From Warwick, my boyfriend and I headed to Stanthorpe, a slighty larger town in the picturesque “Granite Belt.” Stanthorpe has an abundance of fruit picking work. It is mostly famous for its apples and vineyards but there are plenty of vegetables and stonefruit grown here too. It is also the coolest town in Queensland – its high altitude means it can get pretty cold in winter and the town has even seen snow in the past.
We met up with some friends who were staying in a caravan park on the edge of town. They were paying $130 each per week to stay in a 6 bed dorm style cabin which was really nice and clean with its own kitchen and bathroom. We had our campervan so stayed in the camping section for $10 each a night. Most people in the caravan park were young backpackers fruit picking on local farms so there was a fun atmosphere on the campsite and lots of friendly people to meet. The owner of the caravan park regularly received calls from farmers looking for workers so you just needed to put your name on his list and wait for a call. We arrived on a weekend so there weren’t many calls coming in so rather than hang around we took a walk to the Saturday fruit market and handed out our number at a couple of fruit stalls. That evening one of the stall owners called and asked us to start work the next day on his stonefruit farm.
From the minute we arrived on the farm we knew that this job would be much better than our lettuce picking job in Warwick. The farmer was a friendly Kiwi who got us to start picking plums and told us not to worry about how many or how fast we picked, just to go at our own pace, drink lots of water and eat as many plums as we liked (how could we refuse?!).
There were 4 German boys and a girl from Taiwan picking with us, and several Aussies who collected our buckets and loaded up the palettes with fruit. We picked plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots on the main farm, and my boyfriend and I were also sent to another farm nearby to help pick cherries. I loved this job – wandering along in the shade of trees, chatting to my work mates and eating delicious cherries…oh yeah and picking them too! You wear a picking bag which acts as a kind of pouch and in the pouch sits a bucket which you drop your fruit into – easy!
After work each night our farmer would bring out a crate of beer and we would sit around chatting. The farmer even asked if we wanted to stay on the farm to save some money so we moved up there in our campervan and used the staff kitchen and shower.
Again, we were paid an hourly rate of $19.20 and we could work 7 days a week or take a day or two off if we wanted. We worked from 6am to 3pm and had the rest of the day to explore Stanthorpe, its wineries and the surrounding area which included the beautiful Girraween national park. We met some very hospitable locals and even ended up feeding someone’s chickens and alpacas while they were away for a weekend.
Although we could happily have stayed here for months we had already arranged go to Byron Bay to meet up with some friends from home and do some wwoofing (which stands for willing workers on organic farms) with them over Christmas. So sadly we said goodbye to our farmer and left Stanthorpe with lots of good memories and a very positive fruit picking experience.
12 Responses to “Stanthorpe Gillian’s next stop”
lindsey Towers
Hi, sounds great, which farm was this? x
mingyu kim
Xx you did spend your time with boyfriend. From Brisbane. Xx
Margo
After reading the lettuce picking ordeal I was rethinking the fruit picking idea but your time here has cheered me up… please keep posting your experiences!!
James Burne
currently looking for farmwork/fruit-picking, in Stanthorpe, what was the name of the farm in which the kiwi owned, as im very interested, if u could let me know would be a great help, glad you had a great experience, thanks James
Duncan Bambu
I like the idea of fruit picking at stanthorpe. Good terms and condition with a friendly boss. Please help me on how to secure a work in this particular farm. Thanks.
Flavia
Hi!!I really loved to read about your experience in Stantorphe beacause I’m planning to go there to, but wich was your farm?How was it called?do you remeber it? Thank you very much! Flavia
Jill
Would love to know the name of the farm or the name of the campground! Sounds like a great experience. Much better than other stories I’ve heard about Stanthorpe.
GIADA PERRICA
OH!!!That’s fanastic experience!!!Can you tell me the name of the farm..please!!!Thanks ;-)
Ana Filipovic
Can you tell me the name of the farm? When did you start with this job and how long did you stay there? Thank you very much :-*
Jeanine Le Brasse
Hi there. Can you offer any advice for a 20 year old male from South Africa who is keen to do fruit picking in Australia. He has never been there before and would appreciate all the help and guidance you can share. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
Dimitri
Hi Jeanine,
Please lookup our visas section for all information corresponding to working in Australia if you’re from Fji :)
Also, the best bet for you is to check the Harvest Calender and also keep your eye on the Job Board Regularly.
Cheers
Dimitri
Harvest Calendar – https://www.fruitpickingjobs.com.au/australian-harvest-and-crop-calender/
Job Board
Julian Sievers
Wow that sounds so great!
We are currently next to Stanthorpe in gatton and are so desperately looking for a job… Do you still have the contact details? When yes please send them to me!! :)