Thanks Grobbel- This is how i thought it would be. I might put in a few CVs for engineering work when we settle but I have no problem doing travelers work- in fact it would probably work better in meeting other people. The only problem is my limited experience in other types of jobs, but I've heard good things about job availability.
If we do decide to stay long term then i would probably need to do some more research but i can look at that if the situation comes about.
Casual work can be a great experience. At least, that's how I found it anyway. A big part of why I wanted to travel was to get new experiences and meet new people, and throwing myself into jobs that i'd never done before, and probably never will again, was great in that respect. You kinda get to be who you want to be when you go away, which is liberating in many ways. Don't get me wrong, some of the jobs I did were incredibly hard work, and some of them were downright shite, but I wouldn't change any of it in hindsight. Over my time away I did strawberry picking and packing, for two separate farms, ginger picking and chopping, labouring on a building site, emptying shipping containers, forklift driving, general warehouse work and cold call sales. Oh, and I worked in a meat factory for three months too. Almost forgot that one! This kind of casual work is pretty easy to come by and most hostels will either have a noticeboard where places looking for casual workers will advertise, or they can point you in the right direction. In addition to that, if you're looking to do your regional work for the second WHV, i'd say look up a good working hostel. They can be invaluable for this and tend to have established links with nearby farms and the like, so you'll go in and add your name to the list and they'll let you know when you're up. One that I used and would recommend was the Maroochydore YHA in Queensland (just north of Brisbane). Those guys were brilliant with us. We arrived almost broke and they let us work around the hostel to cover our rent whilst we were waiting for space on the farms. I still speak to the hostel manager now. Working hostels like that one tend to house longer term residents as well, so it becomes a family atmosphere and that's where you'll find yourself making some really great, lasting connections with new people.
Ask around for all of this stuff though. The good thing about travelers, and hostels generally, is they're sociable and there will be people more than happy to advise you on where's good to go, in which months and so on.
All the best with it mate. You'll have a blast.
