ANGELA PERKIN 31, From the UK
What did you do at home? I worked for a department store doing displays and merchandising.
So what do you do now? I pick cherries in Wandin, a small town in Victoria.
What’s the pay like? I get $10 per crate. On a normal day I pick two crates per hour and work as much or as little as I want.
How did you hear about this job? A Canadian friend picked here last year and told me he made a lot of money.
Do you see your current job as a career? No, but I meet a lot of people who have followed the harvest season for many years. They specialise in a certain fruit and follow it around Australia, then they pick during the opposite season in Canada or elsewhere.
Do you meet interesting people through your job? Lots of backpackers, lots of travelling Aussies, and locals.
What are the best points of your job? Working outdoors, being next to nature, eating fresh cherries, camping on the Murray River in bushland filled with kangaroos, koalas, cockatoos, galahs, and kookaburras.
Any bad points? It can be really hot or really cold, and it can get hard climbing up ladders.
What are you doing with the money you earn here? Saving to travel around Australia in a van.
Where have you been so far? Most of Western and Eastern Europe, Turkey, Thailand, Canada, USA and Central America.
What are you going to do when you get home? Save money to travel more.
