Visiting Eighty Mile Beach

After trying hard to find work for several days and still not succeeding, we decided to continue our journey for now. There was no point in staying in Broome and wasting time and money there. So our next stop was Eighty Mile Beach.

In order to save money we had actually planned to stay at a free campsite on the highway. But since we drove 10 kilometers on a 4WD road to Eighty Mile Beach, we decided to stay one night at the paid campsite right on the beach.

At that time it was relatively cloudy and a bit cold. We then set up the tents together. Meanwhile we kept trying to find work at Facebook and Gumtree.

In the evening I went to the beach again to have a look at it. Due to the low tide, the water was very far away from the beach at that time. After dinner and a round of Skipo we went to sleep.

Finally a good job offer

Luckily there was good news for us in the morning. Before I got up, I was messaged on Facebook by the manager of a melon farm. This was 200 kilometers south of Broome. The manager has offered us to work on this melon farm from next week on.

We then called each other directly and he told us about the life and the work on the farm. If we accept the offer, we would often work up to 80 hours a week. In addition, the work should be very physically demanding.

We knew right away that we would accept the offer. We could use the money from all the overtime and on a farm in the middle of nowhere there isn’t much else to do than work anyway.

During the day we tried to plan something what we want to do for the next seven days before we go to the farm. We also lay on the beach at noon and chatted and played games at our table on the campsite.

At sunset we went to the beach together again.

Preparing for our first farm job

The next morning we were called again by the manager of the melon farm. We were all convinced of the job, which is why we accepted it. We even had the option not to wait until the end of the coming week but to start as soon as it was possible for us.

Since we still had to do a few errands, we agreed that we would come to the farm the next day and then start the next day directly.

As soon as we ended the call, we were of course very happy. The time-consuming search for a job was finally over. We immediately started packing our tents as we wanted to go back to Broome to buy everything we needed for the farm.

In such cases you realize how big Australia is. Broome was the closest town to Eighty Mile Beach with a supermarket and a Kmart. Broome is 400 kilometers away from Eighty Mile Beach.

In the afternoon we arrived in Broome. There we were in the supermarket and at Kmart. For the farm we needed clothes that can get dirty, some snacks for the morning, gloves, hats and of course sunscreen.

The last evening in freedom

When the sun was already setting we were finally done with all our shopping. Before we drove to the campsite, we drove to the entrance point again. There we enjoyed our last evening in “freedom” with a beer and watched the sun go down.

As soon as it got quite cold, we drove to the campsite. We set up our tents there and then had dinner.

The next morning we slept in before we made our way to the farm.

After we had packed the tents together, we still had to buy work gloves. After we had filled up the car, we went further south to the farm.

5 weeks at Shelamar Station

We all had mixed feelings along the way. On the one hand we were looking forward to the typical Australian farm life. On the other hand, we had a little respect for the long working hours, the temperatures and the isolated life.

As soon as we arrived at the farm we were amazed at how big it is. After we parked the car, a backpacker took us straight to the farm. We also got to know the cook very quickly, who prepared really delicious-looking food.

We still had the day off. So we used this time to rest a bit and look around the farm. In fact, we were very enthusiastic about the farm and already full of anticipation for our first day at work.

We have also already met a few of the other backpackers. They then told us that we are actually on one of the best farms in Australia.

In fact, we are very lucky. We have accommodation and food for free, so we have no expenses. In addition, the salary is very good. The hourly wage is only $26 an hour, but all overtime is paid at $37 an hour. Because we work up to 80 hours a week, we can earn very good money with overtime.

My job is to drive the tractor across the field while the boys pick the melons. Then I drive the tractor back to the shed, where the melons are then packed. The work is sometimes quite boring but also quite relaxed. Luckily, the days go by very quickly too.

We ended up working on the farm for five and a half weeks. Our last day was also generally the last day on the farm because now the session was over and there was no more work for us. With enough money in the bank, Mathis and I continued down the west coast to Karijini Nationalpark.

If you would like to know what we experienced during our time in Karijini Nationalpark. Please read my next blog post Spending on week in Karijini Nationalpark – Australia Travel Diary.