Bundaberg

A few weeks ago in Tully I had a few Bundaberg and Cokes, Bundy is a very popular rum down in this part of the world. I didn't know then that it was also an Australian Town. A town which I am now currently staying in. After a couple of weeks of not getting work in Tully, I headed down the coast to an area which due to receiving much less rain, was looking for fruit pickers and could get them an instant start.

Although Bundaberg has an aiport, the cheapest way to get down was on the coach, via the city of Townsville, and the town of Mackay. Upon arriving in Bundaberg after 14 hours on a coach spread across 2 days, I realised it was 3am and all the hostels were closed. A few of us fell asleep at a picnic table outside the bus station until the sun rose and I was able to check in. The hostel I'm staying at is currently housing 3 other Aston Villa fans, all eager for the season start and the start of a ritual involving watching our team at the small hours of the morning. We have the Ozzy equivalent to Sky here and Fox sports shows most of the Premier league games.

As for work, the hostel also acts as an agency for its stayees (for want of a better word) and the day after checking in I was picking zucchinis (aka corguettes) at 7 in the morning. The first day I finished at 2.30 and was asleep in front of the TV by 3 o clock. The work here is erratic, you can work 9 hours 1 day and none the next. It can also be quite profitable if there is alot of fruit out there and you're paid in bulk. My room mate has seen a 3000 dollar weekly pay cheque belonging to another guy at the hostel, purely because he worked 7 days and there was alot to be picked. At the moment I'm on hourly as there isn't enough fruit to be picked to justify being paid 'by the bucket'.

There's plenty to be picked down here, strawberries, mangoes, sweet potatoes, corguettes, capsicums amongst them. The work is mindless, gets you fit, gets you a tan and contrubutes towards a visa extension. The main reason most people are working out here is to earn a second year on their visa. This is something I would like to have as an option, but doubt I will require as my current visa takes me to June 2009. At the moment I'm just trying to make some money that'll prolong my trip out here as I'd like to see Ayers Rock, Western Australia as well as Whitsundays, Fraser Island and New Zealand. The latter 2 I will be visiting at the end of the month. I intend to stay here 2 more weeks earning as much as I can before blowing my earnings on a trip to Fraser Island and then embark on the kiwi experience. That then brings me to the end of September, by that point my fellow traveller Brad should be back on the tour after his brief return to the UK and I'll decide what to do next. Office work in Brisbane (just south of Bundaberg) is said to earn good money for a traveller like me, and that could help me see some of the places I mentioned earlier, as well as a possible trip to the pacific islands. There's just too much to see down here, it's a metter of choosing wisely as you'll never see it all.

My next blog will probably be from New Zealand where I'll be joined by my brother Sam, stay tuned!