Let me guess. Your wallet is looking thin. If it was a celebrity, it would be a supermodel with ribs like a toy xylophone. You are eating mostly ‘borrowed’ Ramen noodles and ketchup, but there’s calories in beer, right? You have arrived in Australia after the summer holidays back in Ireland, but now the money’s thin on the ground and your parents, to whom you turned for a dig-out, keep reminding you that it doesn’t grow on trees.
Oh, how wrong they are. Money and extended visas both grown on trees here in Australia. And lucky you: they’re just coming into season.

Enough speaking in riddles – we’re talking about fruit picking.
Due to Australia’s vast size, the country has a variety of climatic bands which means that at every point on the calendar, something ripe is just waiting to be plucked from the trees, and somebody’s looking for a willing hand to do it.
Fruit picking is an essential part of the backpacker experience, and relies on a happy symbiosis between farmers and backpackers, who need each other just enough to tolerate each other for three months.

With a near-crippling work shortage hitting Australia, the government saw a clever way of getting around the problem. They would tempt backpackers to stay and help farmers with the option of a second year’s working holiday visa.
Now, if you can prove that you spent three of your first twelve months in Australia working in a primary industry in a rural postcode (more on this below), you will, in return, get a stamp in your passport allowing you to stay for another 12 months.

But where should you go to take advantage? Your first stop should be online, by checking the Harvest Trail website (see box below). The National Harvest Labour Information Service publishes an annual harvest guide, with all the details of where to go and what’s ripening. They list accommodation, local offices, and even breaks things into handy itineraries for people who feel like picking fruit long-term.
They lay out a sun-chasing itinerary which works anti-clockwise around the perimeter of Australia, there’s an up-and-down itinerary from Tasmania to Queensland, and there’s an itinerary for lazy or arthritic people who don’t like to bend down (standing fruit only).

Right now, as we head into the New Year, the main thrust of the fruit-picking action is moving south to the areas close to Sydney and the south-eastern areas of Australia in general. The grape-picking season begins in earnest in February, followed by stone fruits and the main wine-producing areas all begin the harvest. Although much is now done by machine, smaller producers will always prefer manual labour.
Pay is not amazing, but the pay-off in visa terms is the big prize. You must be paid at least minimum wage, and what you earn depends largely on what you pick.

Most of all, it’s fun. The character-building kind of fun that your parents DO understand. Most other people doing it will be in the same boat as you, and by starting early in the morning, you’re often off the fields by mid-afternoon, leaving plenty of time for, um, refreshments.

HANDY HINTS:
WEAR SUNSCREEN: We can’t emphasise this enough. You will be working in the beating sun and you WILL get burnt. If you don’t, you should be assisting scientists with research as you are a medical curiosity.
DRINK WATER, WEAR A HAT: For the same reasons as above. You should also wear sensible shoes, get plenty of sleep and eat well. And wash behind your ears.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Tell your prospective employers if you have a mode of transport or a tent/caravan/campervan. Accommodation is often a problem in some locations.
BOOK EARLY: In case you haven’t picked up a paper, Australia’s had a drought. Therefore, harvests are likely to be smaller and work more scarce. Think ahead.
KEEP YOUR PAPERS: Make sure you get your employer to fill out your forms so that you can prove you did your time.
WEAR SUNSCREEN: Did we mention this already? We did? Good.

MORE THAN FRUIT PICKING
It’s not all about fruit-picking, and in fact, you don’t have to come within 100 miles of an apple to extend your visa. Working for any primary industry employer counts as seasonal work, which means that mining will get you your passport stamped and, often, your wallet filled. If you have any experience driving machinery, trucks or loading equipment, you could spend three months at the heart of Australia’s resources boom. Pay is generally above average, and mining work can be found all over the country.
Farm work, or anything that involves preparing animals for sale, is also counted. Aussie farms are always looking for experience hands, and some will substitute enthusiasm for experience.
Add to the list fishing, pearling, aquaculture, forestry and even llama shearing and you begin to see the diversity of seasonal work that exists.

BEWARE THE SCAMS
As with any restriction, some people’s first instinct with the obligatory three months’ seasonal work, will be to seek a way around it. Preying on that instinct, unscrupulous operators have sprung up, claiming they can forge paperwork to prove an applicant has already done their time with seasonal work.
It doesn’t work, and migration agents have been fielding calls from upset Irish backpackers who paid $600 to someone claiming they can beat the system, only to have their applications rejected, or worse, be removed from the country.
Skirting the seasonal work requirement and staying on is illegal, and financially risky.

Handy sites:
www.wwoof.com.au – By the book and work for food and board in organic farms around Australia
www.jobsearch.gov.au/harvesttrail – Everything you need to know about the harvest season. Call them free on 1800 062 332.
www.gumtree.com.au – Have a dedicated farm work section
www.seek.com.au – Check out their mining section