- I wish you boys all the luck in the world and I hope it all works out for you. I look forward to seeing you on the road again and hopefully in Canada.
I've been in this town now for two months and only acquired 30 days of the 88 I need. At 200$ a week for the hostel its been a hard road thus far. To make matter worse the weathers turned for the worse and even less people are working now. With the grey sky's and inevitable storms coming there is a chance of major flooding. This could ultimately lead to the farming ending and many people out of work, broke, and with no where to go... its a ugly situation indeed. " its hard to look at the bright side when the sky's are so grey" ....Abromigo
I've never written anything negative while out on the road and honestly never felt the need to do so. With that being said I recently read in the local paper a story about how the local hostels and farms are ripping off the backpackers here. It doesn't take a talented investigative reporter to sniff this story out ( not making fun of the work buddy did) but its obvious around here. We pay $200 a month for a very tiny room with four bunk beds in it, barely a single shelf to put your entire world on to. The facility's are an absolute joke... Federal penitentiaries are cleaner. The Bathroom, Kitchen and laundry area are not impressive at all, in fact should be called a zoo. We have possums living in the kitchen, mice in our rooms and cockroaches the size of large apples in our food storage areas. To put it in perspective a 3 bedroom decent house goes for 300$ a month here. We pay for transportation in the rent which is fair except this week I worked a single day and paid the same price last week I had two days work, rent wasn't cheaper and I still paid for transport. I've never seen National Lampoons Animal House but I can say with confidence that I'm living it now. Imagine for a minute living in these conditions, the heavy stress of the price of life in Australia, the hostel management telling you week after week then month after month that better work is coming and hasn't so far. Its difficult because now your broke and your being allowed to make enough money to pay the massive rent and you may have enough left over for some noodles and minced meet to make a pasta for the week.
So what can we do to change this situation?
Come prepared, don't be fooled, 'Working hostels" are a business they are not your buddy and you'll find that out when times get tough. Disclaimer I have not stayed in every working hostel but this is my experience that I'm living right now and have heard many storeys of the hostel in this area. But it is a finely tuned system set up to extract your money. Do Not I repeat Do Not be broke when you show up here ...it will not go well. The last thing you want to be is in a position where you cannot leave, Bad weather can happen and to be fair they cant make work happen. 2. Leave your self appropriate time to finish your 88 days 3 months is no where near enough time... 5 would be acceptable. You Do Not want to be at the mercy of these farmers and take the abuse they can smell when you need these days. I promise you that somehow they have decided that you're less than a employee. Some of the things that have been said out in those fields have no business being spoken from one human to the other, I was in the military and never spoken to in the way that some of these farmers feel they can speak to a backpacker! So please don't leave your self vulnerable to that. I left myself 10 months and been at it for 3 months roughly I have 35 days left still so 5 months sounds right.
Please don't let this rant scare you off. I've met some beautiful people with kind hearts out here. Even though this time can be incredibly stressful and down right irritating it is always going to be a fond memory and quite frankly can be one of the best times in Strya. With the right people at your side you could walk threw hell together I promise you. Just don't underestimate it and come prepared.
