I am now 8 hours ahead btw
Having had a very turbulent flight Jess arrived in Perth and headed straight over to the International Arrivals to wait for Pat flying in from Bali. Auntie Teena lives in Perth and so the pair had a base to start their “Working Holiday”.
But before that it was time to check out some local Skate Parks!
Back at one of these again
Each morning the pair looked for jobs online and contacted relevant people to ask lots of questions mainly about wages. Pat’s Uncle meanwhile had a few jobs around the place to keep him busy and Jessie wrote various C.Vs tailored to different jobs – Grape Picking, strawberry picking, Coffee shop assistant, Clothes shop assistant etc….
Four days later Jessie was already very frustrated with the whole job search.
It’s all we do every day and we hear nothing back
They both had their eyes on a Strawberry Farm job but after reading the reviews by employees they rapidly changed their minds. They also registered with almost every single Australian job website, and joined FB groups and Gumtree searches.
I think the problem was that they truly believed they would find jobs easily and there would be plenty of them. The actual reality was a lot bleaker. So after one week in Perth Jess started to worry she would run out of money and not even have enough to get home. (Obviously we would have bailed her out if got that bad).
Pat luckily was offered a job by a Skater he had met in Bali to work in a Skater Cafe. This was an exciting prospect, but no firm plans were put in place about when that would start. Jess hoped there might be some work for her too, but sadly nothing came of it.
Pat’s Uncle gave them a map and they poured over it with renewed confidence. If they went further afield, surely more farm jobs would be out there.
We’re looking to get a big car or van
We wanna go work in Margaret River, that’s where the vines n cafes are!
It’s surfer/skater heaven down there!
Originally, they wanted to stay at the Working Hostel Margaret River Backpackers but it was fully booked. So they decided that after they bought a car they would head down to a beautiful campsite called Fair Harvest Permaculture Campsite.
Neither had ever bought a car in the UK and were now throwing themselves into the Australian car sales arena! Luckily I had a FaceTime call from Jess as they were pulling into the car park of a supermarket to meet a chap who was hoping to sell his car to these two young peeps!
Do you know what you are doing?
What paperwork do you need?
I scrambled together a search on Google and found a helpful website that explained Australian car sales – Australian Vehicle Registration It was very easy to flick through and find the bits of info I needed to STOP them parting with their money! The following day they went to see another car and were happy with the paper work so bought it. The car the day before had none!!!!
So exciting! Now, they just have to clean it and kit it out to stay in, and the ‘World was their Oyster!’ Jessie learnt how to power wash a car and did it with love!
A lot of farm jobs insist you to have a car, so now they were more employable. Aunt Teena helped them celebrate with a hearty, healthy breakfast as a treat from a local cafe.
While they were out in the new car practicing driving they –
SAW A PELICAN
Always wanted to see one one of them lol
The make over of the “Wagon” would take a few days to sort. Pat was going to build a frame for the back so they would have a bed with underneath storage. Ikea was on hand for all the home comforts they would need like material to make curtains, duvets, and a cuddly giant Panda? They had sourced some wood to make the frame and slowly but surely created a great little mobile home.
A bit more skating at Fremantle Skate Park before leaving Perth.
So on the Thursday they started their journey into the outback in search of work and dreams. It would be a 3 hour journey to Margaret River so they decided to stop off at Belividere Camp Ground in Bunbury to break up the journey and arrive in daylight. Lovely Auntie Teena packed them off with a hamper of food.
We’ve left
Free as a bird!
My Daughter's Gap Year & Other Adventures 