After 2 weeks of stay, I'm leaving this farm with a German girl tomorrow. Will be going back to Perth, stay there for 2 nights, and then go to Geraldton on next Tuesday.
The reason we're leaving is that strawberry picking is too tough, and the cherry season is still about 3 weeks away. When picking the berries, we have to keep kneeing or bending down, and then our knees and back hurt a lot after the work. Also the weather is another cause of our leaving, this is really a beautiful place, but the weather is terrible, it almost rains everyday, the sky is always gray and cloudy, and most of the time it's also cold, sometimes even freezing. We're long for warm and shiny days, and therefore we decide to travel north.
After looking for on the Internet, we found that there might be some work at crayfish factories in Geraldton. We contacted them several times by email, but got no reply. We then called them, and they told us to go to Geraldton and hand in the application forms directly to the factory. We're not sure if we can really get a work there, but anyway we're trying, and we really have enough of working on the farm.
We have learned that packing is always better than picking, and pay by hour is far more superior than by contract. We know there are certain harvest works with pay higher by contract, but anyway we hate picking.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
the Farm
I'm on the farm for more than one week already.
The working conditions currently are not very good due to the bad rainy and cold weather. The owners of the farm are a very nice couple, you will find them friendly and easy to get along with, but they do ask you to perform well on the fields.
At the moment, we normally work only around 5 hours a day and 4 days a week. In the morning we pick strawberries for about 3 hours, and in the afternoon we spend about 1.5 hours packing them. They say that there will be a lot more produce when the weather gets hot, and that would be after mid November. So in fact we earn only a little right now, and chances are that we might earn more later, but I'm not that sure because when it's due the pay is made by contract for picking and by hour for packing, just opposite to now.
Picking strawberries can be very tiring, even exhausting, because that you have to keep bending down and after a while your back as well as your legs might will hurt a lot.
Currently they do not need any more worker, but they will after mid Nov. If any of you would like to pick strawberries, you could contact them on the email and fixed line number listed on their website, or simply leave a message through their website.
They also say that the cherry season will begin on month later, and then you can work both on cherries and berries.
The accommodation the farm provides is a bit shabby, it can be very cold all day at this moment. I'm not sure how long the cold weather would last, but I think that it will be better if you could bring a good sleeping bag along.
Besides, in this area there are several beautiful national parks, if you've a car, you might be able to go visit them, but still the farm owners say that if could be very busy during the high season, so I'm not sure if you could get much free time then though.
The working conditions currently are not very good due to the bad rainy and cold weather. The owners of the farm are a very nice couple, you will find them friendly and easy to get along with, but they do ask you to perform well on the fields.
At the moment, we normally work only around 5 hours a day and 4 days a week. In the morning we pick strawberries for about 3 hours, and in the afternoon we spend about 1.5 hours packing them. They say that there will be a lot more produce when the weather gets hot, and that would be after mid November. So in fact we earn only a little right now, and chances are that we might earn more later, but I'm not that sure because when it's due the pay is made by contract for picking and by hour for packing, just opposite to now.
Picking strawberries can be very tiring, even exhausting, because that you have to keep bending down and after a while your back as well as your legs might will hurt a lot.
Currently they do not need any more worker, but they will after mid Nov. If any of you would like to pick strawberries, you could contact them on the email and fixed line number listed on their website, or simply leave a message through their website.
They also say that the cherry season will begin on month later, and then you can work both on cherries and berries.
The accommodation the farm provides is a bit shabby, it can be very cold all day at this moment. I'm not sure how long the cold weather would last, but I think that it will be better if you could bring a good sleeping bag along.
Besides, in this area there are several beautiful national parks, if you've a car, you might be able to go visit them, but still the farm owners say that if could be very busy during the high season, so I'm not sure if you could get much free time then though.
Friday, October 26, 2007
a Strawberry Farmer's Life
I came to Amuri Creek Fruits farm in Mount Barker on 17th of October after a 5-hour ride of TransWA bus from Perth. On the day I arrived it was cold and raining hard. Actually it's the typical weather here in this season, and it will be the same until November.
Mount Barker region is beautiful with hills full of lush trees, orchards, vineyards, and grasslands for raising sheeps. The scene here is rather different than the other rural places I've been to in Australia. The rain is abundant here, so there is not a single sign of the severe drought other parts of Australia are suffering from.
The Amuri Creek farm locates 30mins of drive out of the little Mount Barker town. The farm has strawberry fields and cherry orchards, and they also keep more than 3000 wool sheeps. On the farm currently there are 9 backpackers including me staying at the farm's simple accommodation, of which are 4 Taiwanese, 4 Korean and a German girl, the lovely and very friendly Claudia, but soon will be there a lot more coming due to the large amount of produces in summer. The owners of the farm are a friendly couple. They told us that in last year there were more than 50 workers working on the farm.
The weather here is still not very good most of the time. In the past week, there are more than 5 rainy days. Like today, it rains quite hard and is very cold. The strawberries grow better when the weather is hot. Therefore we do not work a lot right now. Normally we work 2 days and then take one or two days off, and on our working days we work only like 5~6 hours. We start picking strawberries at 8AM, then take a 30-minute rest at around 10AM, and then work until around noon, then we have lunch, and then start packing after lunch for about 1 or 2 hours. The pay currently is 16 dollars per hour for picking, and 1.30 dollars per tray for packing, but it will be the opposite when there are a lot of produce. Picking strawberries is a very demanding and exhausting job, because you have to keep bending down and that will make your back hurts alot, and you have to pay attention to the berries, you don't want to miss any single one, if not the farm owner will keep telling you that you have to be careful when picking, and you have to pick in the way they teach you.
The cherries are still flowering, and although there are already some fruits, but they're still green. They say the cherry season will begin about a month later. I do hope that I can switch to cherry team, I hate picking strawberries.
Mount Barker region is beautiful with hills full of lush trees, orchards, vineyards, and grasslands for raising sheeps. The scene here is rather different than the other rural places I've been to in Australia. The rain is abundant here, so there is not a single sign of the severe drought other parts of Australia are suffering from.
The Amuri Creek farm locates 30mins of drive out of the little Mount Barker town. The farm has strawberry fields and cherry orchards, and they also keep more than 3000 wool sheeps. On the farm currently there are 9 backpackers including me staying at the farm's simple accommodation, of which are 4 Taiwanese, 4 Korean and a German girl, the lovely and very friendly Claudia, but soon will be there a lot more coming due to the large amount of produces in summer. The owners of the farm are a friendly couple. They told us that in last year there were more than 50 workers working on the farm.
The weather here is still not very good most of the time. In the past week, there are more than 5 rainy days. Like today, it rains quite hard and is very cold. The strawberries grow better when the weather is hot. Therefore we do not work a lot right now. Normally we work 2 days and then take one or two days off, and on our working days we work only like 5~6 hours. We start picking strawberries at 8AM, then take a 30-minute rest at around 10AM, and then work until around noon, then we have lunch, and then start packing after lunch for about 1 or 2 hours. The pay currently is 16 dollars per hour for picking, and 1.30 dollars per tray for packing, but it will be the opposite when there are a lot of produce. Picking strawberries is a very demanding and exhausting job, because you have to keep bending down and that will make your back hurts alot, and you have to pay attention to the berries, you don't want to miss any single one, if not the farm owner will keep telling you that you have to be careful when picking, and you have to pick in the way they teach you.
The cherries are still flowering, and although there are already some fruits, but they're still green. They say the cherry season will begin about a month later. I do hope that I can switch to cherry team, I hate picking strawberries.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Perth
I flew to Perth from Sydney on 16/Oct/2007. The plane was delayed due to the late arrival of certain large cargoes, so we took off one hour later at around 7:00 Sydney time. After a 5-hours flight, we arrived in Perth at about 10:00 Perth time.
Me and my friend took a shuttle bus from the airport to the city. At the first sight of the area around the airport, I felt that the place is quite similar to Darwin. That felt familiar, and that was good. The shuttle bus drove to many stops, and after more than one hour we were finally dropped off last on Hay Street.
We booked on night at a hostel named 12:01 East Backpackers. The hostel is not far from where we were dropped. The daytime female staff were very friendly. The hostel seems to be not rather new, but anyway it has all we need and is not too dirty, and we just would stay for one night only. After checking in, we went out to have lunch and buy the ticket for the next day's bus to our really destination, Mount Barker.
Perth City is not very big. The CBD seems to be just 3 times bigger then Darwin. But there were a lot of people on the streets. We spent some time walking around the bustling area, had some food, and went shopping at a Woolworths there. And then, we took the free city buses to several places.
Perth has 3 lines of free bus working in its city area. They are named Red Cat, Blue Cat, and Yellow Cat. They are especially good to us budget travellers. We went to buy TransWA bus ticket, and then went to see Swan River, took some pictures, and then went back to the hostel.
We met a lot Taiwanese friends at the hostel. Most of them are female backpackers like us. But we also met two young men who are Ph.D. students at NSYSU, and were in Perth for conferences at Western Australia University, and would then travel to Melbourne; they were both very friendly, they cooked dinner for us. I also talked to one of the female Taiwanese backpackers, and she's also very friendly.
On the next day, we left Perth very early at 9 o'clock.
I don't think I like Perth much. After a few months, I'll have to return there, but I won't stay too long.
Me and my friend took a shuttle bus from the airport to the city. At the first sight of the area around the airport, I felt that the place is quite similar to Darwin. That felt familiar, and that was good. The shuttle bus drove to many stops, and after more than one hour we were finally dropped off last on Hay Street.
We booked on night at a hostel named 12:01 East Backpackers. The hostel is not far from where we were dropped. The daytime female staff were very friendly. The hostel seems to be not rather new, but anyway it has all we need and is not too dirty, and we just would stay for one night only. After checking in, we went out to have lunch and buy the ticket for the next day's bus to our really destination, Mount Barker.
Perth City is not very big. The CBD seems to be just 3 times bigger then Darwin. But there were a lot of people on the streets. We spent some time walking around the bustling area, had some food, and went shopping at a Woolworths there. And then, we took the free city buses to several places.
Perth has 3 lines of free bus working in its city area. They are named Red Cat, Blue Cat, and Yellow Cat. They are especially good to us budget travellers. We went to buy TransWA bus ticket, and then went to see Swan River, took some pictures, and then went back to the hostel.
We met a lot Taiwanese friends at the hostel. Most of them are female backpackers like us. But we also met two young men who are Ph.D. students at NSYSU, and were in Perth for conferences at Western Australia University, and would then travel to Melbourne; they were both very friendly, they cooked dinner for us. I also talked to one of the female Taiwanese backpackers, and she's also very friendly.
On the next day, we left Perth very early at 9 o'clock.
I don't think I like Perth much. After a few months, I'll have to return there, but I won't stay too long.
Monday, October 15, 2007
the 24 Hours Later
再過10幾個小時我就將到西澳了
今天是我在Sydney的最後一晚
這半年來在澳洲四處旅行
雪梨市我覺得跟台灣感覺最接近的地方
這裡有很多很多的亞洲人
街上到處都看得到中文招牌
很多地方都可以講中文
平常熙來攘往的街道
除了建築風格不同
走在路上就像在台灣的城市裡逛街
上次離開Sydney到Moree
好幾個晚上我想念著Sydney
或許我真正想念的是Sydney那絲跟台灣的環境近似的家的感覺
兩週前我回到Sydney
這兩週遇到了幾位以前在Darwin認識的台灣女生
與在台灣就認識也來打工度假的同學相聚
還新認識了幾位台灣朋友
除了陪新朋友舊地重遊
去了Manly
還去了Blue Mountains
兩週很快地過了
明天我又將展開新的旅程
西澳是個怎麼樣的地方呢?
明天我就能知道了
不過現在的心情跟感覺還是又有點孤單
人要離開熟悉的朋友跟環境時
應該都有這樣的感覺吧
今天是我在Sydney的最後一晚
這半年來在澳洲四處旅行
雪梨市我覺得跟台灣感覺最接近的地方
這裡有很多很多的亞洲人
街上到處都看得到中文招牌
很多地方都可以講中文
平常熙來攘往的街道
除了建築風格不同
走在路上就像在台灣的城市裡逛街
上次離開Sydney到Moree
好幾個晚上我想念著Sydney
或許我真正想念的是Sydney那絲跟台灣的環境近似的家的感覺
兩週前我回到Sydney
這兩週遇到了幾位以前在Darwin認識的台灣女生
與在台灣就認識也來打工度假的同學相聚
還新認識了幾位台灣朋友
除了陪新朋友舊地重遊
去了Manly
還去了Blue Mountains
兩週很快地過了
明天我又將展開新的旅程
西澳是個怎麼樣的地方呢?
明天我就能知道了
不過現在的心情跟感覺還是又有點孤單
人要離開熟悉的朋友跟環境時
應該都有這樣的感覺吧
the Fish and Chips
While you stay in Australia, chances are that you at least will try once the national food of most Anglosphere countries, the fish and chips.
I remember that on time while I was working at the McDonald's in Moree, one of the coworkers asked me if I like Australian foods or not. I really could not think of any particular food that can be considered as Australian, so I asked what's the real Australian food. She told me "fish and chips, mashed potato...". Oh, well, if those are what representative, I can say that I'm disappointed. But most people in the world already know that in the origin of the Anglosphere, England, foods are well known for tastelessness. So I'm not really surprised of the answers.
Anyway, Australia is the smallest continent, but also the biggest island in the world. Seafood is common in most places close to the seashore, and especially fish and chips are not rare even in inland places.
Actually I like fish and chips. Typically I do not like eating fish while I was in Taiwan, but what really attracts me is that is a kind of battered fried food. It's needless to mention that I generally like potato chips or fries, but battered fish is also tasty to me.
In Australia, I've tried dozens of times of fish and chips in Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney and even Moree. There is a good fish and chips shop in Darwin which is close to Chili's Backpackers on Mitchell Street. Me and my friends had once bought 2 fisherman's basket, containing battered fish filets, chips, calamari rings, seafood csticks, prawns, all are fried of course, and some beers and went to sit on the outdoor platform in Darwin Wharf in the evenin, and it was a great memory.
There are some good fish and chips stores in South Bank of Brisbane as well. I was alone when travelling in Brisbane, and one day I had fish and chips alone at noon in South Bank. It was good nontheless in spite of that, unlike everyone around me, I was eating alone.
The one I tried in Moree is located opposite to the McDOnald's where I worked at. Theirs are among the worse ones I ever tried.
In Sydney, the most popular place, at least to tourists, to eat seafoods is the Sydney Fish Market. Most of the vendors there are, surprisingly to me, Asians. But I have to let you know that it is NOT the best place to find good fish and chips as well as other tasty cooked seafoods, and things there are mostly overpriced. Most of the food stalls there sell fried seafood. Imagine a full plate of fries, fried fish, fried calamari, fried prawn, fried crab, fried scallop...simply oily. According to my limited experience, seafoods are basically much more well cooked in Taiwan than in Australia, and are much much cheaper. The fried seafoods look delicious at first, but after eating for a while, most people would feel sick of the oily and unpalatable, usually cold already, batter crust. Sometimes you can find that if you rescue the shrimps, fish or calamari from the batter, they'll simply taste better.
I have to recommend a store for fish and chips lovers. The Fish on Fire restaurant is located at 217A Glebe Pt. Rd. Glebe, their telephone no. is 02-96604212. It's right at the corner opposite to the hostel I stay twice in Sydney, Rooftop Travellers Lodge. They provide not only fish and chips, but also grilled seafoods, burgers, salads and desserts. Their chips are among the best I've tasted; they can stay crispy even after being cold. Their grilled seafoods are very delicious. Fish, prawns, mussels, and calamari all are tasty. Their freshly made burgers are outstanding as well. And I like their creamy rice pudding. ANd the prices of their good foods are quite reasonable.
I remember that on time while I was working at the McDonald's in Moree, one of the coworkers asked me if I like Australian foods or not. I really could not think of any particular food that can be considered as Australian, so I asked what's the real Australian food. She told me "fish and chips, mashed potato...". Oh, well, if those are what representative, I can say that I'm disappointed. But most people in the world already know that in the origin of the Anglosphere, England, foods are well known for tastelessness. So I'm not really surprised of the answers.
Anyway, Australia is the smallest continent, but also the biggest island in the world. Seafood is common in most places close to the seashore, and especially fish and chips are not rare even in inland places.
Actually I like fish and chips. Typically I do not like eating fish while I was in Taiwan, but what really attracts me is that is a kind of battered fried food. It's needless to mention that I generally like potato chips or fries, but battered fish is also tasty to me.
In Australia, I've tried dozens of times of fish and chips in Darwin, Brisbane, Sydney and even Moree. There is a good fish and chips shop in Darwin which is close to Chili's Backpackers on Mitchell Street. Me and my friends had once bought 2 fisherman's basket, containing battered fish filets, chips, calamari rings, seafood csticks, prawns, all are fried of course, and some beers and went to sit on the outdoor platform in Darwin Wharf in the evenin, and it was a great memory.
There are some good fish and chips stores in South Bank of Brisbane as well. I was alone when travelling in Brisbane, and one day I had fish and chips alone at noon in South Bank. It was good nontheless in spite of that, unlike everyone around me, I was eating alone.
The one I tried in Moree is located opposite to the McDOnald's where I worked at. Theirs are among the worse ones I ever tried.
In Sydney, the most popular place, at least to tourists, to eat seafoods is the Sydney Fish Market. Most of the vendors there are, surprisingly to me, Asians. But I have to let you know that it is NOT the best place to find good fish and chips as well as other tasty cooked seafoods, and things there are mostly overpriced. Most of the food stalls there sell fried seafood. Imagine a full plate of fries, fried fish, fried calamari, fried prawn, fried crab, fried scallop...simply oily. According to my limited experience, seafoods are basically much more well cooked in Taiwan than in Australia, and are much much cheaper. The fried seafoods look delicious at first, but after eating for a while, most people would feel sick of the oily and unpalatable, usually cold already, batter crust. Sometimes you can find that if you rescue the shrimps, fish or calamari from the batter, they'll simply taste better.
I have to recommend a store for fish and chips lovers. The Fish on Fire restaurant is located at 217A Glebe Pt. Rd. Glebe, their telephone no. is 02-96604212. It's right at the corner opposite to the hostel I stay twice in Sydney, Rooftop Travellers Lodge. They provide not only fish and chips, but also grilled seafoods, burgers, salads and desserts. Their chips are among the best I've tasted; they can stay crispy even after being cold. Their grilled seafoods are very delicious. Fish, prawns, mussels, and calamari all are tasty. Their freshly made burgers are outstanding as well. And I like their creamy rice pudding. ANd the prices of their good foods are quite reasonable.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
the OEM Industry
我在台灣的線上論壇PCDVD
跟人家的討論
capitalm說
而我的回應是:
所以這點更令人感到憂心
但更精確的說
真正會造成代工業死光的不會是物價
而是勞工的薪資
(且台灣的物價不可能不升高)
因為逐漸的
台灣的競爭對象已經不是南韓,新加坡,香港
或是值得仿效,追趕的日本,美國
而是淪落到必須跟擁有低廉勞力的中國,印度和其他東南亞國家競爭
這樣的產業結構就是所謂的向下沉淪,不進則退
有沒有想過為何以前的高科技產業
現在已經變成了所謂的代工業
而以前在相對高科技的時代
台灣勞工不必害怕失業
因為我們擁有別人沒有的技術
但是現在這些技術已是大家都有
台灣勞工的優勢因為產業結構未提升而頓失
資方在面對擁有相同技術條件的勞工時
有多少會本於愛台灣的情結而選擇留在台灣雇用較貴的台灣勞工?
代工業最需要的廉價,大量,低技術勞力
台灣絕對拼不過中國
所以台灣的產業才會外移嚴重
國外廠商也不會設廠在台灣
因而造成台灣眾多勞工失業
在台灣維持代工業絕對是一條死胡同
在這指的是對勞工而言
而非對資方
資方大可將在台的生產線外移到大陸,越南等地
他們仍然可以大賺其錢,甚至賺更多
對於薪資相對較高的台灣勞工
他們別無選擇,只能被迫離職
接著如果找不到工作就失業了
然而台灣人民要的真的是不斷的維持
甚至是已經不罕見的降低自己的薪資
以保有工作機會嗎?
這樣的在全球勞力市場上的削價競爭
面對幾乎能無窮盡供應廉價勞力的鄰近國家
台灣人民能夠維持多久?
台灣人民又真的希望,願意,且能滿足於在薪資方面的中國化,越南化,印度化?
我們應該做的是提升產業位階
建立自有品牌提升產品的附加價值
或是更長遠的發展不能被取代的產業
不再是以代工為主
我總覺得在台灣很多人似乎忘記自己不能自外於全球競爭
而有些人或許更已經提升到了安貧樂道的境界
天真的以為自己仍然很幸福
或認為自己仍然可以維持安穩快樂的生活
未體認到別人失業的命運可能有一天會降臨到自己頭上
直到你的公司真的要外移了
你和你的同事真的失業了
才突然覺醒
跟人家的討論
capitalm說
如果台灣的物價升高的話
一堆代工業都會死光
而我的回應是:
所以這點更令人感到憂心
但更精確的說
真正會造成代工業死光的不會是物價
而是勞工的薪資
(且台灣的物價不可能不升高)
因為逐漸的
台灣的競爭對象已經不是南韓,新加坡,香港
或是值得仿效,追趕的日本,美國
而是淪落到必須跟擁有低廉勞力的中國,印度和其他東南亞國家競爭
這樣的產業結構就是所謂的向下沉淪,不進則退
有沒有想過為何以前的高科技產業
現在已經變成了所謂的代工業
而以前在相對高科技的時代
台灣勞工不必害怕失業
因為我們擁有別人沒有的技術
但是現在這些技術已是大家都有
台灣勞工的優勢因為產業結構未提升而頓失
資方在面對擁有相同技術條件的勞工時
有多少會本於愛台灣的情結而選擇留在台灣雇用較貴的台灣勞工?
代工業最需要的廉價,大量,低技術勞力
台灣絕對拼不過中國
所以台灣的產業才會外移嚴重
國外廠商也不會設廠在台灣
因而造成台灣眾多勞工失業
在台灣維持代工業絕對是一條死胡同
在這指的是對勞工而言
而非對資方
資方大可將在台的生產線外移到大陸,越南等地
他們仍然可以大賺其錢,甚至賺更多
對於薪資相對較高的台灣勞工
他們別無選擇,只能被迫離職
接著如果找不到工作就失業了
然而台灣人民要的真的是不斷的維持
甚至是已經不罕見的降低自己的薪資
以保有工作機會嗎?
這樣的在全球勞力市場上的削價競爭
面對幾乎能無窮盡供應廉價勞力的鄰近國家
台灣人民能夠維持多久?
台灣人民又真的希望,願意,且能滿足於在薪資方面的中國化,越南化,印度化?
我們應該做的是提升產業位階
建立自有品牌提升產品的附加價值
或是更長遠的發展不能被取代的產業
不再是以代工為主
我總覺得在台灣很多人似乎忘記自己不能自外於全球競爭
而有些人或許更已經提升到了安貧樂道的境界
天真的以為自己仍然很幸福
或認為自己仍然可以維持安穩快樂的生活
未體認到別人失業的命運可能有一天會降臨到自己頭上
直到你的公司真的要外移了
你和你的同事真的失業了
才突然覺醒
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