Feeling 14 in Australia

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 1^st 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 1^st 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.

Little Devil Backpackers, Hostel Review, Huonville, Tasmanian

After a few days at The Pickled Frog in Hobart I managed to bag myself a job in Cygnet on a strawberry farm. A quick conversation on the phone to the farmer and I found myself googling “Little Devil Backpackers”, like he had advised. I gave them a quick call to check there was space and then hopped on the bus from the corner of Elizabeth and Brisbane Street to Huonville. The ticket cost me a little over 10 bucks and the driver said he would give me a shout when I needed to get off.

The bus pulled up 40 minutes later next to a big yellow sign advertising the hostel, which was tucked behind a car garage and a pizza takeaway. David, the hostel manager, was there to greet me and show me to my dorm. The hostel is made up of three sections; the camp site, the main hostel, and the shared house. My room was in the shared house, and because the season was drawing to an end there weren't many others in there.

Now, I feel before I go any further I should explain I arrived here at the start of April, just as most of the fruit picking seasons are finishing. Because of this the hostel was not full, but had a group of 30 or so people across the three parts of accommodation. The weather was getting colder, jobs were fewer and earnings were dropping. This is worth keeping in mind as I never experienced queues for the shower or fighting for space in the oven.

The shared house was nice, 4 beds to a room, a large living room with dining areas and a nice kitchen. There was one en suit room and one shower for everyone else. I can imagine that could get busy at the hight of season and the hot water for the house is mainly heated by solar power. The room also had a big wardrobe that we were able to unpack into as we were all going to be there for a while.

The camp site was pretty basic. The main site was in the garden of the shared house and there was a shed for the campers to cook in and store food, as well as having dining areas and some sofas. When I was there is was getting really cold and the campers tended to go through to the hostel on an evening rather than staying in the shed. I'm sure that its nice in summer, but when you could see your own breath as you breath, I found it a little depressing!

The main hostel had the reception desk in and a few computers. The kitchen was pretty basic, it worked well when I was there, but again I can imagine it got pretty busy in summer. There was a great island in the middle of the kitchen that made for a great socialising centre, there was always people sat around here enjoying a drink, preparing food, playing poker or just chatting. Off the kitchen was a living space with some couches, bean bags and a big TV.

The camp site shed didn't have any hot water to wash dishes in and they main hostel and the campers had shared showering facilities where you had to pay to get hot water.

This is a working hostel so everyone there were out on farms through the day. Little Devils provide a small fleet of vehicles made of utes, mini buses and cars to ferry workers to and from farms. These can be used on days off as well, by special arrangement with either Val or David, and at a cost per head.

I really enjoyed staying there for a month, it was great fun and I met loads of lovely people. Would I stay there again? Honestly, don't know. It is nice, lovely even. Full of great people and comfy rooms, the staff were nice and the there was always plenty going on. I suppose the question should really be would I ever want to stay in Huonville again? And the answer to that is no.

Hostel Review – Pickled Frog, Hobart

Standing close to the top of the hill on Liverpool Street is a large green building, impossible to walk passed without giving it a second glance. This is The Pickled Frog Hostel. Walk in through the main entrance and you will be greeted by a cosy reception room with communal computers, comfy sofas, a small bar, the reception desk and, in winter, a roaring open fire. This is where I found myself after 10 days working on a dairy farm in Wodonga, torn between wanting to spend some time not working and needing to find a job before winter crept in.

I was greeted by a chirpy Tasmanian girl, who gave me my key and sheets to set up my bed for the night and pointed me in the direction of the local farmers market. If you are confronted by a very large husky with dark brows and an grumpy face, don't worry, that's Blue. He is the hostels dog and is very friendly!

Moving from the reception space through to the communal area, there are sofas and tabled booths offering plenty of space to sit with friends or on your own and offers more warming fires. There is also a pool table and a large TV with a great collection of DVDs, there's almost always a group sat round enjoying a movie or two. The room is filled with charming cubby holes and comfy furniture to offer enough space for everyone.

The kitchen is just off of the communal area. It's not huge, but it does have enough pots, pans, plates, bowls, knifes and forks to go around. The hobs are a little, erm, quirky, but they get the job done and there's always someone around to help you out if you're struggling. The trick is that the hobs work using magnets, if it doesn't detect a pan on top it won't turn on, unfortunately it doesn't detect all of them. Most importantly, the kitchen is always clean. I don't think I sore any dirty plates left out at all.

The rooms were nice, standard hostel rooms; bunk beds, a couple of tables, one of the rooms I stayed in had a big wardrobe and full length mirror, which was a real treat! They also get cleaned daily, which is nice.

The bathroom may be the only negative thing I have to say about this place. There were only 5 showers for all the girls in the hostel, which meant there were often queues in the morning. Trying to avoid the queues I decided to have an afternoon shower instead but left the bathroom still dirty and now shivering, thanks to freezing cold water. I'm sure this isn't usually a problem, but you might want to consider getting up a little early instead. The toilets were clean though, so ups and downs there!

One of the really nice things about the hostel is they offer a number of free trips on different days. I took the free shuttle to the top of Mt. Wellington on Monday morning, which gave you a guided tour to the top and then the option to walk back or stay on the bus. I was on quite a budget so being able to go for a free day out was great – I chose to walk down so it took until early afternoon to get back into town. There are also yoga classes available and a few other bits and pieces.

I really enjoyed my stay here: the place was clean, the staff friendly, and the bar's pretty cheap. Located just a short walk from Hobart centre this is a great place to stay when exploring the city.

The London Travel Show and Alborz Restaurat Review

At the weekend Graham and I went along to The Adventure Travel Show at Olympia, and what a day it was! Finished off with a meal for two at Alborz Restaurant, my only regret is getting a day ticket and not a full weekend pass!

The whole place was filled with adventure tours to global destinations, travel shops like Nomad and information about global sustainability and environmental responsibility.We spent the day learning about our destinations of choice in SE Asia and left weighed down with travel guides, magazines and leaflets galore to provide yet more inspiration for our plannings.

The most inspirational thing there, however, was not the glossy mags and perfect pictures of tropical paradise hanging at the back of almost every stand. It was the talks. Some of them inspired me to be more careful with recycling and encouraged me to think more about the impact my choices have on the world. Emily Penn, from Pangaea Exploration, gave a wonderful talk about plastic pollution in the ocean - never again shall I be guilty of taking a plastic carrier bag from Sainsbury's!

My favorite talk was certainly that of Leon McCarron, who invited us to join him on his walk through the Empty Quarter. Basically, him and a mate built a cart, dropped it in the middle of the desert and walked to Abu Dhabi. Clearly, there was a little more to it than that. The incredible heat, the endless miles of sand and the ever changing landscape. It was fascinating and really got Graham and I excited about all the possibilities for the road ahead.

At the end of the how, weight down like pack horses, the two of us mooched over the road to the Alborz Restaurant, a charming Persian place, just over the road from the exhibition hall. Here we sat in almost silence, save the odd "check this out" and "WOW! Holy cow lets go here!" as we pointed enthusiastically at pictures in our magazines. The food here was great. Our mixed started was served with fresh flat bread, baked right in front of us, the Kashk O Bademjan was delicious! For main I had the sea bass. It was good, but if I find myself there again I would probably give something else a try. 

It took us 2 hours to get home to our (very far) North London flat, but with our noses in magazines it seemed like nothing! We will certainly be going to some more of the travel shows coming up in London over the coming month!