Working around OZ share stories

[greg&donna]

Hi all must thank Rebecca from candm for setting up this particular forum..my name is Donna and my husband Greg are working while we travell .wehave been doing this for 3 yrsnow. We are not grey nomads and are not on a pension or retired, so we have to work to be able to travell and seeOZ. Would love to chat with those who do the same so we can share the good times with the sometimes the bad...and who knows met up somewhere sometime...we're currently in Parkes NSW, working I am a RN Midwife and my hubby a boilermaker ...so let's chat...talk soon ...

[knight492]

Greg and Donna, you certaimly jave the right lifestyle...I am envious. My wife "won't let" me gove up my job yet so that we can hit the road. Maybe we will run into you one day

[villatranquilla]

Hi Greg and Donna - we have 3 more years to go before pension age so are self funded. After Barry had some serious health scares we decided to "do it now". Have been travelling since Nov 2011 and love the lifestyle. Had 6 weeks harvest work in QLD late last year - minimal pay plus keep but gave us great experience so now are in WA for the planting season for 2 months - great pay includes our keep which is a real bonus. Will then spend 3 months in the goldfields then back here for the harvest. 4 mths work a year will keep us travelling indefinately.

[Macs]

I will be watching the posts here with interest.
Both hubby and I are desperate to sell off and head off indefinitely to slowly "do the block" taking however long it takes or until we get sick of it (is that even possible).
Finding work is one thing that has held us back. We are in our 40's so nowhere near retirement and will have to work to fund our lifestyle.
Whilst hubby is happy to do harvest work I don't fancy that being the only way for me to earn an income. Im currently an office worker (HR and OHS) so would prefer to keep to less labour intensive work and from what I have researched there is not a lot of that around in the smaller towns.
Do many of you find work outside of the harvest trail?

[greg&donna]

Hi to all. Great to hear some of your stories...being self funded in ones travells can be challenging both financially and personally,, I know our experience has had more ups then downs..we do miss family and friends, however have made lots of life long friends along the way. We are currently in a pak with not to many people so very lonely at time but I work shift work and Greg 10 - 12 hr days 6 day week .
We did not sell our house back home and currently rent it, but the rent goes back into the mortgage .we also try and work 3-4 months at a time then have a 2 months break..but that can change at times. Spends on weather and which direction we choose to head....so let's keep sharing our expiences both good and bad .
Cheers
Donna Greg

[BWS]

Tania and I have been on the road for almost 2 years now and are self funded and below retirement age. We spent the first 12 months doing the tourist thing before trying the grain harvest last September and LOVED it. Started up in Narabri and then went down to Sea Lake finishing just before Xmas (paid for all the presents and kept us going past new years).

From there we were told about the grape harvest in McLaren Vale so went over and scored a great job driving the tractor pick ups for the harvesters. We loved the area and the people although we had to stay in the CP which was expensive (arnt they all) but we needed power and water to wash as you got rather dirty, this went for almost 7 weeks.

Now we are up in the NT setting up a rock melon farm with 500,000 seedlings to plant and also 1,000 mango trees to fertilise and pick later in the year. This will keep us anchored for a while but great money and free power and water so who can argue.

There is plenty of work for anyone that want it if you look hard enough.

Happy travel and dont take life too seriously.

BW

[Big Jock]

Hello everybody, we made the mistake of following the kids and grandkids when they moved over to WA from Qld, initially spent 7 months working in Geraldton and recently moved to Perth where we have decided to work for the next 12 months to get some funds behind us before we start our work travel adventure, we will also be self funded so watching your posts and gaining valuable information will be great, give us a hoy if any of you are travelling in our area, but look forward to hearing from you all on this site. Safe travels, Alex & Christine.

[greg&donna]

Hi to all ...great to hear from you Alex Christine and BW...yes we worked in WA last year for 9 months Carnarvon and Karratha and loved it ..sems to be lots of work in WA..however due to the mines in the pilbera it is expensive living..but good dollars. Well we only have 4 weeks of work and then yes. A bit of a break ..off to QLD for a couple off months then proberley work again in central QLD for a few more months..I have my days when I think I might want to go home and retire from travell for awhile..but I then think about the old rut we tend to get into soooo I think it maybe a few more years on the road..How long have some of you been working and traveling?..and do you feel at times that you might or should settle back home...safe travelles and prosperous work to you all..cheers
Donna Greg

[B-T]

Caretaking rural properties is also worth considering. Pay and conditions vary and its is up to you to negotiate for what you need. We recently spent two years caretaking the seconf property of the owner.

27,000 acres, 7000 sheep and 500 head of cattle. Free old style cottage with all mod cons, sat TV and internet etc and about 70km from the nearest town. Pay $400 - $450 per week. Plus free meat and plenty of space to grow your own veggies. We saved quite a lot of money. We would have done it for free the owners were lovely people.

Owner are usually looking for couples to stay for 6 - 12 months.

John

[Claws]

Hi Greg and Donna,

We are just about to leave on an indefinite working trip around Aust. I was made redundant in Feb. after two years in Melbourne and our house in Brisbane leased for the next 12 mths so that pays the mortgage.

We are leaving early June and heading for Parkes, I am a chippy and a friend there has a few months work for me. We are in our mid to late 40's and have a 8yr old daughter who will be home schooled through distance ed. we will then be heading up to the gulf for some work on a cattle station and also a trip to the cape thrown in.

The packing up, selling off accumulated stuff we don't need and storing what we want to keep is the biggest part of heading off.... It just seems to take forever.

We did 6mths in 2000 just the wife and I, most of the time in a tent but spent five weeks in a cabin while I built new cabins in a Riverina CP.

This time we will be caravanning and have just picked up our van and driven back to Melbourne. Unfortunately we cracked the head of our Landcruiser and spent ten days in Ballina while it was fixed..... Leaking heater hoses cost us $5000 from our travel funds so a bit of a setback...