Waldon's Flower Farm, Wyee, New South Wales 2259

 

Planting flowers on Waldon’s Flawer Farm in Wyee, New South Wales was my last job as regional work. It’s a 2-hour trip from Sydney to Morisset Station. From there you need to call a cab to get to the farm. The accommodation was basic but free and in return you had to work really fast, and by fast I mean like a robot programmed to work 150 mph till eternity. Everyday backpackers got fired there because they are too slow. I didn’t get fired because I worked pretty well they said but I had a warning that I had to work faster. In fact everyone got a warning the first day. If you don’t get quicker after your first day you can take your stuff and have to leave right away.

 

Believe it or not but they lied again. On their job advert they said you were paid $21/hour. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that planting flowers was paid by finished flowerbed. It was $50 for a 50m flowerbed and $35 for 30m. Before tax remember? So 30% got off. At first I thought, planting couldn’t be that hard. No way, José! The ground was not that soft so you had to stick the small shovel really deep into the ground and pull it your way pretty hard. Every 10 cm I had to plant three flower bulbs on the left side of the flowerbed. When I got at the end of the flowerbed I did the same but on the right side. So 6 flower bulbs every 10 cm on a distance of 50m makes 6000 flowers. I did 2 beds so 12 000 flowers. After the first day I couldn’t feel my hand anymore and my back and knees hurt.

 

After a good resting night I did two other beds of 30m in the morning. By noon I told the supervisor I was done. Regional work was over for me. After several bad experiences in the outback and then that pressure here about being fast or getting fired while becoming a hunchback, no thank you. And I can’t live in a working culture about being exploited. It was a good time for me to get back in the city!