Working Wednesdays: Cabbage Weeding in Bishopsbourne, Tasmania, Australia

Today’s Working Wednesdays takes us cabbage weeding in Bishopsbourne in Tasmania. How I ended up in this job, I will probably never know. But I enjoyed it for all it was worth. Which incidentally was a massive $19 Australian Dollars an hour. Well worth it. If you’re thinking of doing this type of work, it’s easy to get, rewarding and you can save a bucketload of cash!! Check these two posts for great travel tips:

1. How to get an Australian Working Holiday Visa

2. How to do Australia on the cheap

I had my own car at the time and was based in it (I didn’t have a home and just slept in my car or tent, and on the odd occasion I’d book a hostel or stay the night for a free beer in the Molly Malone’s Irish Pub in Devonport). I had spent about three months working in farming already. I just like to keep busy and try different jobs while earning loads of cash and I made myself available for basically any shift doing anything. I was employed by a local agriculture agency called Work Direct. I had previously worked on broccoli farms, cauliflower farms, planting pyerthrum, weeding a potato paddock and weeding a bean paddock. The hours were long, the lifestyle was cool and the money was decent. I’d recommend this type of work – I loved it.

One night I was asked if I could weed out a cabbage field the next morning. Even better, the cabbage paddock was in the middle of nowhere so it would be another new journey for me through sparse and magical Tasmanian countryside. Plus the time spent getting there and back was included in my wage for the day (this ended up being around 2.5 hours in total!). I parked my car at the company’s office in Devonport and hopped in the minibus down to Bishopsbourne at 7am. There were about 8 of us doing the weeding. It turned into a 3 day job, so you can imagine the pay was amazing.

The scenery was fantastic and the job entailed starting in a line and walking all the way down it to the end making sure you remove EVERY weed from the cabbage paddock. It was boring, mundane and not exactly good for your back, but it was an experience. The job finished around 4 – 5pm each and at night I relaxed in the comfort of my car, which I had equipped with everything I needed including wireless internet.

For the job you only needed gloves and white bags – the weeds had to be placed in white bags rather than just removed and thrown to the side as they may grow again or attract more weeds. Your job is basically pull out the weeds and leave the cabbages. Easy to spot the difference!!

I had my iPod on the whole time and just pulled out weeds constantly without even thinking about it – these types of jobs are great for saving money in a short space of time. You live a basic lifestyle, but I still view it all as a lifestyle of travel.

Once the cabbage weeding had been finished on the third night I stayed in the Irish Pub and got a free beer (there was once a deal that if you stayed the night in the dorm you would get a free beer!).

I earned in excess of $500 Australian Dollars just by doing this and didn’t have a care in the world. It’s amazing the amount of travel and work opportunities that come your way.

Where – Bishopsbourne, Tasmania, Australia

Rate of Pay – $19 AU per hour

Nationalities I Worked with – Australian, English, US, French, Taiwanese

Job Title – Cabbage Weeder

Cabbages Weeded – Thousands

Job Duration – 3 days

A video I made while cabbage weeding:

Thanks for reading today’s Working Wednesday feature on Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel!!