dojapan

I came here alone. I thought for sure that once I bought a car I would find a job because of flexibility. 3 months later and I've earned less than $1000 and spent almost all of my savings with little hope of finding more work. I also got cheated out of a week's pay by my insane, aggressive Australian boss. When I complained to FWO about being cheated they responded by saying thank you, your complaint has been filed in our system, we will not investigate. I've reached the point that if I actually found a job in Australia I would be skeptical that they weren't trying to scam me in some way. Yeah...

This has been a moment of clarity for me: I think I've seen about as much of Australia as I want to. I had one of the best times of my life here, but this trip has been a personal failure since I haven't gotten rich or even found reliable work as I originally intended. No reliable jobs here, time to return home. Spring time is just around the corner in the north, and I feel great excitement for the journey ahead. I tentatively plan to do a backpacking trip in the Rocky Mountains and then relocate to a Latin American country for 6 months to practice my Spanish. But first, I just have to go to NSW and see how dumb Nimbin is. Should I even waste the petrol on that?

I've been following it for weeks, and found nothing suitable in Queensland. Then this afternoon there is a new post for citrus pickers, which I thought was perfect. The post showed only 1 page view and it couldn't have been more than a few hours old, but when I call the number they said all positions were already full. HOW? I seriously doubt they ever had openings. I suspect most of the jobs that get posted there are out of date crap. Has anyone ever actually found work on that site? WHV in QLD is turning out to be more like living the semi-unemployed and semi-homeless lifestyle, which frankly, I can do more easily back in the states.

The regional work requirement seems quite ridiculous. Everywhere I've been this year in Queensland there is very little need for workers or LONG waits in working hostels that charge job bonds to catch you in their web. There isn't enough work for backpackers in general, let alone work that meets regional requirements. Most backpackers that I met in QLD this year have been discouraged by the lack of jobs and seem to be leaving Oz after spending most of their savings and earning almost nothing. Why can't they just give us our 2nd year visas and leave us alone?

Hello all, I recently received my W&HV. I have a tentative plan and many questions. I think I would enjoy working on the banana harvest for the summer. I might fly to Brisbane and spend a week there getting my bearings: get prepaid phone card, open bank, call around about job availability in the north, and possibly meet some friends to team up with. If bananas around QLD is a practical idea, then I might take the train up to Cairns. Questions: 1) What's the banana harvest like this year? 2) Would it be better to just fly straight to Cairns and not bother with Brisbane or the train? 3) Should I get a driver's license and a car? (I heard it helps with getting jobs) 4) Is there a popular website for posting classified ads? Craigslist seems to be under-utilized in Oz. I think that's all for now. More questions later, I'm sure.