If you’ve ever done fruit picking in Australia, you’ve no doubt been left with memories that will last a lifetime. The endless bins and buckets to fill, the aching muscles and layer of dirt on your skin won’t be forgotten in a hurry!
You know you’ve done fruit picking in Australia when…
You’ve never looked worse in your life
What’s the point of making yourself presentable in the morning if you’re going to spend the day alone with rows of strawberries, covered in mud?
Fruit haunts your dreams
Every day, you harvest the same fruit, from the same trees, with the same movements, on the same farm. After a week, chances are you’ll start talking about apples or cherries in your sleep.
You listened to the same playlist three times a day
Did no-one warn you? There is almost NEVER any phone service on the farm, not even enough to send a WhatsApp message. Download your playlists and podcasts well in advance, because the days can be long with nothing to listen to!
The farm dog became your best friend
We’ve yet to come across a farmer who doesn’t have a dog, and so much the better, because it’s a great distraction when their little Jack Russell comes to sniff your ankles.
You hear “smokoooo!” and you lose it
Even if you don’t speak English very well, you won’t forget the word “smoko” – because it means break time is finally here!!
You’ve gotten totally used to spiders
Sorry arachnophobes, but spiders like fruit just as much as people do. Don’t worry though, they’re not always there and sometimes they are pretty small. But we don’t recommend working on a banana farm if you want to avoid them!
You can’t walk past the fruit shelves at Coles anymore
Leave me aloooone!
You’ve become a pro at handling ladders
When you started working on the farm, you wondered whether you should have taken out life insurance when you saw the height of the ladders. Then after a few days, you don’t even pay attention to whether it’s solid in the ground before climbing on up!
You would love to have a cow’s tail to get rid of the f***ing flies
Who knew flies could be so needy? They are everywhere and never leave you alone. To avoid having them constantly landing on your face, invest in a flynet!
You can’t take another minute of your boss telling you “It’s too green…too yellow…too small…”
Maybe you should pick them yourself if you’re not happy? My apples are perfect…
You’ve stumbled upon the weirdest shaped fruit
Boredom will make your imagination run wild. A fruit that looks vaguely like a bum? Endless hilarity.
You can’t handle having the same lunch every day
There is rarely any proper cooking facilities available at lunchtime on the farm. You take your little tupperware out and eat your sandwich lovingly in between rows of fruit…But now you’re not sure you ever want to eat a ham sandwich ever again.
You count everything in bin numbers
1 bin is $50! Never forget!
You could never imagine washing your normal clothes with your fruit picking clothes anymore
In fact, will you ever wear normal clothes again?
But in the end, you realise you might still prefer it to sitting in an office all day!
Although between the flies, the dust and the back pain, you wouldn’t mind having an office chair…
