Working the Harvest Trail

Hospitality Tourism and Snow. Can you ski? Mt buller, Falls creek, Hotham and also the NSW ski resorts Perisher are looking for staff. The towns that support these resorts also have openings. As the season only lasts 3 months It may suit you.

http://www.mtbuller.com.au/themountain/host.html

http://www.perisherblue.com.au/cgi-bin/search/search.cgi

Thanks, Dadpad. I'm not much of a skiier, but I'll look into it. I think the three months has to be involving agriculture or wildlife for it to count towards another visa, though. Fruit-picking, pruning, or sheep tending and the like. I'm not sure.

This is what the website says:

Seasonal work:
Seasonal work is any type of work that is seasonal in nature or that is undertaken as the employee of a primary producer, including:

plant and animal cultivation
cultivating or propagating plants, fungi or their products or part
immediate processing of plant products
maintaining animals for the purpose of selling them or their bodily produce, including natural increase
immediate processing of animal products including shearing, butchery, packing and tanning
manufacturing dairy produce from raw material
fishing and pearling
conducting operations relating directly to taking or catching fish and other aquatic species
conducting operations relating directly to taking or culturing pearls or pearl shell
tree farming and felling
planting or tending trees in a plantation or forest that are intended to be felled
felling trees in a plantation or forest
transporting trees or parts of trees that were felled in a plantation or forest to the place where they are first to be milled or processed or from which they are to be transported to the place where they are to be milled or processed.

Actually, they just say 'seasonal work includes plant and animal cultivation, etc.' They don't say it excludes working for a ski resort or something similar. So long as it's with a primary employer in a regional area. It gets confusing cause the requirements and wording keep changing.

heres a link to the largest jobsearch site.
https://jobsearch.gov.au/Login/Login.aspx?WHCode=0&TextOnly=0

if that doesnt work just google "jobsearch"

I think the key is start looking in an area you would like to visit.

In Victoria the goulbourn valley has a lot of seasonal work fruit picking and pruning, but its the wrong time of year

Yarra Valley near Melbourne at this time of year for pruning grape vines.

Mildura area for picking oranges and mandarines at present.

The catagories I would look under on the jobsearch site are Farming and fishing. If you contact one of the job centers in your area they should be able to sort you out.

Great info, Dadpad. That link'll definitely help. I sent off an e-mail to the immigration folk asking for some clarification about whether work has to deal with agriculture or livestock to count; hopefully they'll get back to me within the next month or so before I have to make concrete decisions.

I really appreciate your help.

you have probably found this already within the "jobsearch" site, click on "harvest trail" in the grey tabs at the top of the screen


29/05/2006: To be eligible for a second WH visa, applicants must complete at least 3 months of seasonal work in a postcode area specified on DIMA's website-

http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/visiting/visiting03.htm#x6

heres another handy links about jobs, transport and accomadation

http://www.oz-jobs.com.au/harvest/destinationsDB.cfm

http://jobsearch.gov.au/harvesttrail/default.aspx

http://www.greyhound.com.au/

http://www.waywardbus.com.au/seaswork.htm

http://countrylink.nsw.gov.au/

http://www.yha.com.au/

http://www.backpackers.com.au/

http://tourinfocentre.com.au/work/work6.htm

http://www.immi.gov.au/faq/visiting/visiting03.htm

http://www.riverinatourism.com.au/

Hey dadpad-

Thanks again for all of that info.

Thought I'd give a bit of an update. After lots of thought, I've decided to go ahead and extend my visa. Just in time as it turns out. I've got just over three months to get my time in.

First, I'm heading off to Loxton in the Riverlands of SA on Sunday to go orange picking/packing for a few months. It'll be hard, but I'm looking forward to getting out of the corporate world.

Then it's off to WA in the new year, hopefully somewhere near Albany/Donnybrook. I'll probably be picking cherries or strawberries.

Should be an adventure. I'll let you know how it goes.

You certainly sound as though you are having an interesting time.

Hope you enjoy SA and WA. Have you posted any of your 'adventures' yet?

Not yet, lezz.

I'm looking forward to getting out of Sydney for a bit and seeing more of what's around.