My first job in Australia - picking hops!

I had no idea what to expect when I hopped on the train in Melbourne, heading for "the bush" to work at Rostrevor Hops Garden for 4 weeks. On the 9th March I travelled four hours into rural Victoria, to the "High Country" on the Great Alpine Road. The farm lies in a spectacularly beautiful valley called Ovens Valley, and it backs onto the Mount Buffalo National Park. We were incredibly lucky with the weather the 4 weeks we were there. It only rained a few days (apparantly quite unusual for the time of year) and was 30+ degrees except for the last week when it cooled down to mid-20s. There was also one bush fire that came quite close (15km) but it was under control. Driving to the farm we passed through some forested areas devastated by the Victorian bush fires. Amazingly, by the time we drove back at the end of harvest, green shoots we already sprouting from all the trees.

I arrived at the farm and was met by the wonderfully jovial and friendly farm manager, Allan. I arrived with 15 other backpackers and we were shown to the bunkhouses where we would be staying. I was put into a room with 2 lovely English girls, Faye and Kirstie, from York. We had a bedroom and a kitchen with table and chairs. The only downsides were sleeping on the top bunk of a very tall bed with no ladder (!) and only having one hob to cook on. Pasta and tomato sauce more times than I care to remember.

The following day was the induction, a morning of safety talks followed by a brief tour of the sheds we would be working in. There were 3 sets of machines so we were divided into 3 groups. My team was a Belgian couple, Lesley and Sebastian, 2 Aussie guys, Ben and Joe, plus Faye and Kirstie. Our supervisor and machine operator was called Rick and he looked about 18! He was actually 23 and had been an operator for 4 years. We were on night shift so we weren't due to start work til the following night. The 3 of us got a lift into the nearby town, Myrtleford, then walked the 12km back to the farm. The town was a nice and quaint little place, where everyone was really friendly. The kind of place where supermarket check out staff would give us backpackers a lift home to the farm if they were finishing their shift. It only had one taxi, though, and the driver decided when he wanted to work and when he didn't. We had one hilarious Sunday afternoon where 14 of us from the farm had caught the bus into town to do our shopping and when we called to book the taxi back, he didn't answer. After half an hour we eventually called Allan, who had to send out a couple of his permanent staff with trucks to round us up! Turns out he'd seen the taxi driver in the pub getting drunk...

On night shift we started at 5.30pm, had 2 half hour breaks at 7.30 and 11, and finished at 2.30am. I really enjoyed working nights as it meant I didn't have to set an alarm in the morning! Plus I got to enjoy the sunshine and didn't have to work in the heat. I would have my main meal around 4pm and lunch at my 11pm break (or smoko as they call it in Oz). The first shift was a bit of a muddle as we all tried to get the hang of the work. There were basically 3 jobs which we rotated between: 1 of us watching a conveyor belt and pulling off any pieces of rope or big vines, 2 sweeping the floor and sweeping out empty trailers, and 4 on the trailers, hanging the hops vines onto hooks. This all makes a lot more sense when you look at the photos and videos! My favourite job was hooking on the vines, plus it made me very strong. Although I did get a lot of scratches on the my arms, neck, hips and face. The pollen in the hops is mildly toxic so stings like crazy! Generally, though, the work was physical but not too tough, and I enjoyed it.

During the day, I would usually relax and rest on the farm (there wasn't much else around!). I did make a couple of day trips with an English couple who had a car, once to a nearby town called Bright, and also to Mount Buffalo National Park. On the farm there was a beautiful river where I went swimming and plenty of places to walk. I went down to watch the cutting of the vines a few times (and got to go in the cutting machines! Awesome!) and we also got taken on a tour of the kiln, where they bake the hops, and the pellet plant where they shake out the pollen and turn it into pellets. The rest of the hop is used for composting the fields. Rostrevor is the biggest hops farm in the southern hemisphere and it really is enormous! The hops go to all kinds of breweries, making beers such as Fosters, VB, XXXX, Guinness, Corona, plus lots of American beers. One pellet can make up to 80 litres of beer - it's powerful stuff!

I really really enjoyed my time spent on the farm and the best part was definitely meeting people. There were a few backpackers on night shift, but mostly it was either locals or full-time harvesters who travel the country year-round. Some of them have been coming to this harvest for the last 10 years. Everyone was very friendly and laid back, and would do anything to help us out if we needed it. I had a lot of fun with them, particularly at the end of harvest. We were given 2 free beers by the farm at the end of our last shift and then we celebrated for 3 days straight around the camp fire. :)

I'm planning on heading up to Queensland next, for more harvest work. I'll keep you posted!