Working in Australia

My big dream to travel and work in Australia came true this year, after many horses, grapes and
new friends I am now back home and I would like to tell you about my adventure. My name is
Merel and in Netherlands I was a little bit lost, I had decided to quit my studies and I wanted to
spend a year abroad. At first I went to look at European countries, but it was my father who said
that if you are going away for a year why not go to the other side of the world.

The program
After doing online research, I ended up on the Get Abroad website. I became very enthusiastic
about the program and I got in contact with Tine. She told me that I would start with a group of
other Europeans with the same dream and how to apply for my working holiday visa. I thought it
was a very comforting idea that I wouldn’t start the adventure alone in a foreign country. What the
program also offers is help finding work all year long.
When my visa was finalized it was time to book a plane ticket, I had never flown so far before and
to a foreign country too. Fortunately, my first accommodation had already been booked by the
Get Abroad and I would not be starting the adventure alone. When I arrived in Brisbane I felt very
comfortable, it was a clean and safe city. Starting this adventure with nervous young people like
me was very nice and I made friends in those first two weeks who I still speak to today and we
also went to a surf camp at Christmas.

Farm work
If you absolutely love Australia and want to stay another year, you have to work on a farm or do
remote work for 88 days. Even if you don’t have much experience on a farm, it is also possible,
because the program offers a training farm. Here you will receive training on a farm so that you do
not start working completely inexperienced. This was very educational and also fun to learn things
as a group, such as horse riding, driving a tractor, feeding animals, how to build a new fence and
more.
This week was all about getting used to things, getting used to speaking English, getting used to
getting up early, getting used to Australian customs and certain expressions that Australians make
such as ‘G’day mate’. For me, the biggest challenge was getting up early, because every day at 6
am we had to feed the animals on the farm. But after a few days I really liked it. Taking care of
animals with the sunrise in the background is very peaceful. After the training portion we returned
to Brisbane for the weekend where we all went to a pub to ride a mechanical bull. The training
farm was not too tough, there was a lot of laughter and it was two weeks that I will never forget.
The training farm made me less nervous when starting my first job and gave me the confidence
that I could handle it in Australia.

The recruiter
After the training farm it is time to get started somewhere yourself, the recruitment agency helped
me with this. They will discuss with you what your qualities and experiences are and what kind of
work you would like to do yourself. I wanted to start with farm work because I was very curious, I
wanted to work with animals and being a nanny also seemed interesting to me.
During the week of the training farm we all received job offers from various potential employers.
After carefully choosing, I accepted an offer to work on a horse ranch, where I took care of the
horses but also looked after the owner’s children. Read more about what this work experience
was like and what I did afterwards in my next blog.

Merel