If you’re looking to stay in Australia for a second year on your working holiday visa, then you’ll know all about getting those precious 88 days of regional work under your belt. But where to start? One of the first steps is to find out exactly where the main growing regions are – these spots have the highest production numbers and therefore also have the most jobs available. Employment is highly seasonal, so it also good to stay informed of which crop is grown where and when the season starts. Below is a simple guide to introduce you to the 8 best locations for your Australia farm work
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Australia Farm Work: Atherton Tablelands, QLD
Up near Cairns in Far North Tropical Queensland, the gorgeous Atherton Tablelands are home to a wide range of Australia farm work opportunities. With avocados making up a large part of the harvest, as well as mangoes, citrus, bananas and sugarcane, the season in one of the prettiest Australia farm work destinations runs largely during the hot summer months between December and March.
Australia Farm Work: Mildura, VIC
Down in Victoria, the large harvesting area centred around the town of Mildura has tons of citrus, grapes and vegetable production farms, which means at most times of the year someone somewhere need something picked! Accommodation and transport to work is usually provided by backpacker hostels who offer complete packages for those looking to work the season.
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Australia Farm Work: Stanthorpe, QLD
In the south of Queensland lies the small town of Stanthorpe. This place is famous for its apple production, with the season running from February to June. With over 30 different varieties grown in the region, apples here are big business, so if you don’t mind climbing ladders, this is probably the spot to head.
With over 130 vineyards, Margaret River in Western Australia is the grape picking destination. A quiet little surfing town, the gorgeous setting of this place is well worth a visit and has certainly wooed more than few people into staying and looking for work! The season has two main highs – June to September is the pruning period and February to April is the grape picking time.
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Australia Farm Work: Bowen, QLD
Situated just above the Whitsundays, the large town of Bowen is a remarkably sleepy town for its size, that is until picking season starts in May! Then the town is flooded with hoards of backpackers all looking to do their farm work and suddenly the place is buzzing. With a huge diversity of crops from mango and zucchini to tomato, corn and capsicum, there is a large variation of crops here all of which need picking at slightly different times. In turn, this means that the season stretches for a long period of time and you should be able to find some work at some point during it.
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Australia Farm Work: Tamar Valley, TAS
Down in Tasmania, it really is all about the cherries and the berries. Picked right across the island, but perhaps most popularly in the Tamar Valley, the small soft fruit season runs during the summer months between December and February, when it’s warm enough to be down here!
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Australia Farm Work: Ayr, QLD
Just up the road from Bowen, the town of Ayr is smaller and more compact, but just as busy when the picking season hits. Here too, most of the accommodation is provided by hostels that also work as sub-contractors to outsource the Australia farm work to backpackers. The season in Ayr and the types of crops harvested are similar to Bowen, so start trying to find work here from around March and you’ll hopefully be top of the list when things to do kick off.
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Australia Farm Work: Griffith, NSW
Crossing over the border into New South Wales, Griffith is famous for its grape production as well as its citrus and stone-fruit season. Grape season starts around mid-February and lasts for six to eight weeks. The citrus harvest runs from November until March. At either of these times, there is bound to be loads of work for you to get your teeth stuck into.
So there you have it, the 8 best locations for your Australia farm work. Good luck with getting those 88 days!
