work. Working up and down the rows (and a ladder) we were removing the excess or damaged apples and just dropping them on the ground. Most days were 8 hours in duration and from Monday to Friday. Would we do it again - YES!

The work on the wheat is probably our favourite and has been outside in the heat and dust helping unload trucks, building the wheat stacks, operating the giant silo's, filling trains and trucks, tractor driving, sweeping and shoveling etc and it has been such fun to do. We even look forward to going to work :) The hours are often long, can be in shifts and you can end up working on weekends.

What we like about the work we have done is that:

it's only for the season and not forever;
we can work as much or as little as we like;
nobody is too serious and there is none of that office politics, jealousy or treachery;
the pay is good and a couple can make good money together;
we can work together;
we have obtained new skills;
your pay is there every week;
they provide the uniforms and PPE;
the jobs are varied;
it's a team environment;
there's nothing too physically strenuous;
it's interesting and stimulating work;
it's all care and no responsibility;
we have met some great people and made some good friends;
we can come back and do it each year;
it allows us to travel as and when we please;

and don't forget there is always caravan parks looking for cleaners, grounds people and relief managers. There are roadhouses always looking for cooks and general hands and shops in towns that are always looking for casual staff.

Having worked for part of our time on the road we have covered all of our expenses, replaced the savings we used to live on in the first months and have added to it. So if we can do it - you can too.

Volunteer Work

Of course you don't have to do paid work all of the time as this lifestyle allows you to give something back to the community and one of the best places to do that is like we did with Blaze Aid - http://blazeaid.com.au/ We made some great friends here and while we were providing the labour Blazeaid and the local community fed and accommodated us for free! The most rewarding thing however was hearing the stories and receiving the gratitude from the farmers we helped.

We are sure you will have questions we haven't addressed so feel free to contact us to ask.

Mark Twain once said "...years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the things you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - and so we will.