When I was growing
up I lived in a small town in the heart of the North Yorkshire
country side. It was a beautiful life, playing in fields and walking
freely. I had a job all through high school and collage and lived as
close to a free life as a school girl probably could. Having my own
money meant I could buy anything I wanted (within reason) without
really having to ask for permission from my parents. And when I
passed my driving test and bought my 1st car, I was away!
There was no stopping me. Given this you can imagine the feelings of
constriction that wwoofing brought.
Super Gram and I
needed to find a way for me to gain my 88 days for second year visa
as quickly and cheaply as possible. Wwoofing promised the perfect
answer, a way to travel the country very cheaply with free
accommodation and food whilst the days on farms could count towards
that precious second year visa. The reality proved to be quite
different.
Our first hosts were
based in far north Queensland and we loved it there. The hosts were
lovely. We finished our 4 hours a day and then enjoyed downtime with
the family and friends, exploring the area and being taken to local
beaches and attractions. The evenings were often filled with wine and
cheerful chatter about the exciting places they had visited on their
own travels. We thought we had found the perfect answer to travelling
around this expensive country on the cheap.
Our time here soon
came to an end and we set off with a spring in our step to our next
hosts near Cairns. Our reality soon changed, and the experiene of
wwoofing changed with it. It became clear that these hosts thought of
their wwoofers as cheap labour and had little interest in cultural
exchange. After working for 5 hours we would then be expected to take
care of the 2 young children whilst the parents were at work, for
free and out of our own time as this was not considered to be work.
When a parent arrived home we would return to the servants quarters
at the end of the garden. To be fair the cabin was lovely and gave a
really pleasant atmosphere through the day. An evening however had an
eerie feel, and the lack of any power and minimal lighting didn't aid
this.
This family had no
interest in taking us to any local attractions or anywhere in the
local area. We felt like naughty teenagers having to beg to go to the
shops and keep quiet unless spoken to. The total lack of freedom was
a complete shock to me. Never before had I felt so constricted. And
when that was teamed with a total lack of thanks for any of our work
or free child care.
Its a one off, we
told each other, other hosts enjoy the company of wwoofers and the
cultural exchange that comes with it. So off we went to our next
hosts in the Northern Territory. Here we were fortunate enough to
stay with other wwoofers. A pair of French girls were working on the
mango orchard over their summer break from university, wwoofing
offering a student budget friendly way to see the far north of
Australia. Once again we found our host, a grumpy man with black
teeth a huge amount of self interest and not enough time with other
people, to be utterly uninterested in any cultural exchange.
Again we found
ourselves miles from civilisation with no form of transport. We
managed to beg a lift into Darwin for a day so we could rent a car
between the 4 of us to see the national park. Our host obliged and
the 5 of us set off in utter silence the for the painfully long 40
minute drive. Again, we spent our time here tiptoeing around our host
and hoping not to upset him.
Our saving grace
came in the form of an email from a host up the road in desperate
need of a couple of wwoofers that would finish up the last 4 days of
my 88. The days after receiving the email they came and picked us up
from the farm. We sighed a huge breath of release as we climbed into
the car and waved the mango orchard goodbye. Our next 4 days were
wonderful, we worked hard and enjoyed some fantastic company. Here we
were made to feel welcome and appreciated and were really quite sad
when our time came to an end.
I chalked up a total
of 54 days of wwoofing, with the rest made up from working on apple
and strawberry farms in Tasmania, and staying with more hosts than
I've shared here. Whist 2 of the many hosts we stayed with were warm
and welcoming we found the majority to be cold simply looking for a
form of cheap labour. For the 1st time in my life I
understood the pain teenagers face through being trapped.
I think the main
trouble we faced was not having our own transport. If we had a car we
wouldn't have stayed with the less inviting hosts for as long as we
did. We would have had the freedom to explore in our free time and
could have left whenever we liked.
Through my travels
in Australia I met plenty of backpackers that had spent some time
wwoofing and they all had at least 1 horror story, from working 10
hours a day to being locked outside the whole day with no access to
water. But they also had a wonderful experience elsewhere to balance
it.
My advise to anyone
hoping to spend time wwoofing in Australia would be to ask lots of
questions in advance: what are the hours; what does the work include;
what is the accommodation like; is there public transport available;
how many wwoofers have you had and how long did they stay, and so on.
Wwoofing can be an amazing experience and a chance to see parts of
the country you might not have otherwise.
The most important
thing is to work hard during your agreed hours and if you feel
uncomfortable leave. With the time available for travellers in
Australia being so limited its important to get what you want from
that time. It is an exchange, so as long as you are putting in your
part if you feel you aren't getting enough back there is no reason to
stick around and leave with bad memories.