In my last blog I mentioned that as long as it didn't go pear-shaped then I would be staying at the orchard for as long as there was work or to get my second visa, whichever was the earliest. Well, 12 days is a long time in pear picking! The work was drying up, lots of people were leaving and the pears were getting smaller meaning less bins for me to pick and therefore less money.

It got to the point where the motivation to work just wasn't there. In the last 11 days or so I had worked only three, for varying reasons such as weekends, public holiday and rain, but it became increasingly apparent that there were very slim pickings for us fruit pickers and that work was not guaranteed for 5 or 6 days a week. Fine, if you don't care about earning money and just want the second year visa but I earned 50 dollars(25 quid) last weekend that's not even enough to cover my food bill! It got to the point where we were picking fruit half the size of the previous pears and getting paid the same to fill a massive bin. Apparently the owner of the orchard paid more last year or the smaller pears but this year doesn't care about the orchard or the workers so won't pay what he was paying last year. So after 34 days of picking pears my fruit picking days are over……for now. i guess it was a case of Pear today, gone tomorrow.....

We had put our names down in the local cannery a few days before and I received a call while picking these miniscule pears to let me know I had an induction and a job. The job pays a good hourly rate, with an even better rate for late shifts and weekend work. It is just 5 kilometres from the pear orchard in a town called Mooroopna 'Fruit Salad city'. I have upped sticks and moved to the backpackers in Mooroopna for now and will see if any other accommodation becomes available.

I have now worked at the cannery for two days and things are going well. I am currently working in the Tomatoes section, it's not the most exciting job in the world by any stretch of the imagination but it pays well and counts towards my second year visa. If I can stay in the Tomatoes section that would be great as apparently the work goes on for longer than with other fruits as many are going out of season just after Easter. I am working the 3pm-11pm shift at the moment which is a bit of an adjustment to working 7am - 3.30pm but it suits me ok, even though I don't get much time to do things during the day.

So another chapter in the adventure starts, another different job and hopefully if all goes well I will be able to save up some money, apply for my second year in Australia and look at doing some more travelling in a few months time.