The end of my 88 days was quickly approaching. I didn’t want to stay much longer, but how do you talk about this with a stubborn, unpredictable farmer? When the others said they wanted to leave in a week, they were sent away straight away. I wanted to do the decent thing and let him know in advance. So one morning I walked to the office, practicing what I was going to say. He wasn’t there. Later, I saw him behind the pc, so I took my chance.
“Untill when do you think the cherries last?”
“Maybe another week.”
“Oh ok… I was planning for the end of next week to be my last day. Friday or Saturday. Would that be ok?”
“Yeah, that should be fine.”
“Really? I’m not messing up any plans?”
“No, that should be fine.” He said in the quietest tone I have ever heard him use.
The rest of the day I half expected him to come to me to say it’s not ok. I expected him not to be nice to me anymore. It didn’t happen. He was nice all day. I guess my last week was about to start.
Two days later it came as a surprise. At the end of the day we were told this was the last day of work in the packing shed. No more new cherries. My last days consisted of running the shed door sales. It was often quiet and could get boring, but I needed the quiet and the rest. The farmer didn’t even make me do any of the big cleaning. I guess I’d earned that rest. I’d spent over 88 days on this farm.
If you want to stay in Australia for a second year working holiday, you’ll have to do your 88 days of regional work. In the 88 days diaries I tell the story of my three months of farm work on a cherry orchard. I worked out in the fields as a farm hand before working in the packing shed during the cherry season. Read about what I think, experience and explore, from eccentric farmers to new skills.