Let me just recap how we arrived at this point: a flight to the Outback. It all began in Sydney just after the Christmas holidays were over. We had looked into several work opportunities upon arriving in Sydney, and sent out some CV’s over the internet. Unfortunately, nothing had come up and it didn’t help that we arrived into the holiday season. Places were closed and most job positions had been filled pre-December. It was a bit frustrating because when you get a Working Holiday Visa coming to Australia, you obviously want to find WORK. Even though that was not the point of our trip to Australia, we were hoping to make a few Australian dollars. We were spending the day at my great aunts house and I received a random phone call. Just to back track, I had a missed call from an odd number that had left a message earlier that day. The problem was that I couldn’t decipher much from the message they left other than the ladies name-Jill.
[ I missed the call and I listened to the voicemail after. It was a lady mentioning an application I had put into a hotel/resort. I could not comprehend the name of the hotel or its location, I really had no clue where she was calling from (it was a weird area code!). I decided to ask my cousin if they recognized the location on our way to my great aunts house for a visit. They weren’t sure either, but assumed it was somewhere outside of Perth. Anyhow, I did not remember sending a CV anywhere like that, but knowing how random I am I probably did !]
So I ignored it and forgot about it for a little while until they called again at my great aunts. This was the outline of the conversation:
‘Hello?’
Hi Magda, this is Jill, I am calling from Yun(@*#&$IWEIF??? Hotel. How are you?
Good, how are you?
Great. You put in an application to work for us, yes?
Ummmmm….yes…..??#R”EKF???
Magda, do you know where we are located?
Ummmmm…..perhaps outside of Perth?
No Magda, we are actually in South Central Australia. (Awesome way to start a phone interview when you don’t even know what location you are interviewing for or what the name of the place is!) :P
Magda, we are actually one of the most remote places on earth. We are part of the Outback Loop, a tourist destination that is part of the Burks and Wills famous trail from South to North Australia (Adelaide to Darwin). We are a hotel on one of the stopping points of the famous loop. Do you know where that is roughly?
Uhhhhhhhhh….Alice Springs? Uluru?
No Magda, we are 1000miles southeast of Alice Springs. There is literally nothing here, we are officially in the middle of nowhere. We pay well and mostly employ backpackers such as yourself. We are the true outback experience. Let me tell you more about working for us…..
@(#*&@#*FUIHEW*UYEWR(*SCS??!?!?!?!?!?!?
The conversation went on for about 20 minutes. She told me all the odds and ends of the job. I told her that I was with someone on this trip, and I told her we planned to be in Australia for a while but were not sure just how long. She said she could employ both of us, and that our room and board, and transport was covered. We would also be making decent wages. I am not sure about exact numbers, but in Australia the minimum wage is quite high (as an offset for some of the prices!). On a working Holiday visa you can definitely expect to make around $20/hour before taxes. It makes the thought of getting a working visa a no brainer if you plan to be here for a while. She sensed my fear and hesitation, so she added that if we hated it we could leave after a week and we would still come out on the plus side financially. Also, we could say we actually did the Outback! If we liked it, we could make good money, experience the REAL Australian outback, and have free room and board.
Hmmmmmmmmm…..let me think about this and talk to my boyfriend……
Hmmmmm….What do you think??? LET’S DO IT!!! Let’s live in one of the most remote places on the planet…..HOLY CRAP WE SAID YES!
We decided on a start date of Jan.16th, flying out of Brisbane…..oh boy!
We had another long discussion about it and decided….why not? We can leave if we hate it and it’s an adventure of a lifetime!! And at least we get paid for this one, unlike climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro!! :P
So the plan now is based on this outback job. We are working through the details and the whole idea has me scared and excited me all at once!!
