Pemberton

Been spending my time lately working in another small town south of Perth, Pemberton. The YHA hostel here is more reminiscent of a hard-labour camp than a backackers. The usual atmosphere of travelers sitting round drinking and laughing throughout the afternoons and evenings has been replaced by one where the "workers" are picked up every morning at 6am and driven off to toil in the fields picking fruit during the heat of the Australian summer before being dumped back at the hostel broken and exhausted to eat, sleep, and do the same thing the next day. This, coupled with the way that when you check in you are issued with one knife, fork, spoon, and one, plate, bowl and cup led me to rename the place 'Pemberton Prison' !!

From my own experiences as a backpacker working in Australia, and from others I have spoken to along the way, it is incredible what people are prepared to endure to gain the three months seasonal work necessary to earn the second year visa. The funny thing is, the money brought into the country by backpackers to spend before they even have to work accounts for around 20% of the money going into Australia. If everyone got pissed off with their treatment as a second-class citizenj and buggered off back home it would cripple the Australian economy, not to mention the complete devastation of the farming industry!!

Anyway, before I drift off into another one of my rants I should say what I have been up to recently... Pemberton is a tiny town consisting of only a couple of streets and a miniscule population. There isnt really a great deal to entertain yourself and it would be unbearably boring to stay for any length of time other than to work and save some money. I got employment with a local farmer on an avacado plantation. Picking avacado was painfully boring, and the days really dragged, but at least the work wasnt too physically demanding as farm jobs go. It was a constant struggle to get up at 5am every morning for work and I eventually got the sack just before christmas for not going in one day when I was supposed to be working. This was more of a relief than anything !! Christmas was fairly quiet and uneventful, however, it just doesn't seem right somehow to have christmas day in midsummer, you can't eat mince pies and christmas pudding in 38 degree heat !!

Next stop Walpole, home of some more big Karri trees! Apparently at Walpole there is a treetop walk and a 'giant tingle tree'. Will have to see if it lives up to the hype!


http://www.linkedin.com/in/adamtkent

---

---